sonali de | University of Calcutta (original) (raw)

Papers by sonali de

Children

Poverty increases vulnerability towards somatisation and influences the sense of mastery and well... more Poverty increases vulnerability towards somatisation and influences the sense of mastery and well-being. The present study on adolescents living in relative poverty in a high-income group country (Israel) and a low-middle-income group country (India) explored the nature of somatisation tendency (ST) and its relationship with potency and perception of poverty (PP). Potency, a buffer against stress-induced negative health effects, was hypothesized to be negatively related to ST and mediate the link between PP and ST. Purposive sampling was used to collect questionnaire-based data from community youth (12–16 years) of two metropolitan cities—Kolkata (India, N = 200) and Tel-Aviv (Israel, N = 208). The nature of ST, PP and potency was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics and correlation-regression statistics and mediation analysis were used to understand the relationship among them. A clinically significant level of ST was reported by both Indian and Israeli youth exper...

International Journal of Indian Psychology, 2023

In India, family members as the caregivers of persons with mental disorders play a significant ro... more In India, family members as the caregivers of persons with mental disorders play a significant role in their recovery process. They face stigma and struggle while carrying out responsibilities that often goes unnoticed. This study explored caregivers' lived experiences as wives of persons with severe mental illness. In-depth open-ended interviews were carried out with 4 caregivers which were audio recorded, transcribed and analysed using grounded theory approach with situational analysis. Findings revealed pervasive effect of intersectionality of structural stigma in different domains (mental illness, gender, skin colour, socioeconomic factors etc). Caregivers as wives, facing deprivation of agency while getting married and taking necessary actions to seek help for their husbands. Concealability, fear to be judged by the society and logistic impediments of getting help were crucial. Interestingly, the study revealed that spirituality, creativity embedded in the nuances of lived experience helped to locate alternative ways of coping.

Children, 2023

Poverty increases vulnerability towards somatisation and influences the sense of mastery and well... more Poverty increases vulnerability towards somatisation and influences the sense of mastery and well-being. The present study on adolescents living in relative poverty in a high-income group country (Israel) and a low-middle-income group country (India) explored the nature of somatisation tendency (ST) and its relationship with potency and perception of poverty (PP). Potency, a buffer against stress-induced negative health effects, was hypothesized to be negatively related to ST and mediate the link between PP and ST. Purposive sampling was used to collect questionnaire-based data from community youth (12–16 years) of two metropolitan cities—Kolkata (India, N = 200) and Tel-Aviv f(Israel, N = 208). The nature of ST, PP and potency was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics and correlation-regression statistics and mediation analysis were used to understand the relationship among them. A clinically significant level of ST was reported by both Indian and Israeli youth experiencing 5–7 somatic symptoms on average. Potency was found to be a significant predictor of ST in both countries (p < 0.05) and emerged as a significant mediator (p < 0.001) in the PP and ST relationship among Indian adolescents. The present study highlights potency as a protective buffer in economically vulnerable community adolescents and re-establishes a high prevalence of ST among them, irrespective of their country’s global economic position.

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution.

Poverty, Somatisation Tendency and Potency in Low-Income Adolescent Groups of India and Israel: Explorations from the Field, 2023

Poverty increases vulnerability towards somatisation and influences the sense of mastery and well... more Poverty increases vulnerability towards somatisation and influences the sense of mastery and well-being. The present study on adolescents living in relative poverty in a high-income group country (Israel) and a low-middle-income group country (India) explored the nature of somatisation tendency (ST) and its relationship with potency and perception of poverty (PP). Potency, a buffer against stress-induced negative health effects, was hypothesized to be negatively related to ST and mediate the link between PP and ST. Purposive sampling was used to collect questionnaire-based data from community youth (12–16 years) of two metropolitan cities—Kolkata (India, N = 200) and Tel-Aviv f(Israel, N = 208). The nature of ST, PP and potency was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics and correlation-regression statistics and mediation analysis were used to understand the relationship among them. A clinically significant level of ST was reported by both Indian and Israeli youth experiencing 5–7 somatic symptoms on average. Potency was found to be a significant predictor of ST in both countries (p < 0.05) and emerged as a significant mediator (p < 0.001) in the PP and ST relationship among Indian adolescents. The present study highlights potency as a protective buffer in economically vulnerable community adolescents and re-establishes a high prevalence of ST among them, irrespective of their country’s global economic position.

Psychological Studies, Nov 9, 2022

Contemporary India is part of a global community where modernization, urbanization including cons... more Contemporary India is part of a global community where modernization, urbanization including consumerism is on the rise; but not leaving behind its historic cultural essence. Old scriptures, myths, folklore, literature, cultural proverbs as well as media, apparently have a noteworthy role in shaping the perspectives of Indian people. The current study was done in parts of urban Bengal to explore the influence of these forces, from socio-political, psychological as well as philosophical registers, in shaping the self-image and identity of contemporary women. 50 participants were interviewed using a semi-structured in-depth interview method and data were analyzed following qualitative analytical methods keeping the cultural-relational-social context in perspective. The method of pluralism in the qualitative analysis was followed using three data analysis methods—Grounded theory, Interpretative Phenomenological Approach, and Narrative analysis. Analyses revealed intriguing social-crafting of concepts of gender and identities of women, through idealization and internalization of traits and notions, incessantly presented through celebrated literature, myths, folklore, proverbs, and media. Furthermore, the analysis showed how the deeprooted paradox, inherent in Bengal’s cultural discourse, is internalized even by educated urban women and infuses a sense of lack, vulnerability, self-loathing, blame, and stigma in their identity. On the contrary, it was also observed in a few instances that optimum use of media and global knowledge led to the construction of a new-age ‘individual’ and ‘subjective’ discourse. Notes New-age poet from Bengal, known for questioning social structure and indicating at systemic oppression. Feminist poet from Bengal. Film director from Bengal with International fame—known for making non-binary gender concepts frequent representations in Bengali movies. Protagonist of ‘Chokher Bali’ novel of tagore—self-willed, outspoken widow character. Prafulla—protagonist of ‘Debi Chaudhurani’ novel of Bankim Chandra—escaped housewife turned dacoit-head—Indian version of Robinhood. Protagonist of ‘Ghare Baire’ novel of Tagore—got romantically involved with husband’s friend—was not happy with apparent successful marriage. Protagonist of ‘Chokher Bali’ novel of tagore—prototype submissive housewife—was presented in contrast to Binodini—accepted husband after his illicit romantic affair outside marriage. Protagonist detective character in writings of Satyajit Ray—intelligent, smart prototype of educated Bengalee men—remained single to avoid distractions in life. Protagonist in Shivpurana and Manasamangal folk-tales—the archetypal wife image who brought her husband back to life from death, by travelling to yamaloka alive and convincing Yama. Goddess and negative protagonist in Manasamangal—self-willed female-god, wronged by father and step-mother—killed Lakkhindar (husband of Behula) to force his father in becoming a disciple of her. All these authors are known for writing rebellious texts for women, questioning the years old societal structure and systemic oppression. Famous bengali poet known for questioning societal structure as well as role of media. Film director from bengal—disciple of Rituporno ghosh—famous for unveiling systemic oppression through his movies. IPS officer from Bengal—fought contemporary political conspiracy to unveil truth about park street rape case of 2012.

Psychological Studies, 2022

Notes
New-age poet from Bengal, known for questioning social structure and indicating at systemic oppression.

Feminist poet from Bengal.

Film director from Bengal with International fame—known for making non-binary gender concepts frequent representations in Bengali movies.

Protagonist of ‘Chokher Bali’ novel of tagore—self-willed, outspoken widow character.

Prafulla—protagonist of ‘Debi Chaudhurani’ novel of Bankim Chandra—escaped housewife turned dacoit-head—Indian version of Robinhood.

Protagonist of ‘Ghare Baire’ novel of Tagore—got romantically involved with husband’s friend—was not happy with apparent successful marriage.

Protagonist of ‘Chokher Bali’ novel of tagore—prototype submissive housewife—was presented in contrast to Binodini—accepted husband after his illicit romantic affair outside marriage.

Protagonist detective character in writings of Satyajit Ray—intelligent, smart prototype of educated Bengalee men—remained single to avoid distractions in life.

Protagonist in Shivpurana and Manasamangal folk-tales—the archetypal wife image who brought her husband back to life from death, by travelling to yamaloka alive and convincing Yama.

Goddess and negative protagonist in Manasamangal—self-willed female-god, wronged by father and step-mother—killed Lakkhindar (husband of Behula) to force his father in becoming a disciple of her.

All these authors are known for writing rebellious texts for women, questioning the years old societal structure and systemic oppression.

Famous bengali poet known for questioning societal structure as well as role of media.

Film director from bengal—disciple of Rituporno ghosh—famous for unveiling systemic oppression through his movies.

IPS officer from Bengal—fought contemporary political conspiracy to unveil truth about park street rape case of 2012.

International Journal of Social Sciences Review, 2022

Advertisements are regularly floated in the media that exhibit sufficiently ‘bold’ messages, to m... more Advertisements are regularly floated in the media that exhibit sufficiently ‘bold’ messages, to make them stand out in the cluttered world of advertising. Sex being the most primitive instinct of human beings, it is being widely used for tantalizing sexual fantasies of the consumers. This study was conducted upon 60 female participants, age ranging from 20 – 60 yrs, with the aim to develop an understanding about their acceptance of use of sexual appeal in advertisements. For this purpose 9 advertisements having varying degrees of sexual content, selected from a pool of 194 advertisements based on judgement of experts, were rated by the participants for sexual content and sexual appeal on 10 point equal interval scale. Data were analysed statistically using Mean, SD, t test and Pearson Product Moment Correlation. Findings show that even when consumers perceived variation in the extent of sexual contents of advertisements, their liking for those sexual contents did not vary accordingly. Implications of the findings were discussed.

Indian Journal of Positive Psychology, 2022

There are many misconceptions over the concept of transgender, which had immense impact on the li... more There are many misconceptions over the concept of transgender, which had immense impact on the life of the transgender people. They were ostracized by the mainstream society because of the concept of sex-gender binary. And the concept of cure made their life miserable for quite a long time. In line with this, researches around the life of the transgender people majorly focused on biological, medical and pathological aspects. Researches were often done on trans people attending clinics, and the findings got generalized on whole transgender population. Only recently the lived experience of the transgender people started getting research attention, which is expected to create a space for the transgendered people to come out and exercise their agency.

Science of Gymnastics Journal, 2021

Why do so many women still die in pregnancy or childbirth? WHO has summarized the lack of access ... more Why do so many women still die in pregnancy or childbirth? WHO has summarized the lack of access and utilization of essential obstetric services as crucial factor underlying maternal deaths. Uptake of institutional birth or aided birth during delivery is the single most important factor in the fight against maternal mortality and morbidity. Yet, in many parts of the developing world the majority of births are still conducted at home with family members or with a traditional birth attendant. The medical causes do not seem to be the only factors that affect maternal mortality. There are various socio-cultural and psychological factors that affect maternal mortality. Maternal deaths are indicative of condition of the women in the society and have long term implication for the development of the country. In this review paper the reasons for uptake of home-delivery are discussed and there is an urgent need to be more sensitive to the psychological reasons behind their uptake of unaided d...

The last two decades has witnessed noticeable changes in the concept of marriage. For many years ... more The last two decades has witnessed noticeable changes in the concept of marriage. For many years academic psychologists had not been interested in research on marital relationship. The changes in various aspects of society influence the basic determinants of marriage incessantly. Thus, the outcome is the interest in researchers escalating in the aspects of love and marriage day by day.Though, it is widely believed that love is the fundamental base of marriage but it is also true that marriage is a socially, ritually recognized union and legal contract between spouses that establishes rights and obligations between them. In The History of Human Marriage (1922), Edvard Westermarck defined marriage as "a more or less durable connection between male and female lasting beyond the mere act of propagation till after the birth of the offspring." Later he rejected his earlier definition and defined marriage from different viewpoint in 'The Future of Marriage in Western Civiliza...

Psychology and Developing Societies, 2019

The contemporary Indian society apparently seems to be at a juncture where it claims more number ... more The contemporary Indian society apparently seems to be at a juncture where it claims more number of women to be educated and independent but, on the other hand, the incidents of vicious mental, social and corporeal violations of women are at peak. Amidst all the ongoing blazing talks and movements, this study is a small attempt of delving into the tale of being women, which may help in cognising the discourse which might be at the core of this double-bind social picture. For this purpose, 30 Bengali (Indian) married women were selected through purposive sampling technique for interview, all of whom were within the age range of 18–40 years. Participants had minimum school-level education and belonged to lower middle to upper middle socio-economic status. They were reportedly free from any mental or physical handicap. The data gathered through open-ended semi-structured in-depth interviews were analysed using thematic analysis procedure. Analytical readings of findings explored a soci...

Psychological Studies, 2015

This study intended to explore the subsistence of body image dissatisfaction among young female u... more This study intended to explore the subsistence of body image dissatisfaction among young female university students, their locus of control and their metacognitive knowledge about their satisfaction or dissatisfaction with their body. Thirty female university students (age ranged 21–24 years) participated in the study. Assessment through a screening information schedule confirmed all participants being of normal-weight category (BMI 18.5 to 24.9) on the BMI scale without any present or past diagnosis of eating disorder. The results demonstrated prevalence of body dissatisfaction among majority of participants, who were also seen to have less metacognitive awareness than the rest.

Psychological Studies, 2011

Advertisements (n = 400) published in Bengali periodicals in four different time periods, 1947–48... more Advertisements (n = 400) published in Bengali periodicals in four different time periods, 1947–48, 1971–72, 1991–92 &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp; 2008–09 drawn following a multistage sampling were analyzed to see the pattern of change in concepts associated with products. They included four categories of products/ services : Jewellery, cosmetics, garments and banking. The analysis of advertisements indicated that diverse values are associated with products that

Four hundred advertisements published in Bengali periodicals in four different time periods, 1947... more Four hundred advertisements published in Bengali periodicals in four different time periods, 1947–48, 1977–72, 1991–92 and 2004–05, were content analysed to determine whether adver-tising appeals concerning cultural values had changed during these years. Jewellery, cosmetics, garments and banking were the four categories of products/services used in the study. In view of the repetitive appearance of advertisements in the periodicals and the multiplicity of products and available periodicals, a multistage sampling was adopted. Content analysis was done manually by three coders following the procedure laid down by Krippendroff (1980). Findings suggest that advertising trends relating to traditional values and focus on the collective (a cultural tradition), had changed over the years. Traditional values were replaced by trends of modernisation and west-ernisation and priority to the individual over the collective. The reasons and implications of these findings have been discussed.

Research with Baddeley's Working Memory Model has identified a host of task-related and emoti... more Research with Baddeley's Working Memory Model has identified a host of task-related and emotional factors that interfere with executive functioning of working memory. Substantial research evidences have established that poor working memory skills impair children's abilities to learn during the school years. The present study investigated the effect of nature of distractors on the executive functioning of intellectually superior children with different trait anxiety levels. Eighty intellectually superior children between 7 to 10 years of age were divided in high and low trait anxiety groups. Subjects performed a working memory task: Counting Recall, where the nature of distractors was varied, using software program in a dual task-paradigm. The results confirmed that there is a significant inhibitory effect of distractors on executive functioning of children. The high trait anxious children took longer information processing time, but finally attained similar task-accuracy as ...

International Journal of Psychology, 2016

Psychology: Volume 3, 2019

Consumption is one of the key processes in the emerging materialist culture. Keeping in view the ... more Consumption is one of the key processes in the emerging materialist culture. Keeping in view the fact that consumer forms the central axis in modern economy, this chapter focusses on the interface between commodity, social values, and the consumer. It begins with an analysis of the meaning of the notion of consumption and explication of the construction of the identity of Indian consumer. Then it brings out the dynamics of marketing strategies of branding and product identity. In particular, the present analysis highlights how the media constructs the meaning and uses symbolism for product promotion. The relation of materialism and commodity fetish is also discussed. Finally, the chapter highlights some of the initiatives exhibiting the process of cultural resistance to uncontrolled consumption in the context of Indian value system.

Four hundred advertisements published in Bengali periodicals in four different time periods, 1947... more Four hundred advertisements published in Bengali periodicals in four different time periods, 1947–48, 1977–72, 1991–92 and 2004–05, were content analysed to determine whether advertising appeals concerning cultural values had changed during these years. Jewellery, cosmetics, garments and banking were the four categories of products/services used in the study. In view of the repetitive appearance of advertisements in the periodicals and the multiplicity of products and available periodicals, a multistage sampling was adopted. Content analysis was done manually by three coders following the procedure laid down by Krippendroff (1980). Findings suggest that advertising trends relating to traditional values and focus on the collective (a cultural tradition), had changed over the years. Traditional values were replaced by trends of modernisation and westernisation and priority to the individual over the collective. The reasons and implications of these findings have been discussed.