New Directions in Health Psychology critically explores the psychological dimensions of health and well-being in the Indian cultural context.
Beginning with an analysis of the notion of health and well-being, the book goes on to explore the strategies and identify the possible interventions that can be made to promote and facilitate health and well-being in India. The discussion incorporates diverse domains, ranging from physical to spiritual, within which health is conceptualized. It also attends to the issue of health needs of disadvantaged sections in the society, women in particular, and emphasizes on indigenous knowledge in the area of health.
Bringing together articles which are not easily available and providing an entirely new perspective, this book will attract a wide readership in the areas of social psychology, applied psychology, sociology, human development, anthropology, health psychology, clinical psychology and community development.
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.
