Dr. Rashbha Dochania

Assistant Professor and Assistant Director (CLC).

B.A., M.A. (University of Delhi);
M.Phil., Ph.D. (Jawaharlal Nehru University)

Dr. Rashbha Dochania is an Assistant Professor at the Jindal Institute of Behavioural Sciences (JIBS), O. P. Jindal Global University. She received her Ph.D. in social psychology from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi. Soon after her registration into the Ph.D. course, she also served as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology, at Kamala Nehru College, University of Delhi, where she taught numerous courses to both Honours and B. A (Prog.) students. Additionally, she has been awarded a National Eligibility Test (NET)- Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) by the Union Grant Commission (UGC).   

Her doctoral research dealt with locating social cognition in the collective action framework. She argued in her thesis that social cognition which is widely understood as individualistic in nature is erroneous. Instead, social cognition has to be understood and appreciated keeping in mind the social setting and context we situate ourselves. Our social cognition changes as our surroundings change, hence cultural aspects play an enormous role. Just as we witness social cognition operating in various aspects of our lives, it can also be seen in collective action. The context of her study was situated in Assam, one of the north-east states of India also holds geo-political importance as it shares the international border with Bangladesh and Bhutan. The state of Assam occupies a unique history, thereby special concerns which added newness to the literature of collective action framework. Her research employed cognitive praxis, a sociological concept to examine the manner in which social cognition can be observed in collective action, making it truly interdisciplinary.  

Her research has been presented at numerous national and international conferences including the International Congress of Psychology (2021), the British Educational Research Association (BERA) (2021), the National Academy of Psychology (2019,2022), Comparative Education Society of India (2022), and the upcoming European Congress of Psychology (2023).