Coping with Environmental Stressors by Urban Slum Dwellers

Abstract

Deteriorating environmental quality is the source of a variety of grave problems facing urban residents. This article reports slum residents' perceptions and responses to air and water pollution, noise, garbage, crowding, and traffic. The respondents were 280 male and female slum dwellers in Old Delhi, New Delhi, and Allahabad in India. Results showed that slum dwellers of Delhi reported greater stress compared to the respondents of Allahabad, and they further reported greater helplessness and acceptance in coping with the environmental stressors. The results also showed gender differences in the perception of some of the environmental stressors.