The "Downside" of Women Empowerment in India: An Experimental Inquiry into the Role of Expectations

Autor/in	van Kempen, Luuk
Titel	The "Downside" of Women Empowerment in India: An Experimental Inquiry into the Role of Expectations
Quelle	In: Social Indicators Research, 94 (2009) 3, S.465-482 (18 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0303-8300
DOI	10.1007/s11205-009-9442-9
Schlagwörter	Empowerment; Females; Self Help Programs; Foreign Countries; Poverty; Field Studies; Negative Attitudes; Expectation; Social Indicators; Correlation; Quality of Life; Aspiration; Goal Orientation; Achievement; Economic Development; India + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Weibliches Geschlecht; Self help programmes; Selbsthilfebewegung; Ausland; Armut; Praxisforschung; Negative Fixierung; Expectancy; Erwartung; Social indicator; Sozialer Indikator; Korrelation; Lebensqualität; Streben; Zielorientierung; Zielvorstellung; Performance; Leistung; Wirtschaftsentwicklung; Indien
Abstract	The paper reports on a field experiment conducted among poor women organized in self-help groups in the north-east of India. The experiment tests in a simple game whether overly optimistic expectations with respect to the benefits of exercising agency reduces one's appreciation of remaining with agency in the future. If so, unrealistic expectations may trigger behaviour that jeopardizes empowerment processes. It is hypothesized that negative emotions, such as disappointment, bring about such risks. We find that overstretched expectations may indeed work against empowerment if the gap between achieved and expected outcomes following increased agency is sufficiently wide. However, modest expectation gaps have the opposite effect and tend to promote attitudes conducive to empowerment. A tentative explanation for this result is offered by combining insights from recent work on the role of aspirations. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10