Research Projects Completed in the Year 2019-20

In Psychology

Human Potentials/Intelligence/Giftedness

1) Identification of high-ability-children for nurturing the giftedness

This was a project initiated by the Pravaha Foundation, Hyderabad with the support of the

Satwa Foundation. The Trust wanted to launch a nurturing program for gifted children, who used to attend ground activities run at diverse places in some of the states of India. Considering the diversity across states it was necessary to use some uniform procedure to identify gifted children from among around these 1000 children.

Defining intelligence in such a situation was the first step in the procedure. Based on Renzulli’s

model, giftedness was described as a combination of above-average intelligence, passion for a subject,and creativity. Through discussions between key persons in the authorities from Trusts and JnanaPrabodhini’s Institute of Psychology lead to two-step procedure was finalized. This identification of gifted children procedure consists of both non-formal and formal procedures of assessing intelligence.

The first step was teacher nomination based on a uniform measure of intelligence, which can be

observed in open situations. For the nomination of children from their teachers conducting ground activities, a 5-point rating scale of behavioural indicators was designed consisted of 30 items. The checklist covered dimensions like sensitivity and responsiveness, learnability, adaptability, expressibility, ethical approach, passion, thinking logically, out of box thinking, rude and rebellious (with reasons). The first step was teacher nomination based on a uniform measure of intelligence, which can be observed in open situations. The total sample consisted of 763 children from Andhra (25), Delhi (19), Karnataka (63), Maharashtra (103), Punjab (7), Madhya Pradesh (19), Rajasthan (110) and Telangana (417). Out of these 145 (around 20%) were selected on the basis of their profiles based on the nomination checklist in the first step.

In the second step, Intelligence was defined as the intelligence measured by a standardized

intelligence test, based on Guilford’s model of intelligence, constructed and standardized over the Indian sample. A battery of figural tests was used to avoid the language barrier. The intelligence tests were of figural nature. Understanding and evaluation of concepts and patterns, convergent thinking, and estimation of relations were the factors measured through this battery. Out of 141 attendees (89 girls and 62 boys), 41 children (24 girls and 17 boys) got selected for a nurturing program.

Principal Investigators – Dr. Sujala Watve, Dr. Sucharita Gadre

Co-Investigators – Smita Nirgudkar, Gauri Kulkarni

Duration – 3 Months

Funded by – Pravaha Foundation, Hyderabad, Telangana

2) An exploratory study of gender differences in youth as tested by Studies and Work related

Aptitude in Youth – Advanced Measure (SWAYAM) Battery

This paper investigates the difference between female and male undergraduate students of Pune

city on selected cognitive and non- cognitive variables as measured by a standardized Aptitude test battery – SWAYAM. We examined 870 students (435 males 435 females) aged between 17yrs to 35yrs in Pune city and compared the males and females on 8 cognitive abilities, 5 orientations, 7 coping strategies and 6 personality factors.

An independent sample t-test was used to compare the Means between Males and Females. The

results revealed that females scored significantly higher than males in seven out of eight abilities such as logical ability, verbal ability, spatial ability, cognitive ability, convergent thinking, evaluation, and social abilities, whereas no significant difference was observed in numerical ability. Female scores were significantly higher on Artistic orientation whereas males were significantly higher in practical and power orientation. In terms of coping with stress, females favored rational behavior thinking and compulsiveness whereas males favored firmness in thought as a coping strategy. Males scored higher on task and goal inclinations. The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level.

Co-investigators – Soniya Virani, Neha Kshirsagar

Advisors – Dr. Meenakshi Gokhale, Nilima Apte

Guide – Dr. Usha khire

Duration – 1 Year

3) A study of parent’s feedback about iA Aptitude Test and Career Guidance

Every parent aspires for a good quality of life, career stability, and financial security for his/ her

child. In order to ensure these for their children, parents of young students opt for Aptitude tests after Board examinations of Std. 10th and 12th. Results of the test guide students and parents regarding the choice of careers with respect to the student’s aptitude and personality. Intelligence and Aptitude Measurement (iA) test is one such tool that measures a student’s abilities and orientations. With an objective to study the feedback of parents regarding career guidance based on the iA test, a survey method was employed to collect data from 278 students of Std 10th and 12th who took the iA test between 2011 and 2016 at Aptitude Test and Career Guidance (ATCG) Department at Jnana Prabodhini Samshodhan Sanstha (JPSS), Pune. A simple percentage analysis was applied for analyzing the feedback received from parents after a telephonic questionnaire was answered. Results revealed that 89% (247) of parents found the career advisor’s guidance ‘satisfactory’ whereas 11% (31) parents found it unsatisfactory. Out of the parents who found the guidance satisfactory, 68% (169) chose the stream suggested by the Guidance counsellor whereas 32% (78) opted for a stream of their own choice.

Out of students who chose streams as per the guidance 28% (47) reported making good progress, 64% (108) reported making satisfactory progress and 0.8% (14) reported making unsatisfactory progress in the chosen stream. The result suggests that the iA test is a good measure of the student’s innate abilities and guidance based on the results are helping the students significantly.

Principal Investigator – Nilima Apte

Co-Investigator – Anuradha Ohol

Advisor – Dr. Sujala Watve

Duration – 1 year

4) Psycho-social impact assessment of Community building (मनसंधारण) of Participating Villages in the Satyamev Jayate Water Cup Competition

The state of Maharashtra experienced its first severe drought in 1972-73. Since then, till 2016, a

plethora of schemes, interventions, and convergence activities have been initiated by the state

government, by the government at the centre and by civil society organizations with aid and technical inputs from bilateral and multilateral donors. With the vision of a ‘Drought-free Maharashtra’ (दु􀃧काळमु􀃈 महारा􀃧􀄚) Paani Foundation (PF) launched Satyamev Jayate Water Cup Competition (SJWC)which in its fourth year generated significant momentum in rural areas of Maharashtra. Beginning with 116 villages in 3 talukas of 3 districts in 2016, the competition acquired the character of a mass movement in four years, as evident in the scale and scope of its activities. In these four years, villages from four administrative regions of the state (Western Maharashtra, Marathwada, Vidarbha, and North Maharashtra) have participated in the SJWC. A noteworthy departure of SJWC’s efforts from earlier interventions has been a clear articulation of the theory of change squarely emphasizing Manasandharan (मनसंधारण), the building of the community. In March 2019, the Paani Foundation (henceforth referred as PF) mandated Jnana Prabodhini’s Institute of Psychology (JPIP) to study the psycho-social impact (later referred as community building or Manasandharan (मनसंधारण)) of the Satyamev Jayate Watercup Competition (SJWC). JPIP proposed a new model of Manasandharan (मनसंधारण) for measuring the impact under this study.

Six critical pillars that lead to strengthening community bonding were identified.

  1. Inclusion- cohesion: (IC): Refers to identifying oneself with a group converging cognitive and affective needs with a larger group, and feeling positive about being in the company of fellow human beings. 
  2. Group motivation (for a superordinate goal): (GM): Refers to preferring to sacrifice personal gains for group benefits and willingness to contribute to the achievement of the goal.
  3. Leading by selfless behaviour: (LSB): Refers to cherishing a sense of service to the society,

willingness to initiate in adverse situations, being persistent and focused in work, and to keep away from obvious glory without personal monetary gain. 

  1. Agency and Feeling empowered:

(FE): Refers to a feeling of being in control of initiating the change process, a belief in the power of self and group both keeping pragmatic outlook and disregard of learned helplessness. 

  1. Commitment to actions: (CA): Refers to awareness about internal and external resources with a willingness to tap them promptly, actual participation in actions towards the common goals in different ways and being consistent by believing in hard work. 6. Adaptive vibrant community: (AVC): Refers to an enhanced understanding of positive directions for change, increased awareness about emergent opportunities for wellbeing and readiness to cope with exigencies.

Tools used for Impact Assessment were multi-fold.

Village Information Sheet (VIS), a quantitative tool to measure Manasandharan (About Our

village – ‘आमच्या गावाबदल’), Tools to conduct focussed-group discussions (FGDs) and individual

interviews of lead persons trained by PF. There were separate checklists for interviewing

representative common men and women in the village. All the tools were piloted in five villages before the commencement of the main fieldwork. Feedback obtained from these villages was incorporated to modify the tools.

Forty-five villages representing four regions of the state were selected as samples. In addition

to the regional diversity, participation in the SJWC and performance in the SJWC (as evaluated by the PF) were two additional criteria for sample selection. Three villages were picked up for documenting detailed case-studies. The population of the village was not considered while sampling the villages. Sixteen teams consisting of 45 members from JPIP participated in the fieldwork. All of them were trained in a two-day-long orientation program in JPIP in Pune. The teams completed the fieldwork in 45 villages from 16th May 2019 to 17th June 2019. Each team spent at least two days in each village for data collection. None of the team members were informed about the ‘Performance’ of the village in the SJWC.From 45 villages, 864 respondents consisting of 451 men and 413 women responded to the questionnaire. In addition to 45 Village Information Sheets, 178 interviews (93 lead person interviews,85 common person interviews) and 89 FGDs were conducted across the sample villages. With the consent of the respondents, all interviews were recorded to be used later for transcription and qualitative analysis. SPSS package was used for statistical analysis of data collected through questionnaires. Separate software was developed for analysing qualitative data. From the transcripts of all interviews, a group of words or phrases were marked and tagged to one of the six themes of Manasandharan as per the operational definition. After tagging the transcripts, the frequency of occurrences across all the uploaded documents was recorded. The average number of occurrences according to each theme for all the uploaded transcripts was noted down. Based on these, four group comparisons were done.

The key findings are-

 Villages that obtained either high or low performance (HP or LP) scores in SJWC (2017 or 2018) have reported exactly similar results on the measurement tools used in the JPIP study. Comparison of HP and LP villages across ALL factors of Manasandharan report similar trends. All HP villages scored high on all six factors such as inclusion, commitment to work action, etc.

 Women have reported high scores on most of the factors including Inclusion and Cohesion (IC).

Women thus, the most affected, have been at the forefront of change processes, however, their role in a leadership position needs to be strengthened.

 Triangulation with village information indicates that villages with high or medium water scarcity and low or nil irrigation facilities have reported a high score on Manasandharan as also similar performance in the SJWC.

 Size of the village (less than 750 or more etc.) does not seem to influence the Manasandharan nor correlates with the performance in the SJWC.

 Similarly, the social capital of the village measured in the village information (before participation in SJWC) does not seem to have a direct relationship with either the performance and or the Manasandharan.

 Two externalities seem to assume a critical influence on the output-outcome-impact cycle. Annual rainfall (an event after the SJWC) and elections to the local Gram Panchayat (either before or after the SJWC) have both positive and negative influence in strengthening or eroding

the Manasandharan as also performance in the SJWC. A good rainfall results inadequate water

storage in treatment areas and village communities see concrete results of their efforts in the SJWC and thereby further resolving to work towards the vision of a drought-free village. A converse situation can result in a negative spiral. Elections to local bodies fought on party affiliations lines can potentially bring forth to surface tensions and divisive tendencies thereby eroding all that is built for SJWC. Matured leadership can positively handle the same challenge. In all the above situations, thus predicting a certain outcome of an intervention might be slightly premature.

 In short, a village struggling with acute water scarcity and inadequate irrigation facilities, if

supported with appropriate training interventions, does report a positive and robust Manasandharan process enabled by a core team of a selfless leadership group. External

factors such as adequate rainfall and bipartisan electoral politics can further strengthen the will of

the communities to become a self-driven village.

Principle Investigator – Dr. Ajit Kanitkar Experts involved – Shirish Joshi, Pramod Sadolikar,

Co-investigator – Dr. Anagha Lavalekar Dr. Deepak Gupte, Dr. Pranita Jagtap, Shivalee Waychal,

Research Assistant – Kanchan Pande, Vinay Lande Sumedha Kulkarni

Duration – 6 months

Quality of Life

5) Quality of life across generations

The concept of QOL, though appears to be highly relevant, it poses new challenges in front of

the researchers due to its complexity and subjectivity. This study tries to explore how different

generations perceive the quality of life and how far they feel that they enjoy it as per their expectations.It also tries to explore the gender differences across gender and educational levels of the respondents as both these factors may have a considerable influence on the perceptions and experiences of QOL in one’s life. The tools used for this purpose were – Comprehensive Quality of Life Scale by Robert Cummins (objective indicators), My idea of QOL. Both these tools cover the aspects namely- material wellbeing, health, intimacy, productivity, safety, place in the community, and emotional wellbeing. The second tool was – Carol Ryff’s scale on Psychological wellbeing covering aspects: selfacceptance, personal growth, purpose in life, environmental mastery, autonomy, and positive relations with others. Semi-structured interviews of highest and lowest scorers on the Comprehensive Quality of Life Scale were conducted.

The sample covered for the study was 330 (M=167, F=163). There were different age groups

(ranging from 20 to 60+), different educational levels, and different occupations to ascertain the

representative nature of the sample. Data was collected from different socio-economic strata of the population (lower-middle, middle, and upper-middle). Significant differences were found on material well-being, health, productivity, safety, and total factual quality of life across four age groups namely 20-29, 30-39, 40-59, 60-60+. No significant differences were found on the importance and satisfaction domain of Quality of Life. On My Idea of Quality of Life, which covers the ideas/priorities sought under Quality of Life, significant differences were seen on factors like material well-being, health, and productivity. Also on Ryff’s scale of Psychological Well-being, intergroup differences were obtained on positive relations with others,environmental mastery, personal growth, and total psychological well-being.Gender differences were observed on productivity (factual) of quality of life and no significantdifferences with respect to gender were seen on the importance and satisfaction domain of quality of life. On Ryff’s scale of psychological well-being, males and females differed on the following dimensions namely, autonomy, purpose in life, and total psychological well-being.

Principal Investigator – Dr. Anagha Lavalekar

Research Assistant – Dr. Sanhitta Karmalkar

Duration – 2 years

Funded by – University Grants Commission

Motivation

6) Development of Achievement Motivation Scale for Adolescents

Adolescence is a period of rapid physical, emotional, social, and cognitive development. In this

stage of transition from elementary to middle school, achievement motivation in adolescents is

changing. Achievement motivation is one of the key factors in determining individuals’ scholastic andcareer success. But very few scales are available which measuring the achievement motivation of Indian adolescents. Thus, the scale of achievement motivation for adolescents is decided to develop.

The scale is an objective type, self-report, paper-pencil, and Likert type – 1) strongly agree 2) agree 3) disagree 4) strongly disagree. After the review of the literature, characteristics of the person of high achievement motivation were identified and grouped into eight categories: Perseverance,Independency, Involvement, Overcoming obstacles, Goal setting, Emotional states, Attribution style, and Achievement thoughts.Items writing for each factor was completed and the content validity of items was checked by five experts in the field of education, clinical and counselling psychology. Pilot testing was conducted to check the suitability of the items, response patterns, and instructions. Final scale comprising of 40 items, including positive and negative worded statements. For the standardization process, schools in the city of Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad were approached. After permission by the principal, students were randomly selected from each school. The scale was administered to the 416 students, both boys (167) and girls (249) studying in secondary schools. All data were scored and cleaned before the analysis of reliability and validity. For calculating the discrimination index, students were divided into high and low scorer based on total scores. The result of the t-test indicates that all items are significantly discriminate at .001 level. Inter-item and item-total correlations are also significant which shows the internal consistency of the scale is good. Cronbach α (alpha) reliability is .82, which falls into a good category. Norms are developed. The scale is available in Marathi (मा􀃐या􀍪वषयी थोडेसे) and English (About Myself) language. Tentative 20-25 minutes is required to administer this scale. The scale will be useful for counsellors, teachers especially working with secondary school students, as well as researchers. In the future online version of this scale will be available.

Principal Investigator – Dr. Pranita Jagtap

Duration – 1 year

Bio-medical field

7) A cross sectional study to assess the status of psychosocial well-being and factors associated with it in cancer patients after completion of curative treatment

This is a cross-sectional exploratory study assessing the status of psychosocial well-being and

factors associated with it in cancer. The sample collected comprised of three different groups of OPD based cancer patients who have completed their curative treatment within 1 month, 6 months after the treatment, and 2 years after the treatment. The total number of patients was 136. The research was carried out in 2 stages. Stage 1 consisted of a personal data sheet, consent form, and 3 questionnaires.

The questionnaires were about psychological well-being, coping, and spirituality. Stage 2 included 14 patients from stage 1 based on their test scores and their availability and in-depth face to face, semistructured, open interviews of them were conducted. The data collected from 136 patients in stage one was analysed using statistical software R 3.2.5 and Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version. Results of the study show that spirituality and psychological well-being show increasing trend as time point changes from 1 month after recovery to 2 years after recovery. Coping doesn’t show any statistically significant difference between time points. No statistically significant difference was seen between spirituality, coping, psychological well-being, and perceived recovery based on age.

Principal Investigator – Dr. Sachin Hingmire

Co-investigators – Dr. Dhananjay Kelkar, Ms. Sayli Agashe

Field workers – Nivedita Ponkshe, Mrunmayi Adawadkar, Neha Pendse

Advisors – Dr. Usha Khire, Dr. Sujala Watve

Duration – 2 years

8) Physiological and Psychological Effects of Gayatri Mantra Intervention Program on Healthy

Adult Population

This was an exploratory pilot study proposed to assess the physiological and psychological

effects of Gayatri Mantra Chanting in a group. This study tried to explore, already agreed but less scientifically explored, the significance of the Gayatri Mantra in human physiology and psychology.Hospital staff around 100 was explained the concept of training in the Gayatri Mantra. Those 70 persons who willingly showed consent to participate in the study were included in the sample. They were randomly divided into two groups. One group (N=30; 15 males, 15 females) was exposed to a 2- month intervention of Gayatri Mantra chanting and another group (N=30; 15 males, 15 females) was for comparison purpose which was not exposed to any other intervention. Pre, intermediate (after one month), and post-assessments of both the groups were taken. In the physiological domain, blood pressure, pulmonary function, body composition, hand-eye-coordination, breath-holding time, and resting metabolic rate were measured.In the psychological domain, reaction time, immediate memory, divergent production, attention, and resilience were assessed by using the following tools:

  1. Resilience- Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC)
  2. Memory- Memory of Symbolic Systems memory (Prajnamaan Kasotimala-224)
  3. Divergent thinking- Divergent thinking of semantic units (Prajnamaan Kasotimala-331)
  4. Reaction Time- online test by- humanbenchmark.com
  5. Attention- Symbol cancellation

In physiological domain variables, like sleep pattern (N=30) and heart rate variability (N=24) were also assessed. The pre-intervention assessment consisted of measures on the five psychological tests and physiological parameters of all the participants from control and comparison groups.

The intervention program was designed after repeated discussions with experts from various

fields, such as psychology, physiology, Gayatri Mantra training, to decide the standardization of sitting position, instructions, rhyming, timing, pauses, tone, etc. The intervention program included 4 days of training and 60 days of chanting Gayatri Mantra for 15 minutes, to the comparison group.

The results of this study showed changes in resilience at a significant level (p=0.06) and attention (p= 0.08) where the intervention group showed more improvement in scores than the control group. The rest of the variables- memory, divergent thinking, and reaction time showed no significant difference. Out of the variables measured, positive effects were observed on resting diastolic blood pressure (p < 0.05), total sleep and deep sleep durations (p < 0.05), medical history, and perceived pain, whereas no significant differences occurred in hand-eye coordination and breath-holding time.Ambulatory blood pressure increased (p < 0.05) and heart-rate variability decreased (p < 0.05) during the actual chanting. No adverse effects were observed during the intervention.The results of this study showed directions for further focused trials in relation to different physiological and psychological illnesses. The outcome of such interventions can be used for lifestyle and healthcare improvement.

Principal Investigator – Dr. Dhanajay Kelkar

Co-Investigators – Dr. SujalaWatve, Dr. Sanjay Phadke

Research Associates – Dr. Shubhankar Kulkarni, Isha Kanhere

Yoga Trainer – Shraddha Rajwaday

Advisor – Dr. Pramod Patil

Duration – 1 year

(A collaborative project of Jnana Prabodhini Samshodhan Sanstha and Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital & Research Center)

Papers-

1)Honap, S., Shepal, V., Paranjpe, M. (2019). Gender Differences in Emotional and Moral

Responses among Children. Indian Journal of Social Work, Vol. 80 (1)

2) Honap, S., Shepal, V., Paranjpe, M. (2019). Effect of Comprehensive Child Development

Program (CCDP) on Cognitive and Interpersonal Responses among Middle Aged Children: A

Gender based study. Indian Journal of Psychology and Education, Vol. 9(2), ISSN-231-1432

3) Phalnikar, P., Lavalekar, A., Pande, K. (2019). Work life balance, positive affect, and life

satisfaction of paramilitary personnel. The Indian Police Journal, 66(3), 45-54.

4) Jagtap, P.R. (2020). Determinants of Mental Health of Adolescent Girls in Pune City. Journal

of Pyschosocial Research, 15(1), ISSN : 0973-5410 | e-ISSN : 0976-3937