This study examined the health consequences of an indigenous concept "Anāsakti" which means non-attachment. The scale measuring anāsakti was based on the characteristics of a man of steady wisdom "the sthitaprajña", described in the Bhagvad Gītā. It was hypothesised that those higb on anāsakti would experience less distress and exhibit fewer symptoms of strain when faced with stressful life events. Results showèd tbat anāsakt subjects were less distressed and exhibited fewer symptoms of ill health. Anāsakti was also found to be the most significant predictor of strain symptoms.

The main objective of this study was to examine the role of causal beliefs in the psychological recovery of temporarily and permanently disabled accident victims. Patients ( N = 41) from a government hospital and private nursing homes in Allahabad city, India, were interviewed one week and three weeks after the accident. The doctor's report of their recovery was also obtained each time. The permanently disabled patients were found less motivated to search for the causes of the tragic went. When asked to make attribution, permanently disabled attributed the accident more to external factors than those who were temporarily disabled. Chance and God's will were the cause more frequently mentioned. Attributions to K m and God's will were significantly correlated with psychological recovery. The sense of personal control was not found to be a good index of psychological recovery. Number of compliints made by the patients and their depressive symptoms, as observed by the doctors, negatively correlated with the psychological recovery.A great deal of research has accumulated in the last two decades to predict psychological recovery of the victims of tragic events. Much of this work has focussed on affective reactions (Shontz 1975; Weller and A.K. Dabl, N. Pan& / Pvchological recovery reactions to tragic events (see Silver and Wortman 1980). Expressing similar views, Taylor has stated, 'though many systematic attempts are made, our knowledge of those factors that influence our reactions to tragic outcomes is very vague' (1983: 1161). It may further be mentioned that the role of beliefs about self, causality and personal control in the recovery process have not been sufficiently understood. Many of these beliefs have their anchoring in specific socio-cultural context. For example, the principle of Karma,* as expounded in Hinduism, is widely accepted as an explanation for many tragic happenings in one's life. The goal of the present study thus was to examine how these beliefs influence psychological recovery of temporarily and permanently disabled accident victims.How do people react to tragic accidents? The initial reaction may be that of shock and confusion. At the early stage, the impinging reality may seem too overwhelming to allow any luxury of cognitive appraisal of the whole situation. However, subsequent reactions of the victims would depend on the way the causality for that event is attributed. The understanding of these causes gives a sense of personal control over their environment, without which the world would seem random and chaotic. Studies have shown that those who have rather convincing answers to the question, 'why it has happened to me?' are psychologically better off than those who have no such explanations available (Bulman and Wortman 1977; Weisman and Worden 1975).The attribution of causality to the event would determine whether the victim would feel angry, or feel helpless. The victim would experience anger when the cause of the accident is attributed to factors controllable by others (e.g., carelessn...

This study investigates cultural beliefs about physical disability prevalent in a rural community in India. An equal number of respondents (n = 32 each) of Allahabad district were drawn from families having a child with a disability and those having no member with a disability. Interviews were conducted to study disability related attitudes, perceptions and practices. The results reveal that the families with disabled children expressed fatalistic attitudes and external dependence, that is, expected external agencies to cater to their rehabilitation needs. The implications of these findings for developing rehabilitation programmes in rural areas are discussed.

This article presents findings of two studies that investigated coping with physical disability within the multivariate transactional model of stress. In the first study, 30 persons with locomotor disability were interviewed to explore the nature of stressors and coping strategies. In the second study, five scales were administered on a sample of 120 persons with locomotor disability to investigate the role of personal and situational variables in determining the extent of perceived distress and its relationship with coping. The manner in which anāsakti and positive life orientation moderated the relationship between perceived distress and coping was also investigated. The findings revealed that the major stressors which led to distress were ego-related stressors, inability to fulfil traditional gender roles, problems in interpersonal relationships with family and others, physical barriers and deformed body image. Education was found to be the strongest predictor of perceived distress and problem-focused coping was significantly related to lower levels of distress. Moderation analyses showed that with stronger belief in the philosophy of anāsakti and higher positive life orientation, lower levels of distress were strongly related to problem focused coping. The impli-cations of these findings for psycho-social rehabilitation of persons with physical disability are discussed.

Kartavya is an important Indian cultural concept which governs social relationships in India. Kartavya expresses itself as a selfless act in the service of attainment of larger societal good. This article, at first, attempts to locate the concept of kartavya in the Indian religio-philosophical text and follows it up by examining how it is understood by lay people through three life narratives. Finally, an attempt is made to understand its nuanced meaning in relationship with the concepts of anāsakti and duty.