Elsevier

Asian Journal of Psychiatry

Volume 24, December 2016, Pages 139-146
Asian Journal of Psychiatry

Cross-cultural differences on Gunas and other well-being dimensions

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2016.09.001Get rights and content

Highlights

  • The study probed trigunas and well-being dimensions in India, USA and Czech Republic.

  • CFA for VPI, MHC-SF, FS and SPANE in 3 nations was confirmed.

  • Triguna Personality and well-being differed across countries.

  • Triguna correlated with MHC-SF and its clusters, FS and SPANE in all countries.

  • Regression analysis revealed that Trigunas accounted significantly for well-being dimensions.

Abstract

Indian perspective of human nature and personality are often viewed through a trigunas perspective-Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. The current study investigated the triadic gunas and well-being dimensions across 3 nations India (n = 493; 194 males and 299 females; mean age = 21.73 years, SD = 3.23), USA (n = 302; 80 males and 222 females; mean age = 22.90 years, SD = 2.78) and Czech Republic (n = 353; 67 males and 286 females; mean age = 22.29 years, SD = 2.29) with a total of 1148 participants. Triguna Personality (Vedic Personality inventory) and well- being dimensions measured by Mental Health Continuum- Short Form, Flourishing scale and the Scale of Positive and Negative Experiences (MHC-SF, FS and SPANE) differed across countries. Triguna were correlated with MHC-SF and its clusters, FS and SPANE. Regression analysis revealed that Trigunas accounted significantly for well-being dimensions, for instance, Sattva accounted for 48% variance in Czechs, 56% in Indians and 55% in Americans, Rajas accounted for 21% variance in Czechs, 08% in Indians and 54% in Americans and Tamas accounted for 50% variance in Czechs, 20% in Indians and 64% in Americans. The results reinforce that trigunas personality significantly predict well-being dimensions.

Introduction

Personality is conceptualized in different ways in the existing psychology literature which aims to explain the basic nature of human being. However, the explanations can be traced back to the ancient Indian philosophical schools such as the Sankhya Yoga, Vedanta and Buddhism and medical texts and scriptures like Ayurveda which assumes that personality contains within it physical, mental as well as spiritual aspects (Jha, 2009). Many western and Indian scholars have attempted to translate the ancient knowledge of human personality into modern psychology (Jha, 2009). The common thread between all the Indian philosophies is that “man is a microcosm of the macrocosmic world that he lives in” (Sharma et al., 2012). The universe and man are made up of Pancha Mahabhutas (five elements) namely; Akasa (ether), Vayu (air), Tejas (fire), Ap (water) and Prithvi (earth). The two different schools of thought; Ayurveda and Sankhya school mention about trigunas or Vedic personality.

Ayurveda which heavily relies on Panch Mahabutas, their combinations yielding to the biological humors of Tridoshas-Vat, Pitta and Kapha and psychological correlate of trigunas- Sattva, Rajas and Tamas that explain the body, mind, their constituents, and the corresponding behavior patterns including the spiritual aspect (Shilpa and Murthy, 2011, Sharma et al., 2012). On the other hand, Sankhya school of Hindu philosophy stated that human mind is the manifestation of the prakriti (nature). Prakriti has three gunas (constituents) namely; Sattva (signifies purity, wisdom, and bliss), Rajas (indicates hankering, attachment and action) and Tamas (stands for bias, heedlessness and inertia) (Chakraborty, 1987, Goyanka, 1999, Krishnan, 2002). Sattva, Rajas and Tamas are most commonly translated as goodness, passion and ignorance, respectively (Stempel et al., 2006). Chakraborty (1985) equated the word ‘illumination’ for Sattva, ‘movement’ for Rajas, and ‘obstruction’ for Tamas.These gunas act together and never exist in isolation. They interact and compete with each other resulting in the preponderance of one over the others. The degree of predominance of our gunas determines the individual’s personality type (Das, 1987).

The trigunas theory in comparison to the western concept of personality goes a notch ahead and states the process through which people come to possess these traits. The process is explained in Sankya tradition using an evolutionary explanation that at birth the trigunas exist in a state of absolute balance. The actions and life experiences of an individual determine the relative strength of each of the trigunas, and this in turn determines his/her personality. In the philosophical tradition, the attainment of transcendence therefore involves working backward by annihilating the sense of self and getting back to the state where all the trigunas are in perfect balance (Dasgupta, 1961). The predominance of the sattva guna helps in the attainment of this ideal state of being (Prabhavananda and Giordano, 2003). The trigunas are described as universal characteristics of all kinds of mental tendencies (Sharma et al., 2012).

The trigunas theory of personality can contribute to the existing knowledge (based on Western studies) on personality dynamics. There are various unique characteristics of the trigunas theory that enable it to be integrated in the existing knowledge of personality (Anuradha and Kumar, 2015). The prevalence of the view that stability, equanimity and poise ensure individual success much more than ambition and aggression. Furthermore, the trigunas theory takes the epistemic stance that personality is not fixed, that is, it is possible to change the traits of people. Lastly, trigunas understanding of personality takes into account a wider array of factors that influence the behavior of people. The three gunas are present not only within human beings but also determine the characteristics of all physical matter. Food, for example, can be classified as sattvic, rajasic, and tamasic. The trigunas view of personality therefore looks at the individual as embedded within nature and explores his/her relation with the material and spiritual world. Understanding an individual through this lens also allows for personal growth and development for people (Anuradha and Kumar, 2015). Hence, on the basis of explanation of mental health and trigunas, it can be postulated that individuals who would possess Sattvic personality are likely to demonstrate positive mental health.

Murthy and Kumar (2007) through a review paper demonstrated that sattva, rajas and tamas have been conceptualized and defined in a different ways by different researchers. Sattva is conceptualized as good, intelligence, purity and humility (Uma, 1969); knowledge and peace (Pathak et al., 1992); stability, self-awareness, sensitivity, control and freedom (Mathew, 1995); essence, purity and harmony (Marutham et al., 1998) and cleanliness, truth, discipline, mental equilibrium, determination and detachment (Wolf, 1998). Rajas was theorized as impure, bad, active, lack of control on emotions, passionate, anxiety, desires and greed (Uma, 1969); activity and pain (Pathak et al., 1992); activation, restless, over activity, uncontrolled energy, high drive, inability to remain silent or alone and extraverted instability (Mathew, 1995); motion, passion and activity (Marutham et al., 1998) and desire for sense gratification, dissatisfaction, envy, materialistic mentality (Wolf, 1998). Similarly tamas was defined as neutral, indifferent, stupidity, doubt, dullness, uncertainty, negligence, cynicism, delusions, inaction, misunderstanding, undisciplined, fear and sorrow (Uma, 1969); inertia, darkness and delusion (Pathak et al., 1992); inertia, introverted instability, lethargy, fear, inhibition, anxiety, low self-confidence and low self-respect (Mathew, 1995); inertia, inactivity, sloth and foolishness (Marutham et al., 1998) and mental imbalance, anger, arrogance, depression, procrastination and feelings of helplessness (Wolf, 1998).

Well-being is understood as the process of pain avoidance and pleasure attainment (Hedonism) and as well as focus on meaning and pursuit of fulfillment of the true individual nature (Eudaimonia) (Younes, 2011). Hedonic tradition focuses on emotional well-being through the measurement of satisfaction with life and positive affect (Diener, 2000) and the eudaimonic focuses on psychological (Ryff, 1989) well-being which assesses how well individuals see themselves functioning in life against secular standards of excellence such as purpose, contribution, integration, autonomy, intimacy, acceptance and mastery.

Well-being is conceptualized as an amalgamation of feeling and functioning. Keyes (2002) proposed a mixed model of positive mental health, which encompasses emotional well-being, psychological well-being, and social well-being. On similar lines another researcher stated that the three vital elements of well-being were pleasure, engagement, and meaning (Seligman, 2002, Seligman, 2011). His recent theory decomposes the construct of well-being into five elements, namely, positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment (PERMA), essential for people to experience lasting happiness (Seligman, 2011). Diener et al. (2010) defined another well-being construct-Flourishing. Flourishing was construed to measure the essential components of well-being espoused by many theories. As measured by the scale items, the construct of flourishing comprises purpose in life, positive relationships, engagement, competence, self-esteem, optimism, and contribution towards the well-being of others.

As discussed earlier, Trigunas entail of an individual’s mental condition as well. Mental health which is defined by World Health Organization (2004, p.12) as “mental health is a state of well-being in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community”. Positive definition of mental health consist of well-being, which is an important component.

The trigunas theory rates tranquility and poise (Sattva guna) above passion, activity and aggression (Rajas guna) (Anuradha and Kumar, 2015). In a study exploring the relationship of three gunas with well-being indicators, Khanna et al. (2013) reported that Sattva was correlated positively but Rajas and Tamas were correlated negatively with well-being indicators. Rajas and Tamas were found to be associated with impaired quality of life in persons suffering from anxiety disorder (Sharma et al., 2012). Tamasic personality is found to be more highly prone to develop psychological problems as against to Sattvic personality traits that has a more protective influence on personality (Das and Gopal, 2009). Probing the role of gunas on transformational leadership, Kejriwal and Krishnan (2004) reported that Sattva leading to enhanced transformational behavior in a leader, while an opposite effect was observed for Tamas on the same. Chakraborty (1987) compared the gunas as Sattva is superior to Rajas, and Rajas to Tamas. As evident, several studies pertaining to gunas have been undertaken by the researches, however, in modern-day times there remains a dearth of cross-cultural empirical comparison of Trigunas, investigating the viability and applicability of the Eastern construct among the diverse and culturally polar populations.

There are many tools that have been developed to study the play of the Trigunas on the human personality. For example, the Inertia-Activation-Stability rating scale (IAS; Mathew, 1995) was used to measure the degree of inertia (Tamas), activity (Rajas) and stability (Sattva) in an individual. Shilpa and Murthy (2012) developed Mysore Trigunas scale standardized on Indian population. The scale indicated high content validity. The concurrent validity of the scale was also established by comparing the responses of the same respondents on the Mysore Trigunas scale and those on the Sattva-Rajas-Tamas scale (SRT Scale; Sharma, 1999).

However, Vedic Personality Inventory is also equally used measure for trigunas (VPI, Wolf, 1998). Originally developed as a 90 items scale, it was shortened to a 56 items scale on the basis of reliability and validity analysis. VPI is a psychometrically sound instrument with internal consistencies ranging from α = 0.70 to 0.92 for the three gunas. VPI has been used for assessing trigunas in various researches, (Deshpande et al., 2008, Kewalramani, 2013, Khanna et al., 2013, Singh and Slezackova, 2013 etc.) and has also been revalidated in the west (Stempel et al., 2006). Rastogi (2005) commented that psychological well-being is nested strongly in Sattva.

In the current study, we assessed well-being using The Flourishing Scale (Diener et al., 2010), Scale of Positive and Negative Experiences (Diener et al., 2010) and Mental Health Continuum (Keyes, 2002). The well-being scales have been validated in different countries such as India (Singh, 2014, Singh et al., 2015); USA (Keyes, 2002; Diener et al., 2010); Portugal (Silva and Caetano, 2013); Japan (Sumi, 2014a, Sumi, 2014b); South Africa (Khumalo et al., 2012) etc.

Substantial empirical evidence is documented for western modules of personality, however there is a need to explore the indigenous Vedic theory across cultures. Human nature and personality has always interested researchers and psychologists. Eastern and western researchers have both explored it from their own view points. As cited above, VPI has been used in various studies, however, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first study of its kind where VPI is being revalidated and used in a cross-cultural study involving three nations. The current study was undertaken with the following objectives: (1) to establish the psychometric properties of VPI and Well-being measures across three nations-India, USA and Czech Republic (2) to explore the cultural differences on Sattva, Rajas and Tamas and (3) establish correlation between well-being and personality and (4) finally to explore the effect of personality on well-being.

Section snippets

Participants

A total sample of 1148 adults (Males = 341; Females = 807) in age range of 18- 30 years residing in India, USA and Czech Republic participated who were educationally qualified as either post graduates (29%), graduates (58.5%) and undergraduates (8.7%); with about 3.8% of participants did not report educational qualification. From India 493 (Males = 194; Females = 299) adults volunteered to participate with mean age = 21.73years (SD = 3.23). There were 353 (males = 67; Females = 286) participants from Czech

Confirmatory factor analysis

The various fit indices such as chi-square by degrees of freedom (χ2/d.f. < 5; Geuens and de Pelsmacker, 2002), Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA < 0.10; MacCallum et al., 1996), Comparative Fit Index (CFI  0.95; Hu and Bentler, 1999), Goodness of Fit Index (GFI > 0.90; Tabachnick and Fidell, 2007) and Adjusted Goodness of Fit Index (AGFI > 0.90; Tabachnick and Fidell, 2007) were evaluated. Please refer to Table 1 for the confirmatory analysis of VPI, MHC-SF, FS and SPANE. The confirmatory

Discussion

The Indian school of thought on personality takes into account a Trigunas perspective-Sattva, Rajas and Tamas, which to a vast extent is responsible for human action and behavior. The gunas acts cohesively and not in isolation, thus interacting and competing with each other resulting in multitude of one over other. Trigunas are closely associated with mental health or well-being. The current study had four objectives which have been discussed.

The first objective of the current study was to

Contributors

K. S. and A.S. conceptualized the study; K. S. and M. J. conceptualized the paper and analyzed the data; K. S., A.J., J.K. and M. J. searched literature and wrote the first draft and revised the manuscript. K.S., A.S. and M.J. reviewed the final draft of the paper.

Conflict of interest

None.

Source of funding

None.

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