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ABSTRACT
The authors have developed the Mysore Triguna Psychological Personality Assessment Scale and published it in 2012. This scale assesses the Trigunas, namely Sattva, Rajas and Tamas and their combinations in people. This scale is being used to assess and understand personality in different areas. The authors are not from the domain of Ayurveda or Philosophy but are from the domain of Psychology. There are some constructs that are not amenable for psychological testing which have been ignored in the original scale. The original scale had 63 MCQ type of questions. Since it is long, and is online, there was a need to develop a shorter version of the scale for limited use and for application in research areas where online use may not be possible. Hence a shorter version of the original scale was developed with just 15 MCQ type of questions selected from the original 51 questions through rigorous empirical and statistical analysis. The present paper describes the methodology and the results of the same.
Keywords: Tridoshas, Trigunas, Sattva, Rajas, Tamas, Traits, Psychometric assessment
INTRODUCTION
Personality is basically understood by three major domains or methods in Indian Philosophy from which Indian Psychology has evolved. They are Pancha Kosha, Tridoshas and Trigunas. The Tridoshas and the Trigunas are both made up of the Pancha Maha Bhutas in varying combinations and degrees.
The first domain is that of understanding the person from the view point of the Pancha Koshas, which has been written about for the first time in the Taittiriya Upanishad. This is the earliest reference to the study of human personality from the Indian psychophilosophical point of view.
The second domain is that of understanding personality from the Samkhyan principles of Pancha Mahabhutas-which is common to all Darshanas of Indian Philosophy-wherein the personality is said to be a composition of the five "elements" (elements are just an approximation of the term Mahabhutas and not an exact meaning) of Ether, Air, Fire, Water, and Earth. The Sanskrit equivalents of these names are Akasa, Vayu, Agni, Ap and Prithvi respectively. These five elements combine with each other to form the Tridoshas-the physiological traits of Vata, Pitta and Kapha which give each and every one of us the unique characteristic that makes us what and...