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Perceptions of Economic Status and Social Stigma among Beggars: Implications for Health

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Abstract

In India, extreme economic inequalities with a sizeable population below the poverty line are the harsh realities forcing a section to beg for their survival and existence. The paper reports beggars’ perception of social–economic status and their stigmatization. The participants were 58 beggars (male 27 and female 31) who earned their living by begging on the streets, around the temples of Allahabad, a middle size city of northern India. Each participant was contacted and interviewed to complete the Social Stigma Scale which included perceived economic status, social stigma, attribution of causality, and coping. The participants attributed their condition to God’s wishes, fate, and rated negative personal identity. Humiliation and fate attributions were the most significant predictors of both physical and psychological health. The results facilitate our understanding of the beggars’ socio-economic status, their marginalization in society and provide insights for their rehabilitation.

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Data Availability

The data are available with authors and will be provided on a reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the support to carry out the project to the Centre of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences and Advanced Centre of Psychology, University of Allahabad.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Delhi, Delhi, 110007, India

    Alka Bajpai

  2. Government Nursery Training College, Prayagraj, India

    Nandita Tripathi

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  1. Alka Bajpai
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  2. Nandita Tripathi
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Contributions

AB and NT conceptualized the study, reviewed and finalized the study protocols. AB analyzed the data, and wrote the first and the final manuscript draft. Both the authors reviewed and accepted the final manuscript draft.

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Correspondence to Alka Bajpai.

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All procedures performed in this study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee, APAs ethical standards for psychological research, and the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Bajpai, A., Tripathi, N. Perceptions of Economic Status and Social Stigma among Beggars: Implications for Health. Psychol Stud (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12646-023-00728-4

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