Modernization as a psychological process

From psychological point of view modernization refers to the process of planning by building a sense of mastery over nature. It involves:

• Orientation for planning.

• A sense that time is money.

• An increased sense of self-control.

• Deferment of pleasure.

• Belief in science and technology and abolition of magic, witchcraft, and reduced importance of religion.

Traditionally, the people of India were believed to be characterized by present time orientation, fatalism, magic and religion, dependence on nature, and simple life. Modernization was supposed to change all this. Some psychologists preferred the term modernity over modernization and several scales were developed to measure individual modernity. The scale developed by Smith and Inkeles (1966) is one of the most known scales for measuring individual modernity.