Abstract
Rural homemakers play a vital role in maintaining household and community stability, often facing psychological stress with limited access to mental health support. Despite their central socio-familial role, the cognitive and emotional processes that support their psychological well-being remain underexplored in empirical research. This study explores the relationship between psychological well-being and metacognitive functioning among rural homemakers in Vellore, India. Rural homemakers often experience psychological stress but have limited access to support services. Using a cross-sectional design with 338 participants, the study employed standardised self-report measures to assess metacognitive beliefs and well-being. Findings revealed a significant positive correlation between the two constructs, with education moderating this relationship. While low and moderate education levels enhanced metacognitive functioning, higher education unexpectedly reversed the effect, likely reflecting unmet aspirations. Adaptive metacognitive awareness contributes to better emotional regulation and mental health outcomes. Further results showed that education moderated this relationship, enhancing metacognitive functioning at lower and moderate education levels, but reversing the effect at higher levels, heightened unmet aspirations, role strain, and increased cognitive-emotional burden. The results highlight the need for context-specific interventions that address the cognitive and emotional health of rural homemakers. The findings underscore the importance of developing context-specific mental health strategies that address the cognitive and emotional needs of rural homemakers.
Keywords: Homemakers, Mental health, Metacognition, Well-being.