triguna: A conceptual study and the development and validation of AHS scale

Pages:380-389
Swaroop R. (Department of Studies in Psychology, University of Mysore, Mysuru )
Kiran Kumar K. Salagame (Department of Psychology (Retired). University of Mysore, Mysuru)
Archana Bhat Kallahalla (Department of Mathematics and Humanities- India Platform, BMS College of Engineering, Bengaluru)

Ancient India was a home for conceptual studies. More often than not, concepts were derived from the experiences of individuals. As most of the individual experiences come under the ambit of subjectivity, they perhaps lack the stamp of objectivity demanded by the modern science. Yet, potentially, many a times, subjective experiences of those individuals belonging to ancient India apparently form to be fragments of objective truths. It is in this context today that the empirical analysis of those concepts appears relevant and render meaningful. Every work of the ancients deemed as scriptures, proposed happiness as the primary aim of the self and also of the society. Alternatively, happiness can be also termed as self-sufficiency at the individual level and self-sustenance at the collective level. It is here that triguna played the role of a tool or an instrument to achieve the above mentioned individual and collective goals. There exists a thin blurring line of difference between the metaphysical concepts and psychological concepts of ancient India. Everything in the purview of triguna is psychological, whereas, a notch above triguna is metaphysical. This paper analyzes only the psychological relevance of the concept triguna. It also puts across the efforts as put in by the authors to standardize a Situation Sampling Methodology to examine the concept empirically. The tool consists of 25 life situations that are commonly experienced by people. For each of the situation a set of nine alternatives was provided that represent triguna and their combinations. The respondents have to answer all the nine alternatives on a five point scale indicating their extent of agreement. Valid data was obtained from 1854 persons representing different genders, age groups, educational attainments and professions and different regions of Karnataka for standardization. The responses were scored and weighted with a predetermined set of values guided by the traditional wisdom about the role of triguna in daily life. Weighted raw scores were used to develop T score and a Classification scheme for Interpretation for each of the nine alternative ways of responding, for different reference groups. The behavior of individuals can be understood in terms of a Profile which indicates the extent to which a person behaves in a particular way in terms of the three gunas and their combinations. The tool is checked for its reliability and validity on a separate sample of two hundred (200) persons who were administered the AHS (Altruism-Hedonism-Sadism) scale along with the IAS scale developed by George Mathew (1995) which is also a measure of triguna. The obtained results are discussed with reference to the previously developed scales. Purchase PDF
Purchase hard copy