Self-concept and Quality of Life of Brahmakumaris

Abstract

The concept of self is probably the most distinctive and indispensable concept in psychology of Personality and Social psychology. The core of personality is the self-concept, the concept an individual has of oneself as a person in relation to the world which one lives in. Cattell (1957) referred to Self-concept as the keystone of personality. Its importance stems from its influence over the quality of a person's behaviour and methods of adjustment to life situations. Rogers (1951) and his followers felt that the basic problem of many disturbed people is that their Self-concepts are sources of inner discord. An individual's Self-concept is closely and directly related to his experiences, competence and self-actualization (Tam et al., 2004). In other words an individual's Self-concept and Quality of Life are highly are correlated.Quality of life refers to the degree of excellence in one's life at any period of time that contributes to satisfaction and happiness of the person and benefits the society. The two factors of life are : satisfactory conditions and satisfying conditions. The satisfactory conditions include factors like group cohesiveness, sharing of each others experiences, helping attitudes, understanding and sharing each other's problems, absence of any physical and mental illness etc. The satisfying conditions include factors such as a sense of belongingness, presence of positive attitudes, subjective feeling of physical well being, absence of unhealthy experiences (Verma & Asthana, 2004)Quality of life is a comprehensive and holistic concept. Psychologists generally consider it as individual's satisfaction (Summer, 1976), psychological well being (Andrews & Withey, 1978) and happiness (Easterlin, 1978). Quality of life is defined as individual's perceptions of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards and concerns (WHO, 1995).The quality of life-ordinary life, corporate life, work life or academic life-is not a matter of products but processes and deals with man's satisfaction and dissatisfaction which he derives from his possessions, material or otherwise. The study of quality of life is a systematic study of perceived satisfactions and dissatisfactions in order to identify possible futuristic problematic areas and to measure the progress of existing attitudinal changes. The quality of life can be improved by understanding Self-concept.Studies have reported that Brahmakumaris are women who lead a life of celibacy (Lawrence,! 987) and practice a chastity in marriage (Hodgkinson, 2002; Lochtefeld, 2002) in order to focus energies on the world to come (Murray, 1994). Studies report that Celibacy undertaken for spiritual motive normally produces personalities that are mature, well balanced , serene and particularly suited for a generous self-commitment to others (Torello, 1999). In view of this the Brahmakumaris are expected to have a high positive selfconcept and quality of Life.But there are studies reporting that Sexual satisfaction is an important component of Quality of Life (Derogatis & Derogatis, 1990; Woodward, Hass & Woodward, 2002) or associated with higher Quality of Life (Darling & McKoy,1993; Guelino, Pena, Mishra & Smith, 2001). Being married and having a family life is considered to have a positive effect on Subjective well-being. Many psychological needs of Security, Care and affection are fulfilled by the Family. Married people into Family life view themselves positively and have a higher Quality of life (Gove, Style & Hughes, 1990). If these views are considered then Homemakers who are married and into Family life should have higher positive Selfconcept and Quality of life than Brahmakumaris.In view of these contradictory findings the present study was undertaken to assess and compare the Self-concept and Quality of life of female Brahmakumaris using Homemakers as a Control group. …