Research article

Studies in Indian Place Names
(UGC Care Journal)
ISSN: 2394-3114
Vol-40-Issue-53-March -2020
P a g e | 235 Copyright ⓒ 2020 Authors
Social and Emotional Health survey among
Voluntary and Involuntary Singlehood women in
select suburbs of Mumbai city Mumbai
Dr. Jayachitra.T.A1
and Nandini Jagannarayan2
Assistant Professor1
, Department of Economics , Avinashilingam University for Women and Higher
Education, Coimbatore
Assistant Professor2
, Department of B.com (Banking & Insurance), RJ College of Arts, Science and
Commerce, Ghatkopar (W), Mumbai
ABSTRACT
The present study tries to evaluate whether there is any discrepancy among Voluntary and Involuntary
Singlehood women on their social and emotional health phenomena. A total number of 150 single
women from select Mumbai suburbs (Vikroli, Ghatkopar, Chembur and Matunga) have been selected
through purposive sampling having different socio-economic background. The respondents included
150 women singles from two category Voluntary and Involuntary singlehood. A majority of single
women were of emotional and social competence and have strong positive association on mental health.
The main findings were that voluntarily single young adults reported a lower level of inferior compared
to involuntarily single young adults. The two groups differed neither in regard to positive mental health
nor in regard to mental health problems. In social exploitation is more among involuntarily compared
to voluntarily.
Keywords Social Emotional Health Survey, Voluntary and Involuntary, Singlehood women, Social and
emotional health
INTRODUCTION
Women who are alone despite living spouses are even more discriminated against in a patriarchal
society. ‘They are described as women “even more despised… in a twilight zone of neither being
respectably married nor widowed—especially, those who have themselves left their partners”.
According to the 2001 census, 7.4 per cent of the female population of India is ‘single’. There were
3,43,89,729 widows in India, and 23,42,930 divorced/separated women—a total of 3,67,32,659 single
women. ‘This figure is likely to increase with the inclusion of “customarily” separated women and
women whose husbands are missing.’ There was a 39% increase in the number of single women in
India, the numbers rising from 51.2 million in 2001 to 71.4 million in 2011, according to census data.
This includes widows, divorcees and unmarried women, and those deserted by husbands. “The reasons
for the increase in population of single women are divorce, separation as well as widowhood,” said
Nirmal Chandel, president of the National Forum of Single Women’s Rights, an advocacy. According
to Jain (1975), “the roles and status of women have been far from static, ranging from what is thought
to have been a position of considerable authority and freedom, to one of equally considerable
subservience”.
An individual who remains single and never marries feels out of place, socially and culturally.
According to Blumberg and Dwarki (1980), women cannot be happy without marriage mainly because
of three reasons—problem of protection and living arrangement, biological and companionship needs,
and social pressures and criticism. While it appears that social pressures on single women are lessening,
traditional living arrangements and needs for protection and companionship still present practical
difficulties.
Indian society is experiencing widespread and dramatic change in traditional gender and familial roles.
Employment is now the norm for young women. Though single women accept spinsterhood as an
alternative life style, society still devalues spinsterhood, and considers it personal failure of the
girl/women, kin, neighbours and office colleagues, couch stereotypes of single women in pathological
terms, such as lack of attractiveness, too proud and arrogant, deficit in personality, inability to develop

(UGC Care Journal)
ISSN: 2394-3114
intimate relationship with another person, lack of parents’ interest in daughter’s career, and so forth. It
is this attitude of society which creates stresses and problems of adjustment for single women.
While the single persons have been on the rise, it is important to investigate whether and how voluntary
and involuntary singlehood affects the psychosocial functioning of single young adults. This issue is
gaining in importance in light of the fact that although remaining single is becoming prolonged with
respect to individuals’ lifespan and is increasingly more prevalent, remaining single – especially by
choice – leads to negative perception of people making such choices Morris and Osburn (2016). Hence
the current study focus on single women’s mental health which in turn is likely to affect their physical
health as frustration and loneliness which makes them feel insecure, stressed out. They also feel
insecure and awkward when deprived of a lot of privileges. This is in the case when have voluntarily
opted for their singlehood. While, if their single hood is involuntary, they feel lonely, awkward, and
inferior to others which also leads to frustration this leads to deprivation and emotional stress. The
researchers also would like to suggest guidelines for making the singleness an acceptable social status
in society and providing them with specific institutional means so that they may lead a meaningful,
purposeful and socially useful complete social life.
1. OBJECTIVES
The purposes of the present study were aims at identifying factors costing single women’s mental health
which in turn is likely to affect their physical health. The study is based on primary data collected from
a sample of 150 single women based in Chembur, Ghatkopar, Vikroli and Matunga suburbs of Mumbai
city (using purposive sampling technique) using interview schedule and the data so collected was
analysed using factor analysis.
2. METHODOLOGY
Current study is majorly based on primary data elicited from 150 respondents using interview schedules
administered to single women residing in select suburbs of Mumbai city. The information obtained
through the questionnaires will be summarized and structured interviewed schedule and in-depth
informal interviews in 2020, to get a meaningful picture of the responses by using SPSS (statistical
software).
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The assessment of mental health in terms of internalizing symptoms (such as depression and anxiety)
and externalizing symptoms (such as alcohol and substance abuse), mental health is also conceptualized
as well-being that is related to subjective wellbeing, psychological well-being, and life satisfaction
(Bierman et al. 2006). The mental health is subjective well-being, which has been investigated within
the aspect of the hedonic tradition has been widely investigated in studies on emotional well-being, in
which measures of satisfaction with life and positive affect are used (Keyes and Simoes 2012) hedonic
tradition, in line with which well-being involves happiness and pleasant emotions; and maximizing
positive, pleasant feelings, and minimizing negative, unpleasant feelings contributes to the increase of
mental health (Lamers et al. 2011). In regard to Keyes’ (2002) model of mental health, only a
combination of emotional, psychological and social well-being allows for the consideration of mental
health.
S.No Groups Cronbach's Alpha
1 Voluntary 0.892
2 Involuntary 0.877
3 All 0.833
Source: Estimation based on Field survey
TABLE 1 CRONBACH'S RELIABILITY TEST
Cronbach’s Alpha reliability statistics helps to evaluate whether the number of individual items contains
the same characteristics to explain the characteristics of the constructs. In the study, the Cronbach‘s
alpha value for Voluntary, Involuntary and all were 0.892, 0.877 and 0.833 respectively, greater than
0.7 indicating the internal consistency of the constructs. Hence, the instrument used in this study had a
high reliability value. Factor analysis was done to determine the underlying dimensions of the
constructs.

(UGC Care Journal)
ISSN: 2394-3114
To determine the appropriateness of applying factor analysis the KMO and Bartlett‘s test measures
were computed and the results are presented in table 2 Bartlett’s test of sphericity and the Kaiser-
Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy are both tests that can be used to determine the
factorability of the matrix as a whole.
Test Measures Voluntary Involuntary All
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure 0.874 0.851 .865
Bartlett's Test of Sphericity
(i) Approx. Chi-Square 3446.882 3255.2 6781
(ii) Degrees of freedom 105 105 120
(iii) Significance .000 .000 .000
TABLE 2 KMO AND BARTLETT'S TEST MEASURES
It is suggested that if the Bartlett’s test of sphericity is significant, and if the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin
measure is greater than 0.6, then factorability is assumed. The KMO statistics for Voluntary,
Involuntary and all respondents were 0.874, 0.851 and 0.865 signifying higher than acceptable
adequacy of sampling. Bartlett‘s test of sphericity was also found to be significant at 1 percent level
providing evidence of the presence of relationship between the variables to apply factor analysis.
Table 3 below enlists the Eigen values their relative explanatory powers and the factor loadings for 6
components identified within the data set. The Eigen values greater than one alone was considered for
inclusion in the analysis. The above results indicates for the first three factors alone was greater than
one for Voluntary , two factors for urban and all respondents indicating that these factors alone were
appropriate for inclusion in the analysis. For Voluntary, Involuntary and total respondents, the factors
taken together accounted for 76 percent, 73 percent and 61 percent respectively.
For voluntary single women, factor 1 has significant loadings for two dimensions namely frustration
and loneliness these variables explain 35 percent of the variance. Factor 2 has significant loading for
two dimensions namely feeling emotional stress and insecurity and deprived of a lot of previlieges and
explains nearly 24 percent of the variance. Factor 3 had significant loading of, namely feeling
awkwardness and inferior to others which explains about 18 percent of the variance.
Area
Component
Voluntary Involuntary Total
F1 F2 F3 F1 F2 F1 F2
Feeling emotional stress
and insecurity 0.806 0.861 0.844
Feeling deprived of a lot of
previlieges 0.837 0.863
Feeling frustrated 0.907 0.727 0.631
Feeling awkwardness 0.616 0.794 0.713
Feeling lonely 0.843 0.763 0.834
feeling inferior to others 0.888 0.917
Total 2.095 1.437 1.08 2.967 1.402 2.243 1.403
percent of Variance 34.918 23.945 17.993 49.445 23.36 37.382 23.378
Cumulative percent 34.918 58.863 76.856 49.445 72.805 37.382 60.76
TABLE 3 Emotional Contentment Assessment
For involuntary single women, factor 1 had significant loadings for four dimensions namely Feeling
emotional stress and insecurity, deprived of a lot of privileges, frustrated and awkwardness these
variables explain 49 percent of the variance. Divorce or widowhood were found to be associated with
an increased risk of feeling lonely, whereas not living alone and having more social support turned out

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ISSN: 2394-3114
to lower the risk of being lonely (Stickley et al. 2015). Factor 2 has significant loading for two
dimensions feeling lonely and inferior to others and explains nearly 23 percent of the variance.
Taking all respondents together, factor 1 had significantly loaded with the factor of feeling emotional
stress and insecurity of 37 percent. Remaining in Factor 2 had significant loading on four dimensions
namely feeling frustrated, awkwardness, lonely and inferior to others. It explains nearly 17 percent of
the variance. The overall inferences drawn from the above analysis was that there was a strong link
between emotional stress and insecurity and singlehood. When compared with individuals in non-
marital relationship, single individuals also reported more mental health problems (Braithwaite et al.
2010) and lower emotional well-being (Adamczyk and Segrin 2015)
Social loneliness is related to a perceived deficiency in social networks, or a lack of social relations or
social activities (Russell et al. 1984; Weiss 1973).The objective of social isolation or social support,
loneliness has been found to be related to negative outcomes in the domain of physical health and to
personality disorders, hypochondriasis, schizophrenia, suicidal ideation and behavior, depression, and
anxiety (Aanes et al. 2010; Cacioppo et al. 2006). Kearns et al. (2015) in his study reported that,
individuals with the worst mental health and well-being were three to five times more likely to report
occasional loneliness and three to six times more likely to report frequent loneliness. Furthermore, in a
Russian study, lonely individuals were characterized by a significantly increased risk of reporting poor
self-rated health, mental health problems and insomnia in the previous twelve months (Stickley et al.
2015).
S.NO Groups Cronbach's Alpha
1 Voluntary 0.911
2 Involuntary 0.733
3 All 0.762
TABLE 4 CRONBACH'S RELIABILITY TEST
The Cronbach’s alpha value for voluntary, involuntary and all women respondents were 0.911, 0.733
and 0.762 respectively, which was greater than 0.7 indicating the reliability of the constructs. Factor
analysis was done to determine the underlying dimensions of the constructs. To determine the
appropriateness of applying factor analysis the KMO and Bartlett‘s test measures were computed and
the results are presented in table 4.3.20.
Voluntary Involuntary All
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure 0.92 0.86 0.86
Bartlett's Test of Sphericity
(i) Approx. Chi-Square 4145.35 5385.07 10189.68
(ii) Degrees of freedom 153 171 171
(iii) Significance .000 .000 .000
TABLE 5 KMO AND BARTLETT'S TEST MEASURES
The KMO statistics for Voluntary, involuntary and all women respondents were 0.92, 0.86 and 0.86
signifying higher than acceptable adequacy of sampling. A value close to one indicates the patterns of
correlation as relatively compact. The Bartlett‘s test of sphericity was also found to be significant at 1
percent level providing evidence of the presence of relationship between the variables to apply factor
analysis.
Table 6 enlists the Eigen values their relative explanatory powers and the factor loadings for 5
components identified within the data set. The Eigen values greater than one alone was considered for
inclusion in the analysis. Results indicates five factors were greater than one for Voluntary, four factors
for Involuntary urban and for all respondents indicating that these factors alone were appropriate for
inclusion in the analysis. For Voluntary, involuntary and all respondents, these factors taken together
accounted for 60 percent, 69 percent and 62 percent respectively. For Voluntary singlehood women,
factor 1 has significant loadings on two dimensions namely, feeling social stigma attached to
singlehood and feeling social restrictions imposed. These constructs together explains 33 percent of the

(UGC Care Journal)
ISSN: 2394-3114
variance. Factor 2 has significant loadings on two dimensions namely lack of the feeling of belonging to
the family and feel exploitation by kiths and kins which explains nearly 27 percent of the variance.
Area
Component
Voluntary Involuntary Total
F1 F2 F1 F2 F1 F2
There is lack of the feeling of
belonging to the family 0.679 0.702
Feel exploitation by kiths and kins 0.865 0.747 0.883
Feeling social stigma attached to
singlehood
0.805 0.835 0.801
Feeling social restrictions imposed on
single women 0.616 0.727
Social boycott or rejection society
meets out to single women results in
their low social status and social
harassment 0.661 0.659
Total 1.646 1.366 2.256 1.202 1.835 1.249
percent of Variance 32.913 27.33 45.122 24.048 36.703 24.978
Cumulative percent 32.913 60.242 45.122 69.169 36.703 61.681
Source: Estimation based on field survey, 2016
TABLE 6 FACTOR LOADINGS FOR Social Exhilaration
For involuntary singlehood women, factor 1 has significant loadings on two dimensions, namely,
feeling social stigma attached to singlehood and Social boycott or rejection society meets out to single
women results in their low social status and social harassment. These factors together accounted for
nearly 45 percent of the variance. Factor two has significant loadings on feel exploitation by kiths and
kins and feeling social restrictions imposed on single women. These factors accounted for nearly 24
percent of the variance.
For the entire sample, factor 1 had significant loadings on two dimensions namely, feeling social stigma
attached to singlehood and Social boycott or rejection society meets out to single women results in their
low social status and social harassment and explains nearly 36 percent of the variance. In turn, social
loneliness is related to a perceived deficiency in social networks, or a lack of social relations or social
activities (Russell et al. 1984; Weiss 1973). Factor 2 has significant loadings on lack of the feeling of
belonging to the family and feel exploitation by kiths and kins and explains nearly 25 percent of the
variance. According to Adamczyk and Segrin (2015) single young adults did not differ in regard to
social and psychological wellbeing and total well-being, as well as in regard to somatic symptoms,
anxiety and insomnia, social dysfunction, severe depression, and total mental health illness when
compared to their counterparts in non-marital relationships.
4. CONCLUSION
In case of voluntary singlehood, desires for professional achievement, self-fulfillment and personal
autonomy are responsible for it than the inability to pay dowry, moral responsibility of daughters, in the
absence of their brothers, to support old and sick parents, physical deficiencies and deformities which
are responsible for involuntary singlehood. Singles are also more likely to socialize with, encourage,
and help their friends and neighbors. Similarly, studies of scholars like Lucas, Clark, Georgellis and
Diener (2003) and DePaulo (2006) defy the myth that single people are generally not happy. The
traditional state of status-incongruence which prevailed and pervaded the lives of single women in India
is changing slowly. The stereotypes associated with single women are also changing. Number of people
has started recognizing the remarkable adaptability of successful single women and the amount of hard
and pioneer work done by them to improve the life of the others in society.
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