Qualitative Assessment of Resilience: Lessons from Rural Women in South India

Abstract

Resilience among women has garnered significant research attention, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2020 United Nations’ theme of "Building rural women’s resilience in the wake of COVID-19" aligned with that of the present study and sought to assess the applicability of the positive cognitive triad and psychological capital lenses in understanding the resilience characteristics of rural women in India. The study involved a diverse group of conveniently selected 31 rural women from the Idukki district, Kerala, South India, spanning an age range of 18 to 74 years. The deductive and inductive analyses of interview transcripts revealed convergence to the proposed positive cognitive triad -psychological capital framework and the emergence of new themes. Notably, gender emerged as a distinct theme that did not align with the operational definition of resilience, highlighting its significance in explaining resilience among Indian rural women. The study acknowledges limitations such as limited generalizability, social desirability bias, and a lack of quantitative data. In conclusion, this research contributes valuable insights to the literature on resilience among Indian rural women, emphasizing the importance of gender-centric and culturally sensitive resilience measures. The study recommends the implementation of such measures to enable a comprehensive assessment of resilience in this population, providing valuable resources for government and non-government agencies to design appropriate psychosocial interventions.