This is the first volume in an important series entitled 'New Directions in Indian Psychology'. Its primary aim is to bring together the writings of Indian scholars who have contributed to the development of the discipline in the post-colonial period and given it a distinctive Indian voice. Volume 1 is devoted to social psychology, which has been one of the most fertile areas of research in India.
Ajit K Dalal is currently Writer-in Residence at the Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya, Wardha, Maharashtra. He has recently retired as a professor of psychology from the University of Allahabad. He was the Head of Psychology Department (2011–2012) and had held several other academic positions at the university. He was the editor of an international journal, Psychology and Developing Societies (2001–2011). He is also on editorial boards of several other journals.
Professor Dalal received the Fulbright Senior Fellowship in 1982. He worked at the University of California, Los Angeles and at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He is also a recipient of the University Grants Commission’s (UGC) Career Award (1990–1993), Rockefeller Foundation Award (1992) and the Senior Research Fellowship (1998 and 2012) from Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR). He was an adjunct professor at Queen’s University, Canada (1992–1998) and was a visiting faculty at several institutions, including National Institute of Health and Family Welfare, New Delhi; Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and University of Calcutta, Kolkata.
Professor Dalal has published his work in the areas such as causal attribution, health beliefs and healing traditions of India and Indian psychology. He has published about 95 research articles and book chapters. He has also published several books; prominent among them are: Attribution Theory and Research (1988), New Directions in Indian Psychology (Vol. 1) (with G. Misra, 2002), Social Dimensions of Health (with S. Ray, 2005), Handbook of Indian Psychology (with K. R. Rao and A. C. Paranjpe, 2008), New Directions in Health Psychology (with G. Misra, 2011), Qualitative Research on Well-Being and Self-Growth: Contemporary Indian Perspectives (with R. Priya, 2014) and Health Beliefs and Coping with Chronic Diseases (2015).
Girishwar Misra is Professor of Psychology and currently Vice Chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi International Hindi University, Wardha. Some of his recent publications are: Psychological Perspectives on Stress and Health (2000), Rethinking Intelligence (with A.K. Srivastava, 2007), Psychology and Societal Development, Foundations of Indian Psychology (with Matthijs R. Cornellison and S. Varma, 2011), Psychology in India: Advances in Research, Handbook of Psychology in India (2011), New Directions in Health Psychology (Ajit Dalal, 2012) and Psychology and Psychoanalysis (2013). He is the editor-in-chief of the journal Psychological Studies. He is currently coordinating the Sixth ICSSR Survey of Psychological Research in India as its Chief Editor.
