Life satisfaction and self-perception among differently abled adults
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Date
2021-08
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
CCSHAU, Hisar
Abstract
The present study was conducted in Hisar and Sirsa districts of Haryana and Ludhiana and Amritsar
districts of Punjab. From each district urban area was taken purposively based on maximum availability
of the sample. List of differently abled working and non- working adults with age range of 18-40 years
along with 40 and above percentage of disability was prepared. Out of list 40 each differently abled
working and non-working adults were taken randomly from selected districts of Haryana and Punjab.
Therefore, a total of 160 differently abled persons from both states were included in the study. Life
satisfaction of respondents was assessed by Life Satisfaction Scale by Alam and Srivastava (2001).
Self- Perception Measuring Scale developed and standardized by Agarwal (2008) was used to assess
the adults’ self-perception. . Psycho-social problems of differently abled adults was explored with help
of self-structured questionnaire Maximum percentage of differently abled adults were male with age of
26-33yrs and were graduate or post graduate. It also illustrates that more number of respondents had no
special education and they were disabled since birth with locomotor disability. Further, maximum
adults had more than 80 percent of disability. Majority of respondents were unmarried and married had
0-2 children. Socio-economic profile of respondents showed that maximum percentage of adults
belonged to general cast category, nuclear families with medium family size and had annual family
income up to Rs.3, 50,000. The research findings illustrated that majority of respondents had high level
of health satisfaction, personal satisfaction and social satisfaction. Whereas, maximum adults had
average level of economic satisfaction, marital satisfaction and composite life satisfaction. However,
greater number of respondents had low level of job satisfaction. Further, majority of differently abled
adults had average level of self-acceptance, self-regard and overall self-perception. Majority of
differently abled adults had medium level of psycho-social problems in all sub-scales i.e. home and
personal life, social life, work/institution life and emotional life. The study found significant
association between caste, occupation, family structure, family income and organization member with
life satisfaction. There is need to build self-confidence among differently abled persons and to promote
inclusion in main stream of social and cultural program. To create a disabled-friendly environment,
more awareness activities for all sections of the community must be organized. Policies and
programmes should be implemented effectively, and job opportunities for differently abled adults
should be enforced in accordance with Persons with Disabilities Act. The formation of self-help group
and Federation of persons with disability will assist them to come together and fight for their rights and
be self-sufficient and self-reliable.