Measurement of Attitude and Behavior of Self-help Group Members: Evaluative Study of Eastern India

Meena, M.S. and Singh, K.M. (2012): Measurement of Attitude and Behavior of Self-help Group Members: Evaluative Study of Eastern India.

Abstract

Emerging challenges in livelihood security necessitate group action; hence, building social capital is the critical in reducing rural poverty in India. Self-help groups (SHGs) have emerged as an effective mechanism of empowerment as well as being an efficient mode of technology dissemination. Therefore, a study was undertaken to measure the attitude and behavior constructs of SHG member. A Likert-type scale developed by Meena et al. (2008) was applied to measure the attitude construct. However, behavior construct was developed consisted of 30-items, for which Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of reliability was observed as 0.80. Data were solicited from one-hundred randomly selected SHG members of Patna district of Bihar state, India.

Study reveals that most of the SHG members were male (53%), aged from 27 to 47 years, had rural background (94%), experienced less than 6 year in SHG (61%), adopted agriculture as prime occupation (61%), educated up to primary level (51%) with low income. A significant change in the attitude of SHG members was observed in the areas viz., socio-economic upliftment, educational and training, marketing and entrepreneurship qualities, technology adoption and participatory research, and credit aspect. Overall, 91% SHG members had a favorable attitude; however 62% SHG members moderately changed in their behavior. The independent variables i.e., age and education had positive and significant correlation with the behavior construct. Henceforth, for addressing the issues of rural poverty, enrichment of the system with social capital through empowerment and formation SHGs; provision of financial and credit support; creation of market-driven and decentralized extension system; use of media-mix for technology transfer, informal education at rural level; conduction of need-based capacity building programmes and strong political will need to be emphasized.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Attitude, Behavior, Self help groups, Eastern India
• Subjects: O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O15 - Human Resources ; Human Development ; Income Distribution ; Migration; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Innovation ; Research and Development ; Technological Change ; Intellectual Property Rights > O31 - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Innovation ; Research and Development ; Technological Change ; Intellectual Property Rights > O33 - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences ; Diffusion Processes

References

Ajzen, I. & Fishbein, M. (1980). Understanding Attitudes and Predicting Social Behavior. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Bhatt, B.P.; Meena, M.S. and Singh, K.M. 2013. Status and Issues of Agriculture in Eastern India.. In: Souvenir released during Agri-Summit, 2013: A Step Towards Second Green Revolution. Ed: U. Kumar and J. Mukherjee. April 8-9, 2013, at ICAR-RCER, Patna. Pp.13-16.

Eagly, A.H. & Chaiken, S. (1993). The Psychology of Attitudes. Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

Holland, R.W., Verplanken, B. & Knippenberg, A. (2002). On the Nature of Attitude Behavior Relations: The Strong Guide, The Weak Follow. European Journal of Social Psychology, 32: 869-876.

Khan, M. A.; Singh, K. M. and Meena, M. S. (2010). “Women Empowerment and Transfer of Agricultural Technologies through Self help Groups”. ICAR-RCER Research Bulletin: M-02/PAT-02/2010. Division of Socio-Economics, & Extension, ICAR-RCER, Patna. P-22.

Likert, R. (1932). A Technique for the Measurement of Attitudes. Archives of Psychology, 140: 44-53.

Meena, M. S., Jain, Dilip and Meena, H. R. (2008). Measurement of Attitudes of Rural Women towards Self-Help Groups. The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension, 14 (3): 217-229.

M.S.Meena, K.M.Singh and M.A.Khan. 2010. Evaluation of Training on Effective Water Management: A Case of Capacity Building of Extension Personnel in Bihar. Journal of Community Mobilization and Sustainable Development, 5 (1): 50-53.

M. S. Meena, K. M. Singh, B. S. Malik, B. S. Meena & Manish Kanwat. 2012. Knowledge Index for Measuring Knowledge and Adopting Scientific Methods in Treatment of Reproductive Problems of Dairy Animals. Journal of Agricultural Science; 4 (10): 81-88.

Meena,M.S. and Singh, K.M. 2011. Measurement of Attitudes of Rural Poor Towards SHGs in Bihar, India, In: Proceedings of International Conference on Innovative Approaches for Agricultural Knowledge Management- Global Extension Experiences , 9-12 Nov, 2011, New Delhi. International Society of Extension Education, Nagpur, India and ICAR, New Delhi. p.402.

Mok, B. H. (2001) Cancer Self-Help Groups in China: A Study of Individual Change, Perceived Benefit and Community Impact. Small Group Research, 32 (2):115-132.

Nylund, M. (2000) The Mixed-Based Nature of Self-Help Groups in Finland. Group Work, 12 (2): 64-85.

Olgyaiova, K., Pongra´cz, E., Mikkola, T., Radoslav Sˇ kapa, R. & Keiski, R.L. (2005) Attitudes toward Waste Minimization in Finland and Czech Republic*Barriers and Drivers. In: Eva Pongra´cz (Ed.), Proceedings of the RESOPT Closing Seminar ‘Waste Minimization and Utilization in Oulu Region: Drivers and Constraints’. Oulu: Oulu University Press, pp. 85-109.

Singh, K M; R K P Singh, M S Meena and Abhay Kumar. 2011. Dimensions of Poverty in Bihar. Paper presented in 7th Asian Society of Agricultural Economists (ASAE) Conference in Hanoi, Vietnam. 13-15 October 2011.

Singh, K M; R K P Singh, M S Meena and Abhay Kumar. 2011. Socio-Economic Determinants of Rural Poverty: An Empirical Exploration of Jharkhand State, India. Paper presented in 7th Asian Society of Agricultural Economists (ASAE) Conference in Hanoi, Vietnam. 13-15 October 2011.

Swanson, B.E. (2006). Extension Strategies for Poverty Alleviation: Lessons from China and India. Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension, 12(4): 285-299. Wilson, T.D. (1998). Multiple Attitudes. Unpublished Manuscript, University of Virginia.

Yadav, L., Varma, S. & Jayanti, N.V. (2006). Capacity Building of Farmwomen: SHGs Approach. Paper Presented in International Conference on Social Science Perspectives in Agricultural Research and Development, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, 15-18 February, pp. 255.