Sunday 14 February 2016

ATTRACTION, CHARACTERISTICS OF THE INDIVIDUAL



1. Introduction
Human beings are social in nature, and they always have the tendency to be in union with others. This dependence is the core of their existence. This very concept gives wider scope to the subject. Interpersonal attraction is a person’s desire to approach another person. “This interpersonal attraction helps the human being to be the part of the groups and the individuals”[1]. Having close social ties is associated with being happier & more satisfied, and not having them with loneliness, depression, worse physical health, and earlier death. This could be also considered as the motivational stage or the desire to approach so now let us discuss the subject elaborately.
2. Definition
“Attraction is the desire and the motive, which activates and directs people to seek the company of others or to be in communion with them”[2]. This could consider as the best definition for attraction. As the result of attraction we could see a lot of examples in our everyday life the momentary groups which form by the wayside, corners, hotels etc… these types of groups considered as the unorganized groups. We could also see organized groups such as societies, social institutional clubs etc…
3. Theories of Attraction
3.1 Reinforcement Affect Model
This theory tells that “the positive feelings in some ones presence increase attraction to that person while the negative feeling decrease the attraction[3]”.here the emotion stands as the norm for the attraction. It is no matter that the affect (emotion) is produced by the person or simply by association, positive emotional experiences reinforce being with that person and it increase the attraction. According to reinforcement affect model theory the ultimate cause of attraction to other lies in our own emotional reactions. This theory is introduced by Donn & Byrne.

3.2 Balance Theory
This theory is introduced by Fritz Heider. The theory tells that, people expect and desire consistency a balance in their thoughts, feelings, and social relationships[4]. According to this theory the balanced relationships are rewarding were as the imbalanced is unpleasant. This balance is between two people created by reciprocity[5] between what we give and what we receive. We are mainly attracted to those who believe are attracted to us. We also maintain balance by liking someone whose relationships with others are similar to ours. Thus we are attracted to a friend of our friends and to an enemy of our enemies.
3.3 Reward Theory of Attraction
According to the reward theory of attraction “those who reward us, or whom we associate with rewards, we like. If relationship gives more rewards than costs, we will like it and will wish to continue. This will be especially true if the relationships are truer than the alternative relationships”[6]. As we take into account the very concept of attraction there are two mechanisms of interpersonal attraction. Direct Reward, Attraction by Association Albert and Bernce Lott say that we are attracted to the individuals whose presence is rewarding to us. This reward will be the boost for the process of attraction. This rewarding can be classified as three. Rewarding Behaviors, Rewarding Characteristics, Access to External Reward. A person may shower us with attention, support, understanding and other rewarding behavior. These rewarding behaviors will become the cause for the attraction. There are also some rewarding characteristics Such as persons beauty, intelligence, or sense of humor, are pleasant to behold. Some time the access to the external rewards such as money, fame, status will stand as the rewarding experience.
Attraction by association is a mechanism of interpersonal attraction by which people will become attracted to people when they happen to associate with a positive rewarding experience
4. Characteristics of the Individuals
There are three characteristics that influence a person’s readiness to approach another people.
4.1 Self esteem
The notion that self esteem a person’s evaluation of his or her own worth, affect attraction to others has a long history in psychology.[7] Sigmund Freud and Teodore Reck traced the source of interpersonal attraction back to dissatisfaction with oneself. But Karen honey and harry stack Sallivan disagreed on the point and supported feeling secure and attraction emerges attraction. There by the fight started does attraction follow form weakness or from the strength? The researchers say that both the low and strong self esteem can affect the attraction to others. When we take into account the people of high self esteem have the confidence to pursue potential social rewards, despite of their risk and failures. But in the case of people with low self esteem will have the long for positive reward from others. But it may be affected with the fear of rejection. So they will have more deficiency in attaining them.
4.2 Social Motives
According to the Henry, Murray David, Meclelland and MC Adams there are two types of social motives that prompt people to seek out social contact. They are need for affiliation (NAff), and the need for intimacy (NInt).as we speak of the need for affiliation it is the desire to establish and maintain many rewarding and interpersonal relationships. The need for intimacy means it is the preference for calm, close communicative relations. The need for affiliation inspires active, controlling social behavior with an emphasis on breadth and quality of social contacts.[8] The people with strong need for affiliation communicate with other more than the people with weaker need for affiliations. For example the social events like parties provide an opportunity for people to satisfy their need for affiliation by enjoying a large no of social contacts within a short period of time. As we compare to the people with low need for intimacy and strong need, it is clear that second group has more trust and confidence in their relationships and experiences a greater sense of well being.     On the other hand the need for intimacy gives increase to more passive, less controlling, social behavior with an emphasis on the depth and quality of social relations.
4.3 Social Deficiencies
Need for affiliation and intimacy can be considered as the positive social motives because they prompt people to seek the rewards of social interactions despite of the possible failures and rejections that could be happen in this process. There are also some troubling sides for attraction. People may want to approach someone but they fear to do so. It is a common phenomena and a painful one. So now let us discuss on the social deficiencies that withdraw people to approach someone whom they desired to do so.
     4.3.1Social Anxiety
In simple words social anxiety is a feeling of discomfort in the presence of others often accompanied by social awkwardness and the tendency to avid social situations.[9]
Shyness, social awkwardness, etc… could be considered as the causes for social anxiety. People with social anxiety will be afraid to be in a situation where there are full of strangers, meet people at parties etc... This anxiety may cause in them in making an unpleasant social interactions.
       4.3.2 Loneliness: Feeling Isolated
It is feeling of deprivation produced by existing social relations such as taking a network of friends or a single intense relationship. It is a common in all the social deficiencies. This can be happen in any time it is just a physical isolation. It is deprivation produced by existing social relations. Here the individual desires to something different than something that is available at present. There are two kinds of loneliness social isolation and emotional isolation. In social isolation persons wants to have relatives and friends but it is not there. In emotional isolation a person wants but does not have a single intense relationship.[10] We could see loneliness in widowed divorced people because they are in loss of their close relationship. Social anxiety is also a cause for the loneliness because a person having social anxiety always seeks for the company of others but the fear in him won’t allow him to do so. In this way he will be isolated.
5. Situation
As we see in the present day world we could see a lot of news regarding the love affairs. The most recent news “Delhi has highest number of suicide cases over ‘love affairs[11] Last year, the national capital witnessed the highest number of suicides over ‘love affairs’ among 55 cities, according to a report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), which analyzed data on reported cases of suicides in these cities.[12] These love affairs are the after effect of the attraction that people had in between them. These attractions will be mainly physical. Once they lose their dear ones or have misunderstanding in between them or the break up “whether the break up is long and painful or relatively rapid is found to depend on the amount of attraction the two individuals feel. Thus, a very loving relationship that fails lead to more unpleasantness, fear and loneliness”[13]   it will lead them to be isolated in their life thereby they end up their life in committing suicide. Mostly the women have got the more tendencies to end their life than the men. A good counseling could be considered as the best solution for this problem.
6. Bibliography
Baron, A. Robert, Donn Byrne, Jerry Suls. Exploring Social Psychology, Boston, Allyn and Bacon, 1989.
Brehm, S. Sharon, Saul M. Kassin. Social Psychology, Boston, Houghton Milflin Company, 1990.
Ghorpade, M. B, Essentials of Social Psychology, Bombay, Himalaya Publishing House 1979.
Myers, G. David, Prem Sahajpal, Pushpita Behera. Social Psychology. New Delhi, McGraw-Hill Offices, 2012.




[1] Brehm. Social Psychology , 198.
[2] Ghorpade, Essentials of Social Psychology, 31.
[3] Brehm. Social Psychology , 199.
[4] Brehm. Social Psychology, 199.
[5] Giving back what we receive for example liking those who like us.
[6] Myers, Social Psychology, 312
[7] Brehm. Social Psychology , 201.
[8] Brehm. Social Psychology ,  202.
[9] Brehm. Social Psychology ,  204.
[10] Brehm. Social Psychology, 207.
[11]http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/delhi-has-highest-number-of-suicide cases-over-love-affairs-report/#sthash.5R2fDayW.dpuf

[12] http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/delhi-has-highest-number-of-suicide-cases-over-love-affairs-report/#sthash.5R2fDayW.dpuf

[13] Baron, Exploring Social Psychology, 151.

Sunday 17 January 2016

Issues in the Rehabilitation of the Dalits
Introduction
The word Dalit refers to the situation of group of people who are down trodden, ground, and split, exploited and misused etc… they are the people who stand outside of the caste system of the Hindu religion. Most popularly they are known as the “untouchables”. Taking account of the Karma theory M. C. Ray gives a beautiful explanation for the emergence of the Dalits it says that “Dalits are born from the earth and we shall go back to the earth.”[1] They consider themselves as the belongingness of earth and it is their source of energy in different realms of life. Dalits are bound with their regional, linguistic, and historical identity. When we consider the situation of India they are known as in different names in different states of India Praiyars, Pallars, Chakkiliars of Tamil Nadu, Mahars of Maharashtra, Ad Dhaharmi of Punjab etc…[2] They are different in nature but politically or socially they all come under the category of Dalits, untouchables, etc… If we take in to the consideration of society every where the inferiors are ground trodden by the inferiors same as in the case of Dalits- inferiors.
 The sufferings of the Dalit people in the hands of the dominant castes is inexplicable especially the way of Brahmanism and Brahmins have oppressed the Dalit communities is inscrutable.[3] They were under slavery, thralldom of the Brahmins.
An untouchable must confirm the status of a inferior in society by making identity for the same such as a) having a contemptible name, not wearing clean cloths, not having tiles roof, not wearing silver and gold ornament.[4] They were not allowed to sit on the chair in the presence of a Hindu and they were bound to salute them. Any violation of these rules considered as great offence and they were put to severe punishments.
Devadasi system was the one of the great sufferings the at the Dalit women faced throughout their life. Many Dalit girls were dedicated to Yellamma to become a prostitute in the temple and to satisfy the sexual needs of the high caste men. Beautiful girls of the Dalit communities- untouchables were misused and embraced by the high caste as they proclaim untouchablity and purity. The new married girls of the Dalit community were misused by the high caste before they jointed to the marital relationships.
Like this there were a lot of problems faced by the Dalit community. When the days pass by them themselves fond the necessity to protest against the injustice happen to them as a result many leaders came out of them. Srinarayana Guru (1855-1928), is one among them. Being a member of Ezhava community he started a religion for the Ezhava community[5] as they were in the situation that did not allow them to enter into the temple. Ayyan kali (1863-1940) is a leader of Pulaya community in Kerala. E. V. Periyar Ramaswamy Nai, Jotiba Phule (1827-1920), Ghasi Das (1756-1836) B. R. Ambedkar, etc… are some other leaders who came out from the outcastes to release the people from slavery. They stood for the right of their community and collected people for the same. As they moved forward they found a lot of difficulty in their journey.
This was the main problem faced by the dalit community because “behind knowledge there is power”[6]. They were not powered because of their lack of knowledge. So they could not protest for anything and they just remained as inactive. Their illiteracy made them calm and quiet for the injustice happened to them.
            Untouchablity is a matter of inter- relationship among the society actors. In spite of changes in the external world sadly the attitude of the high castes and their expectations from those whom they considered as untouchable have remained basically the same.[7]
            The idea put by the B. R. Ambedkar- mixed marriage faced lot of obstacles even in the present society. The mixed marriage couples were put to death as punishment. These punishments were given in the public. Most of the policies of the rehabilitation of the dalit people seem to be silent due to the barriers in communication dalits were geographically depressed and they were divided this washer problem faced in rehabilitation because it was a difficult task to bring all of them together. All this divided sub groups are different in nature, worship, customs etc…
            Most of the families of dalit protested against educating their children because they found to be easy to send their children for work rather to educate them so they could earn something for their family. Children too did not find any meaning for going to school in the initial stage. They just wandered in the forests and fields.
Conclusion
Reservation for the scheduled castes and is an important aspect of the modern Indian political history. It is a constitutional provision which has generated a lot of debate form the time of its farming. These debates reveal also the conflicts and contradictions in the Indian society stemming from the system of caste. The roots of reservation policy lie in the awakened consciousness that the upper caste and classes retain all the powers, with the little room for the weaker ones.  It is a measure contemplated to compensate the old age discriminations practiced against the dalits and to empower them by creating a society based on the principle of society equality.[8]
Bibliography
M. C, Raj. Dalitology. Shanthinagar, Ambedkar Resource Centre, 2001.
Wilfred, Felix. Dalit Empowerment. Bangalore, NBCLC, 2007.





[1] M. C, Dalitology, 49
[2] M. C, Dalitology, 12
[3] M. C, Dalitology, 78
[4] Babasaheb Ambedkar, writings and speeches, 21-22
[5] M. C, Dalitology, 422
[6] M. C, Dalitology, 468
[7] Wilfred, Dalit empowerment, 14
[8] Sathe, Pattens of Affirmative Action, 754-765