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Stress and Adaptation Among Mumbai Local Train Commuters

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Abstract

The megapolis of Mumbai is home to the world’s most overcrowded local train system. With a footfall of more than seven million every day the number of injuries and fatalities is unrivalled as well. The effects of rush hour commuting were examined among 300 regular commuters on all three of the Mumbai local train lines. A questionnaire was created to assess commute difficulty and stress. Respondents were contacted at their work place to participate in the study. Commuting stress as well as adaptive coping was investigated. Cognitive appraisal of the situation was the biggest contributor to adaptive coping, while trait resilience and lower general stress levels were protective factors that lowered the negative impact of commute. Gender emerged as a factor with women experiencing a greater negative impact of the commute.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all the participants for their time and insights and Prof M Gupta for discussions.

Funding

UGC funding for PhD (FDP).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, VES College of Arts, Science & Commerce, Chembur, Mumbai, India

    Radhika Mohan

  2. Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT, Bombay, India

    Mrinmoyi Kulkarni

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  1. Radhika Mohan
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  2. Mrinmoyi Kulkarni
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Contributions

RM and MK idea and design. RM Collected data. RM and MK data analysis & write up.

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Correspondence to Radhika Mohan.

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Mohan, R., Kulkarni, M. Stress and Adaptation Among Mumbai Local Train Commuters. Psychol Stud 67, 43–52 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12646-022-00639-w

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