Abstract
This paper investigates the influence of LGBTQIA themed Bollywood movies on societal attitudes towards sexual minorities in India, by employing a mixed-methods approach. Drawing from primary survey data collected through online surveys, we examine participants' attitudes before and after exposure to LGBTQIA themed movies, along with demographic factors. Our findings indicate a significant positive association between exposure to LGBTQIA themed movies and attitudes towards sexual minorities. Participants who watched more LGBTQIA themed movies demonstrated more positive personal attitudes towards the LGBTQIA community compared to those who watched fewer or none. Moreover, exposure to such movies also influenced perceived peer attitudes, suggesting a broader societal impact. Additionally, we analyze the immediate mood effects of watching LGBTQIA themed movies, finding that viewers generally experienced a positive mood post-viewing. Furthermore, while movies played a significant role in shaping attitudes, other factors such as exposure to LGBTQIA communities through NGOs and education also contributed to more positive attitudes.

Keywords: Bollywood, media exposure, peer attitudes, social norms

Suggested citation:
Mehadia, D. and Tagat, A. (2024). Exposure to LGBTQIA in mainstream cinema and changing attitudes and perceptions in India. Monk Prayogshala Economics Working Paper (#024-04).

Abstract
This study advances the exploration of food disgust by examining its relationship with political ideology and moral attitudes towards non-vegetarianism in India. Our non-experimental research delves into the influence of political ideology, vote preference, and trait disgust on aversion towards non-vegetarian food and its consumers, predicting their role in fostering disgust and perceiving these individuals as morally questionable in India. The study reveals insights into the complex relationships between political orientation, personal traits, and dietary attitudes. These findings emphasize the necessity of considering a broader array of factors beyond conventional variables in political and food psychology research, contributing to a more comprehensive understanding of how political ideology and disgust shape attitudes towards non-vegetarianism in India. Limitations have been discussed in detail.

Keywords: disgust, food, moral attitudes, non-vegetarianism, party preference, political ideology

Suggested citation:

Puthillam, A., Rezaei, S., Zahoor, Z., Mange, U., and Kapoor, H. (2024). You Are What You Eat: How Does Political Ideology Predict Disgust Toward Food in India? (Monk Prayogshala Psychology Working Paper #024-02).

Abstract
Anxiety-driven counterfactual thinking can be a slippery slope. Building on the premise that both positive and negative emotions can impact creativity, the present study examines how trait anxiety, optimism, and other mental health factors like therapy experience shape outputs in divergent thinking (DT) tasks. Using an online sample (N = 647), the study introduces counterfactual DT tasks, where participants are prompted to respond to how a situation can either go in their favor (positive) or against it (negative). Although no difference was found in the originality of the responses across the two tasks, the negative counterfactual generated more numerous ideas as compared to the positive one. Results also revealed that trait anxiety, especially when combined with past therapy experience, increases the number of negative counterfactual ideas. In contrast, optimism acts as a protective factor, enabling fewer ideas when combined with past therapy experience or a past mental health diagnosis. Our study challenges the binary view of emotional influences on creativity, highlighting the role of individual differences and experiences in shaping creativity. Diversifying the counterfactual DT tasks and using more refined measures of rumination and mental health history can provide further nuance to this line of research between creativity and anxiety.

Keywords: anxiety; creativity; counterfactual thinking; divergent thinking; therapy

Suggested citation:
Kapoor, H., Rezaei, S., Mahadeshwar, H., and J.C. Kaufman. What Could Go Wrong? Anxiety Fuels, but Optimism Buffers Negative Counterfactual Divergent Thinking, (Monk Prayogshala Psychology Working Paper #024-01).

Abstract
Rumors, conspiracies, and health-related misinformation have gone hand-in-hand with the global COVID-19 pandemic and made accessing reliable and accurate information difficult. Against this background, the present study examined the different psychosocial predictors of believing in conspiratorial information related to general health in India. Indian participants (N = 826) responded to measures related to conspiratorial thinking, trust, moral emotions, political ideology, bullshit receptivity, and belief in conspiratorial information in an online survey. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to determine the validity of the instruments used with an Indian sample. Results revealed that lower socioeconomic status, lower trust in political institutions, greater negative moral emotions, greater conspiratorial thinking, and right-leaning political ideology predicted beliefs in health-related conspiratorial information. In highlighting these potential psychosocial determinants of conspiratorial beliefs, we can move towards combating conspiracies effectively and develop necessary interventions for the same. Future work can focus on those areas and assess the moderating effects of political ideology on conspiratorial beliefs in India

Keywords: bullshit receptivity, conspiratorial thinking, health misinformation, political ideology, trust

Suggested citation:
Kapoor, H., Gurjar, S., Mahadeshwar, H., Mehta, N. and Puthillam, A. (2023). Do You Trust the Rumors? Examining the Determinants of Health-Related Misinformation in India (Monk Prayogshala Psychology Working Paper #023-08).

Abstract
Information sharing is often driven by social, legal, and financial incentives. To understand online information-sharing behaviour, the present study assessed whether incentivizing people to share “good” and factual content and disincentivizing the sharing of misinformation influenced information sharing. A mock social media platform was created where participants were shown posts that they could share, react to (using emojis), or choose ‘read more’ to get more information. Participants (N = 908) were divided into two groups where they received either financial (micropayments) or social (followers) incentives for each true information they shared. Results showed that incentivization, regardless of the type, encouraged people to share more true information; however, the two incentivised groups did not differ in their sharing behaviour, of all posts, regardless of veracity. Further, older and more educated individuals and those with a right-leaning political ideology were more likely to share posts, with the latter being more likely to react to posts as well. Limitations and future directions are discussed

Keywords: incentives, information-sharing, misinformation, social media, web monetization

Suggested citation:
Kapoor, H., Rezaei, S., Gurjar, S., Tagat, A., George, D., Budhwar, Y., & Puthillam, A. (2023). Does incentivization promote sharing “true” content online?. Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) Misinformation Review. https://doi.org/10.37016/mr-2020-120

Abstract
Often, creativity is associated with only artistic talent (known as the art bias) resulting in a failure to recognize it or its potential in non-artistic areas. The present study examined the art bias across artistic, scientific, business-oriented, and conventional occupations using implicit and explicit methods. In a mixed design, participants (N = 722) responded to one of six Implicit Association Tests (where two occupations were paired with creative and mundane words), explicit measures of bias towards creativity across occupations, and creative self-efficacy in the same occupations. Results indicated that artistic occupations (e.g., poet) were most likely to be implicitly and explicitly endorsed as creative compared to all other occupations. There was no difference in perceived creativity among scientific and business-oriented occupations; however, conventional ones were uniformly assessed as the lowest on creativity. Further, one’s creative self-efficacy in specific occupations contributed to explicit creativity bias across all four occupations. These results can aid the field of vocational psychology and direct future research on interventions that recognize and curb art bias

Keywords: art bias; creativity, creative domains; creative self-efficacy; implicit attitudes

Suggested citation:
Kapoor, H., Gurjar, S., Rezaei, S., Mahadeshwar, H., and Kaufman, J.C. (2023). Who’s the Most Creative of Them All?: Art Bias in Laypersons' Explicit and Implicit Beliefs (Monk Prayogshala Psychology Working Paper #023-06).

Abstract
A number of conspiracy theories have been circulating about the COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic. In three studies, we assessed the relationship between ideology, partisanship, and conspiracy beliefs about COVID-19. Study 1 assessed the mediating role of conspiratorial blame on the relationship between political ideology and risk perception among US Americans and Indians. We found that conspiracy beliefs mediated this link only among US Americans. We also assessed the mediating role of conspiracy beliefs and trust in media on the relationship between partisanship and preventative health behaviors (Study 2a), including vaccination status (Study 2b) in India. Trust in traditional and non-traditional media and conspiracy theories both mediated the relationships between partisanship and necessary health behaviors (e.g., wearing a mask), but not non-necessary health behaviors (e.g., home remedies). It can be argued that temporal and contextual information need to be explored in cross-cultural examinations. Implications are discussed.

Keywords: political ideology, conspiratorial thinking, COVID-19, risk perception, health behaviors, vaccine hesitancy

Suggested citation:
Puthillam, A., Kapoor, H., and Mahadeshwar, H. (2023). They caused the pandemic! Conspiratorial blame, political beliefs, trust, and health behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic (Monk Prayogshala Psychology Working Paper #023-05).

Abstract
This paper studies the impact of a discrepancy between the language spoken at home and the medium of instruction at school on educational outcomes using nationally representative sample surveys in India. Our sample consists of more than 100,000 students attending educational institutions. Using a fixed effects regression model, we find that language discrepancy is negatively associated with grade repetition among boys, and is not statistically significant for girls. Subgroup analyses suggest that results are driven by urban, relatively wealthier households residing in Hindi-speaking states. Implications for policies such as the recently proposed National Education Policy (NEP) are discussed.

Keywords: Native language instruction, education outcomes, National Education Policy (NEP), English language skills

Suggested citation:
Samaddar, B. and Tagat, A. (2023). Language capital and grade repetition: Evidence from nationally-representative survey data in India (Monk Prayogshala Sociology Working Paper #023-04).

Abstract
Violence against women is a complex phenomenon that is deeply embedded in Indian society. In this mixed methods paper, court records data (2005-2010) from two sites in Maharashtra, India along with in-depth interviews with stakeholders were analyzed to examine the implementation of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 (PWDVA). Out of 77.28% married women who filed a case under the PWDVA, 60.28% of them reported dowry-related harassment. Maharashtra has the social infrastructure in place to implement the law, although optimal use needs to be ensured for speedy delivery of justice

Keywords: Domestic Violence; Intimate Partner Violence; Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act (2005); Maharashtra; legal process; Court Records Data

Suggested Citation:
Panchal, T. J., Thusoo, S., Inamdar, V., & Balaji, A. (2023). Domestic violence and the law: a study of complaints under the protection of women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 in Maharashtra, India. Violence Against Women, 10778012231188091.

Abstract
This paper uses nationally representative household survey data between June 2019 and 2020 from India to examine changes in household consumption expenditure following the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. We find that across rural and urban households, there was a strong reduction in overall expenditures, in particular related to food and health. This corroborates findings from existing literature on food insecurity during the first lockdown in India (March – April 2020), and provides the first set of estimates on changes in health expenditure for this period. Although there were expansions to health insurance and subsidized COVID-related health care costs in India, our findings likely do not reflect this. We discuss implications for policy and outline future work

Keywords: pandemic, out-of-pocket health expenditures, rural, consumption shocks

Suggested citation:
Balaji, A., & Tagat, A. (2023). Unhealthy Shock: Changes in Household Expenditures in the First Wave of COVID-19 in India. Journal of Health Management, 25(1), 77-86.

Abstract
This paper examines the links between financial literacy and financial inclusion in India between 2015 and 2018 using aggregated district-level data from 157 districts. We explore heterogeneities by gender using data from districts where there are a large number of female-majority households. We find a strong and positive association between financial literacy and inclusion, and a small positive impact of the demonetization policy experiment on inclusion. The subgroup analyses by gender suggest that these results are indeed driven by the districts in which there are more female-majority households. Limitations of the current work and implications for policy are discussed

Keywords: financial markets, demonetization, Goods and Services Tax, gender

Suggested Citation:
Acharya, A., Khandelwal, A. and Tagat, A. (2023). Financial literacy and inclusion in India: Evidence from district-level data after demonetization (Monk Prayogshala Economics Working Paper #023-01).

Abstract

With the aggravation of COVID-19 pandemic, there is increasing reliance on mitigation strategies such as compliance of COVID-19 behaviors (masking, social distancing, sanitizing, and so on). Political ideology reflects the way people conduct themselves in the social world, affecting their decisions and actions, including those pertaining to health care. Thus, maximizing COVID compliant behaviors mandates an understanding of its sociopolitical context. Study 1 aims to investigate the role of political ideology and collective narcissism in predicting COVID-19 policy support, physical hygiene, and social distancing in India. While political ideology was not associated with COVID-19 compliant behaviors, collective narcissism was found to significantly predict policy support and physical hygiene. However, considering the multi-party system in India, most people (apart from political elites) are not politically sophisticated enough to self-locate on an ideology scale. Thus, study 2 aimed to understand whether district-level partisanship affects mobility during COVID-19 in India. Results indicate that during the first wave of COVID-19 (May-October, 2020), there was a greater change in the amount of time spent at the places of residence in districts based on the partisanship. Further, during the second wave (April-June, 2021), partisanship predicted a higher change in mobility to groceries and pharmacies.

Keywords: collective narcissism, political ideology, COVID-19, preventative health behaviors, mobility

Citation: Puthillam, A., Mehta, N., Rezaei, S., Ticku, A., and Kapoor, H. (2022). Dutiful Citizens: Predictors of COVID-19 Policy Compliant Behavior in India. (Monk Prayogshala Psychology Working Paper #022-05).

Abstract

To conceptualize what makes a scientific hero, this study draws on three areas of literature – the social psychology of science, empirical estimates of scientific productivity, and theories of heroism. We qualitatively explore whether the stages of becoming a scientific hero correspond to Campbell’s stages of heroism. Through quantitative analyses, we determine for whom a scientist becomes a hero, in terms of popularity among immediate peers as well as the larger general public. Using a mixed method approach, we understand whether the establishment of a scientific hero is characterized by their scientific achievements, their popular representations, or both. Implications are discussed.

Keywords: bibliometrics; citation analysis; heroism; Nobel Prize; hero’s journey; monomyth

Citation:

Sanil, M., Kapoor, H., Tagat, A., and Desai, M. (2022). Nobel Laureates as Heroes in Science: A Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis (Monk Prayogshala Psychology Working Paper #022-04).

Abstract

Political ideology reflects the way people conduct themselves in the social world, affecting their decisions and actions, including those pertaining to health care. The current study aimed to understand whether district-level partisanship affects mobility during COVID-19 in India, a pluralistic and multi-party country. The study used secondary data from the 2019 Indian general elections and the COVID-19 Community Mobility Reports (2020, 2021) by Google. Results indicate that during the first COVID-19 wave in India (May-October, 2020), there was a greater change in the amount of time spent at the places of residence in districts based on the partisanship of its representative. Further, during the peak of the second wave (April-June, 2021), partisanship predicted a higher change in mobility to groceries and pharmacies. Gender of the district-level representative also played a role in the relationship between partisanship and mobility during the pandemic.

Keywords: partisanship, mobility, COVID-19, big data, preventive health behaviours

Citation:

Mehta, N., Rezaei, S., Puthillam, A. and Kapoor, H. (2022). Impact of Partisanship on Mobility in India during COVID-19 (Monk Prayogshala Psychology Working Paper #022-03).

Abstract

This study explores the relationship between women’s empowerment, intimate partner violence (IPV), and child nutritional outcomes (CNOs) using nationally representative datasets (Demographic and Health Surveys) from three South Asian countries - India, Pakistan, and Nepal. This study hypothesizes that lower empowerment or autonomy of women in select South Asian countries affects child nutritional outcomes directly, and also via an increased exposure to IPV, accounting for potential country-level variations. This study uses a multivariate probit approach to investigate a direct and indirect effect of women’s empowerment and autonomy on child malnourishment (stunting, wasting, and underweight). Across the three countries analyzed we find a strong statistically significant effect of improvements in decision-making power on increase in likelihood of facing certain types of IPV. A strong negative relationship between facing less severe violence in particular and CNOs across all countries was found, indicating that such violence experienced by mothers was found to be detrimental to CNOs. Increasing women’s decision-making power within the household can help ameliorate adverse CNOs, and in India particularly, this increase in decision-making autonomy reduced the incidence of stunting and underweight children. The study concludes with limitations and directions for future work.

Keywords: intimate partner violence, child nutrition, women’s empowerment, South Asia

Citation:

Inamdar, V., Tagat, A., and Parekh, A. (2022). The Effect of Women’s Empowerment on Intimate Partner Violence and Child Nutrition Outcomes in India, Nepal and Pakistan (Monk Prayogshala Sociology Working Paper #022-02).

Abstract

Rationale: India experienced a deadly second wave of COVID-19 infections starting May 2021. As of December 2021, only 56% of the adult population was fully vaccinated against COVID-19, with substantial heterogeneity across states. Given the emergence of a new variant as well as ongoing efforts to boost vaccination rates, an examination of the behavioural factors associated with low vaccine uptake is warranted. Objectives: This paper aimed to study the determinants of the willingness to get vaccinated in India and examine the relationship between engagement in preventive behaviours and vaccine uptake. Methods: A large-scale online survey covering aspects of preventive behaviours related to COVID-19, vaccination status, other COVID-19-related behaviours, moral emotions, trust in others, role models, and socio-demographic characteristics was used. A total of N = 953 Indian residents participated in the survey between May and June 2021, of which N = 770 contained valid data on vaccination status. Results: Past preventive health behaviors such as avoiding social gatherings, higher interpersonal trust, and moral emotions, like gratitude and contempt, robustly predicted the willingness to take a COVID-19 vaccine, in both vaccinated (at least one dose) and unvaccinated samples. Results also showed that those who were not vaccinated were less likely to adhere to other preventive health behaviors, such as wearing a mask; past COVID-19 infection status was associated with similar lower adherence to preventive health behaviors. Conclusions: Given the strong associations between positive moral emotions, like gratitude, and vaccine uptake (especially in the unvaccinated subsample), targeted communication interventions can be developed to boost uptake in jurisdictions with low vaccination rates..

Keywords: COVID-19, moral emotions, preventive health behaviors, social norms, vaccine hesitancy

Citation:

Tagat, A., and Kapoor, H. (2022). Thank You for Getting Vaccinated! Moral Emotions, Role Models, and Trust Predict Vaccine Uptake in India (Monk Prayogshala Psychology Working Paper #022-01).

Despite making improvements in economic growth and poverty reduction in India there is little evidence of improvement in education and health indicators of human capital. We use data from various sources to construct a novel state-level measure of the Human Capital Index to highlight the shortfall in terms of human capital at sub-national levels in India. The results indicate that there is a large gap among the states Our measure of HCI for India is consistent with the country-level measure in that we find similar correlations between HCI and other indicators of economic growth. We conclude with implications for policy in a country like India, where health policy is the mandate of state governments.

Keywords: education, health, survival, South Asia

JEL Codes: O15, H75, I15, I20, C43

Citation:

Chakraborty, A., Tagat, A., and Roy Mukherjee, S. (2021). State-level estimates of the Human Capital Index for India (Monk Prayogshala Economics Working Paper #021-08).

A hundred years since the first mention of the word empathy in the English language, scientists and philosophers have been unable to arrive at a common consensus on its precise definition. Common wisdom associates empathy with vicarious emotional arousal or altruism. This study conducts a systematic review of research work in business studies dealing with empathy. The method used comprises applying lower-level abstract taxonomy to empathy, for the first time, in external business stakeholder interaction situations of sales, marketing, and customer service. The measurement scales used in the studies are analysed to showcase mental processes at stake during the act of empathy, the theorised functions, and the expected business outcomes of empathy. Implications are drawn for various aspects of managerial decision making. The study suggests a novel framework to execute a more nuanced grade examination of processes involved in empathy and reducing subjectivity in conceptual definitions. The study also calls for overhauling empathy measurement scales, mainly to suit adaptations in empirical business studies.

Keywords: business empathy; sales empathy; marketing empathy; customer service empathy

Citation:

Bhattacharya. M. (2021). Empathy in non-altruistic settings: Conceptualization and operationalization in business (Monk Prayogshala Psychology Working Paper #021-07).

Disgust, as an emotional reaction to aversive stimuli, is thought to be universal; however, specific triggers of disgust may differ across cultures. Even though this has been acknowledged in previous studies, very little research has focused on measurement issues in cross-cultural assessment of disgust. The present study aimed to evaluate measurement equivalence of the three-domain disgust scale in a sample of US Americans and Indians. Specifically, confirmatory factor analysis, for the overall sample, as well as a subsample of Indians and Americans are reported. Next, a multi-group CFA and measurement invariance are tested, along with the size of non-equivalence. Scalar invariance was not found, implying that means cannot be compared across the two countries. However, the scale showed adequate fit in the Indian context, suggesting that it can be used to assess trait disgust sensitivity in India. Finally, item-level differences are noted, and explained via differences in cultural and legal norms.

Keywords: Disgust Sensitivity, Measurement Equivalence, Psychometrics, Cross-cultural psychology, Moral Psychology

Citation

Puthillam, A. (2021). What makes you “Ew!”? Cross-National Measurement Invariance in Disgust Sensitivity (Monk Prayogshala Psychology Working Paper #021-06).

Conservatives are known to display smaller moral circles, have less empathy, and make utilitarian decisions. The present study aimed to understand the relationships between political ideology and empathetic concern (n = 513), and between ideology and moral decision-making (n = 210) in an inter-group setting, using an Indian sample. We measured trait empathetic concern and empathetic concern for the ingroup (i.e., their own religion) and outgroup (i.e., Muslims) using the Interpersonal Reactivity Index, and measured moral decision-making for a non-denominational group and in- and out-group using modified moral dilemmas. We found that right-leaning individuals, in terms of greater adherence to cultural norms, displayed higher levels of trait empathetic concern, as well as that for in- and outgroups; they were also more willing to sacrifice the outgroup to save multiple ingroup members in moral dilemma tasks, and thus made utilitarian moral decisions when sacrificing outgroup lives were concerned. Additionally, those leaning left, in terms of lower adherence to hierarchical structures, showed higher levels of empathetic concern for the outgroup. Implications and future avenues are discussed.

Keywords: political ideology, empathetic concern, social identity theory, moral decision-making, ideology in India

Citation:

Puthillam, A., and Kapoor, H., (2021). Who Cares about the Outgroup? Political Ideology, Empathy, and Moral Decision-Making (Monk Prayogshala Psychology Working Paper #021-05).

The dark triad is associated with maladaptive interactions in their social and interpersonal relationships. Those with high levels of dark personality traits are also assumed to be defectors in social situations. However, it is unclear whether they are able to assess when others are being helpful to them. The present study aimed at understanding whether these individuals are able to perceive help from others, when provided with situations that differentially benefit them. In a multinational sample from over 40 countries (N = 679), we found that in a situation where others are not very helpful, those with high levels of psychopathy and Machiavellianism uniquely assess others as helpful. On the other hand, in a situation where others are helpful, those with high psychopathy assess others as helpful; Machiavellianism and narcissism did not not have a link with appraising helpfulness. Implications are discussed.

Keywords: Dark Triad; prosocial behaviors; interpersonal relationship; helpfulness; psychopathy; interpersonal perception

Citation:

Puthillam, A., & Kapoor, H. (2021). How helpful are you to me? The relationship between the dark triad and appraising help in prosocial situations (Monk Prayogshala Psychology Working Paper #021-01).

This paper adapts existing theoretical frameworks of social norms and their interactions with laws to study the case of rule violations in Indian road traffic. Specifically, we look at the case where existing laws and rules are violated with such regularity that breaking the law becomes the social norm. We investigate this framework in the case of road user behaviour in (urban) India, where road safety and traffic violations have been focus of recent policy changes. We propose that a lack of road discipline and traffic violations have an impact on road safety as well as congestion. These, in turn, have implications for the economic productivity and development of a country, as well as the well-being of its citizens. Our application of the framework suggests conditions of enforcement under which such harmful social norms can be broken. Policy interventions and scope for behaviourally-informed policies targeted at improving road user behaviour are discussed.

Keywords: road safety; mobility; congestion; nudging; expectations

Citation:

George, N., Gupta, N., Kapoor, H., & Tagat, A. (2020). Breaking the Law: Rule Violations as Social Norms on India’s Roads (Monk Prayogshala Economics Working Paper #020-01).