Opinion Leadership in India, A Study of Interpersonal Communication in Eight Villages.

Autor/in	Sen, Lalit K.
Institution	Michigan State Univ., East Lansing. Dept. of Communication.; National Inst. of Community Development, Hyderabad (India).
Titel	Opinion Leadership in India, A Study of Interpersonal Communication in Eight Villages.
Quelle	(1969), (68 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Monographie
Schlagwörter	Communication (Thought Transfer); Diffusion; Group Norms; Indians; Individual Characteristics; Informal Leadership; Innovation; Interpersonal Relationship; Leadership Qualities; Opinions; Rural Areas; Socioeconomic Influences; Structural Analysis + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Communication; thought; Kommunikation; Gedanke; Inder; Personality characteristic; Personality traits; Persönlichkeitsmerkmal; Interpersonal relation; Interpersonal relations; Interpersonelle Beziehung; Zwischenmenschliche Beziehung; Führungseigenschaft; Lehrmeinung; Rural area; Ländlicher Raum; Sozioökonomischer Faktor; Strukturanalyse
Abstract	A part of a larger study on "Diffusion of Innovations in Rural Societies" conducted in Brazil, Nigeria, and India during 1966-1968, this particular study is based on opinion leadership provided by 680 farmers in 8 Indian villages. In these villages, opinion leaders comprise the primary source of basic information and play a very significant role in the day-to-day life of the ordinary villager. Personal characteristics of opinion leaders and nonleaders are compared. Leaders were found to be more progressive and more in contact with the outside world. It was found that opinion leaders have a higher caste status and a higher level of living than nonleaders. In the 8 sample villages, formal leadership and opinion leadership were found to overlap. It was also found that opinion leadership in Indian villages is polymorphic. Leaders in more modern villages were found to be more innovative than leaders in more traditional villages. It is concluded that communication flows vertically from leaders at the top of the village power hierarchy to the lower strata. The importance of opinion leaders as key communicators, particularly where the availability and use of mass media are limited, is revealed in this study. (SW)
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC