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Journalof
lndian Psychology
2006,Vol.24, Nos. 1 & 2
KARMAYOGA:
A CONCEPTUALIZATION
AND
VALIDATION
OFTHEINDIAN
PHILOSOPHY
OFWORK
ZubinR. Mullaand VenkatR. Krishnan
XavierLabour RelationsInstitute
The doctrineof Karma Yoga forms the core of the Indianphilosophy
of
work. By doing a contentanalysisof the Bhagavad-Gita
and studying
commentarieson the Gita,we identified two dimensions of KarmaVoga-
duty orientationand absenceof desire
for rewards,and we prepireo
scales for the measurementof core beliefs in lndian philosophyand
Karma Yoga. These scales were tested on a set of 75 executivesanO
results comparedwith two facets of the personalitytrait of conscien-
tiousness,viz. dutifulness
and achievement striving,using hierarchical
regression and a test for moderation. We found thlt a Oetietin Indian
philosophyenhanced
duty orientation,and absence of desire for re-
wards enhanced life satisfaction.There was moderate
support for our
hypothesisthat dutifulness was more stronglyrelatedto karma yoga
when achievement strivingwas row than when it was high.
For enduringand sustainable progress of societies, it is important
that leadersidentifyand build
on the core components
of the cuttural
ethos and customizesome of the culturalartifactsto suit moderntimes
(Krishnan, 2003).The relationshipbetween humankind andworkhas been
elaborated in Indiathroughthe Bhagavad-Gita.
The Gita,whichis partof
the epic Mahabharata,
explainsthe philosophy
of rightactionor karma
yoga usingthe situationof Arjuna,a warrioron the batilefield
who finds
himselfhelplesswhen he is calledto action.The text of the Gita is a
dialogue betweenKrishna andArjunawhereKrishna
explainsthe meaning
of life,the placeof work withiniife,and the rightway in which
to work.
This paper attemptsto developthe karma yoga constructand then
empirically validateit by analyzingits relationships
with some relevant
variables.Beforewe explorethe conceptof karma
yoga, it is important
for us to understandsomeof the fundamentalbeliefs
of fnOianphilosophy,
whichform the foundation of karmayoga.
FundamentalBeliefsof Indian philosophy
D e s p i t e t h e n u m e r o u ss c h o o l s
o f t h o u g h t ,t h r e e b e l i e f s
a r e
fundamental to Indian
philosophy (Dasgupta,
1991 , p.71).First,the belief
in the karmatheoryi.e' all
actionsthat are done havethe powerto ordain
for the_irdoersjoy or sorrowin the futuredepending if the actionis goodor
bad. Often, individuals may be requiredto tate nirtn
in anotherSodyto
experience fully the joy or sufferingthat is due to them becauseof their
past actions.The secondbeliefis in the existence
of a permanent entity,
cafledatmaorsoul, whichis ourtrueunknown nature,pureand
untouched
by the impurities of our ordinarylife.The third beliefis aboutthe doctrine
KARMAYOGA:CONCEPTUALIZATIONANDVALIDATION
27
of muktiorsalvation.
Sinceactionslead
us throughthis
endlesscycleof
birth and death,
if we could be free of all such emotionsor desiresthat
lead us to action,therewould
be no fuel
(in the form of
joys or sorrowsto
be experienced)
to propelus in.- *,rothelbirthand
we wouldbe free
of
this eternalcycle.The Gita
buildson thesethreebeliefs
and suggests
a
way out of the cycle of birth and death by selflesslyperformingone's
dut'ies
dependingon one'sposition
in society.
Anotheruniquefeatureof
Indianpfrilosophy
is that multiple
pathsare acceptedas leadingto the
same ultimatedestination,
and each individual
is giventhe freedomto
selectthe path most suitedto his or her temperament
(Vivekananda,
190711e99).
What is Karma Yoga?
The word karmacomes
fromthe Sanskritroolkri,whichmeansdoing,
affairs,or activityand
includes
all actionsthat a personperforms
whether
theyare
of body,speech,or mind.The
word yogacomesfrom
the Sanskrit
rootyuj,which me
ans,toiotn.
However,in the Mahabharata
it is used in
threeways:as a Special
skill,device,intelligent
method,or gracefulway
of performing
actions(Gitachapter2, verse
50); as equability
of mind
towardssuccessor failure(Gitachapter2, verse48);and
as the device
for eliminating
the naturaltendencyof karmato createbondage(Gita
chapter2, verse50).
Sincethe latertwo definitions
of yogaspeakof the
relaiionshipof yoga with action,the terms
"yoga"
and
"karma
yoga" are
usedinterchangeiOty
at
variousinstancesin
the Gita(Tilak,1915/2000).
Forthe purpose
of our
paper,we will usethe word
'Voga"
to mean
"device"
Or
"inteiligent
method"and henCe
the term
"karma
yoga" would be
"a
technique
for intelligently
performingactions."
Sincethe ultimate
goalof all beingsis
to freethe soulfromthe cycle
of birthand death,any methodthat
enablesrelease
from this
perpetual
cycle is preferableto any othermethodthat is likelyto bind
the human
soulto the cycle.Hence,whether
we definekarmayogaas
"a
technique
for intelligenlty
performing actions"
or"atechnique
for
performingactions
in a mannerthat the soul is not boundby the effectsof the action"we
meanthe samething(Tilak,
What Causes Bondage
of Actions?
Accordingto the Gita chapler2, verse
the sensesinteract
with
the materialobjectsof the wortdand
becauseof theseinteractions;
there
is perception
of happinessor painin
the mindof
the personexperiencing
the senseobjects.
The perception
of happiness
or pain leadsto desire,
whichis nothingbut
a wish
to experienceagainor avoidsomething
that
hasoncebeenexperienced
by the senses.Thisleadsto
further
interactions
of the senseswithmaterial
objects.
Thus,evenwhenthe objectof desire
is enjoyed,our desiresare not extinguished;
instead,the desiresgrow
likea fire
on whichoil has
beenpoured(Tilak,
KARMAYOGA:CONCEPTUALIZATIONANDVALIDATION
29
The essence
of karmayogais givenin the Gita
(Radhakrishnan,
1948 / 1993)chapter
2, verse47,whichsays,
'To
actionalonehastthou
a rightand neverat all to its fruits;let not
the fruitsof actionbe thy
motive:neitherletthere
be intheeanyattachmentto
inaction."Thisverse
of the Gitais alsomentioned
by Tilak(1915/
p 895)as givingthe
entireimportof karma
yogain a shortandbeautifulform.
LaterintheGita
(Radhakrishnan, 1948 / 1993,chapter3,verses
12,13,and16),Arjuna
is
toldthatpersons
whosurviveonthisearth
anduseitsresourceswithout
workingare
livingin sin,andhencemanis
obliged
to workselflessly
in
orderto fulfitl
hisdutytowardstheworld.Hence,
basedonthe resultsof
our contentanalysis
and the interpretationof the
Gitaverses,we take
karma
yogaas
madeupof twodimensions:a sense
of obligationor duty
towardsothers
andan absenceof desireforrewards.
Thethirdelementfoundin ourcontent
analysisaboutbeing
neutral
to opposites
wasnottakenupaSanessential
partof
karma
yogabecause
we werenotcertain
whetherthlswasa prerequisite
to anyspiritual
lifeon
anyof
the fourpathsor it wasa partof oneof
thefourpaths.
Senseof Obligation
or Duty towards Others
Thebodyhasa naturaltendency
to act;the Gitastates
thatactions
motivated
by a desirebindthe soul
intothe cycleof birthand
death.
Hence,
theonlywayonecaneffectively
functioninsociety
is bydeveloping
a senseof obligation
or dutytowards
others.In thismanner,
all actions
become
a repaymentof a debtandtheactoris
freeof anymotive
forthe
actions.
Thebelief
inthelawof causeandeffect
makesus realizethatweare
placed
in a particular
situationbecauseof unfulfilled
pastobligationson
ourpartandwe
developa senseof connectedness
withallbeings.
When
our beliefin
the lawof causeandeffect
is coupledwiththe beliefin the
doctrineof salvation,
it makesus striveto livea morallifeforthe
benefit
of society.Thesense
of connectednesscoupled
withourstrivingto
livea
morallife for the benefitof society,
createsin us a senseof duty
or
obligationtowards
others.
Absenceof a Desirefor Rewards
Whenan individualis ableto discriminate
between
whatis eternal
(soul)
andwhatis
transient
(thebody)andis ableto increasingly
identify
withthesoul,one'sactions
aremorespontaneous
andnotmotivated
by
any
material
gratification.Besides,reducedidentification
withthe body
createsresiliencetowards
physicalpleasures
and
pain.As a resultof
this,therearises
in theindividual,an absence
of desirefor rewards.
Inaddition,
sincetheoutcomes
of one'sactionsaredependant
onan
elaborate
chainof causeandeffect,allthatis
intheindividual's
controlis
performance
of that action.Hence,one ceasesto havea feelingOf
ownershiptowards
one'sactionsand believes
thatthe actionshappen
30 JOURNALOFINDIANPSYCHOLOGY
naturallyand the bodilyorgansare
just
an instrumentfor theirexecution.
This lackof ownershipfor actionscoupledwith the senseof obligationto
otherscreatesa completedisinterestin the mind of the seekerfor any
form of materialor socialrewards.
The Gita (chapter 3, verse3) explainsthatthereare two paths,which
leadto the goal of liberationand each is suitedfor a personof a particular
temperament(Radhakrishnan, 1993,p. 132).The pathof renunciation,
meditation,and intellectualinquiry is prescribedfor
persons whosenatural
tendencyis to explorethe innerlifeof the spiritwhilethe path of actionis
for personswho are involvedin the affairsof the world.For a personwho
does not renouncethe world and is a part of the society,karma yoga
naturallyevolvesfrom the fundamentalbeliefsof the Indianworldview
(referFigure1).
Figure 1
Beliefin IndianPhilosophy
leadsto KarmaYoga
Hence,we hypothesized
thatforindividualswhoarepartof society,
theextentof theirbeliefinthefundamental
tenetsof theIndianworldview
willbe
positively
relatedto theirkarmayogaorientation(Hypothesis
Sincethe practiceof karmayoga is definedas a lifestyle
or a
disposition,theclosestcorrelateto
an existingconstructin organizational
behavioris thataspectof personality
thatrelatesto the dispositionof a
person
towardswork.
Personality
The Big-Fivemodelof personality,a modelbasedon analyses
of
adjectivesand factoranalysesof variouspersonalitytestsis one of the
dominantmodelsof
personality
today(McCrae
& Costa,
McCrae&
Costa,1987).lt describesextroversion,
agreeableness,@nscientiousness,
Strivingto live a morallive
for the benefit to society
Senseof connectedners
with all beings
No hankering after
transient
jo)6 & material
Existence of a
perrnanent entity
atnE
32 JOURNALOFINDIANPSYCHOLOGY
at moreclosely.Achievementstrivingis descrlbedas havinghighaspiration
levels,and as suchthisseemsto be in conflictwithone of the
dimension
of karmayoga,whichtalksof an absenceof desirefor rewards.lt is likely
that our descriptionof karma yoga as high dutifulnessmay hold only
whenachievementstrivingis low.
Hence,we hypothesizedthat,individualshighon dutifulnesswill be
highon karmayoga,andthis relationshipwillbe moderatedby achievement
strivingin sucha way thatthe relationshipbetweendutifulnessand karma
yoga will be strongerin the presenceof low achievementstriving
(Hypothesis2).
Karma Yoga, Personality Disposition and Life Satisfaction
For a personwho is highon karmayoga,the Gita
(Radhakrishnan,
194811993)predictsa numberof positiveoutcomeslikethe end of sorrow
(chapter2, verse65);
peace(chapter 2, verses66, 70, & 71); happiness
(chapter2,verse66);bliss(chapter2,verse72);andsatisfaction
(chapter
3, verse 17). The state of a karma yogi is describedas one who is
completelysatisfiedwith his or her current state and is not hankering
afterany otherstateof existence.Sucha statecan be reachedonlywhen
one is completelysatisfiedwith ones life.
Our contentanalysisof MahatmaGandhi's
commentaryon the Gita
(Gandhi,194612001) showedthatthe
effectsof karmayogaweredescribed
as four outcomesviz. freedomfrom the karmic law of birth and death;
attainmentof onenesswith god; happiness;
and peace.Of these four
outcomes,the firsttwo describespiritualstates
whilehappinessand
peace
are psychologicalstates,which can be tested
empirically.The closest
variableto the states of happinessand peace
describedin the existing
literatureis life satisfactionor subjective
well being.
Life satisfaction
is definedas an evaluativesummaryof one's liking
or dislikingone's life (Heller,Watson,
& llies, 2OO4).Authors have
distinguishedbetweentwo perspectivesdetermining
lifesatisfaction.The
top-downor the dispositional
perspectlve emphasizesthe role of broad
individualdifferencesin personalityin satisfaction,whereasthe bottom-
up approachfocuses on the role of situations,events,and contextsin
overaflsatisfaction
(Heller,Watson,& llies, 2OO4). Significant
evidence
has been found tc supportthe claim that life-satisfaction
is significantly
caused by top-downfactors like genetics(Arvey,
Bouchard,Segal, &
Abraham,1989)or personalitydispositions
(McCrae & Costa, ; Heller,
Watson,& llies, 2OO4;Schimmack,Radhakrishnan,
Oishi, Dzokoto,&
Ahadi, 2OO2).
Dispositionalmeasuresaccountedfor the stabilityin job
attitudes(Staw, Bell, & Clausen,1986; Staw & Ross, 1985) and life-
attitudes(Costa,McCrae,& Zonderman,1987)over periodsof five and
ten years respectively.
An explanationfor the relativestabilityof life-satisfaction
has been
that individualsadaptto significantlifecircumstances
like health,wealth,
KARMAYOGA:CONCEPTUALIZATIONANDVALIDATION
33
marriage,residence,and privilege
therebymaintaininga relatively
stable
levelof life satisfaction
(Costa,McCrae,& Zonderman,1987).
Studiesby Costa,McCrae,
and Zonderman
(1987),and McCraeand
Costa(1991)havealready
show,,.,,atthe traitof conscientiousness
can
affectlifesatisfaction.
The facetof achievement
strivingis characterized
by ambition
and goalseekingbehavior.As predicted
by Brickman,Coates,
and Janoff-Bulman,
(1978),extrinsic rewards
triggera cycleof contrast
and habituation,whichhas a dualeffect.Firstly,
they do not significantly
increaselife satisfaction
over a periodand secondlythey reducethe
individual'sability
to derivesatisfactionfromcomparatively
lessermundane
joys. lndividuals
who are high on karmayogawill be low
in achievement
striving;hencethey are peoplewho are not likelyto be hankering
after
rewards.Evenif theseindividuals
receiverewards,
they are not likelyto
give them much significanceand henceare not likelyto fall victimsto
this cycle.
Hence,rivehypothesizedthat karmayogawill
be positively
relatedto
lifesatisfaction(Hypothesis3).
METHOD
Participants
Seventy-five
executivesfrom ages2l yearsto55 years(Median=
years), acrossmorethan
10 companiesin India
werestudied.The sample
included63 maleand 12femalerespondents,
55 of
the respondents
were
married,and 20 were single.The work experience
of the respondents
rangedfrom lessthan
a yearto 30 yearswitha medianof 10
years,and
28 weregraduates,
45 werepostgraduates,andtwo
werePh.D.s.
Measures
A scaleto measure
the beliefin Indian
philosophywas builtbasedon
the fundamentalbeliefsin Indianphilosophy.
The scalecontained
five
itemsof whichtwo itemschecked
the beliefin the lawof karma,one
item
checkedthe beliefin the presence
of a soul,one itemchecked
the belief
in liberation,and one itemcheckedthe beliefin spiritual
growththrough
work.
For conceptualizationof karmayoga,we usedthe contentanalysis
of Gandhi's
commentary
on the Gita.Fordevelopment
of the
karmayogascale,we drewfromthe
versesof the Gita,whichdescribed
the two element:,of duty orientation
and absenceof desirefrom
rewards.
We createda five-itemscale
describingduty orientation
and a seven-
itemscaledescribingabsenceof desirefrom
rewards.
The facets of the trait of conscientiousness,
viz. dutifulness
and
achievementstrivingwere measured
usinga 10 itemscalefor
eachfacet
basedon the RevisedNEO Personality
Inventory
(NEO-Pl-R)
prepared
by P.T. Costa,
Jr. and R. R. McCrae
(1992)and itemsforthescalewere
takenfroman internetwebsite,
InternationalPersonality
ltemPool(2001).
KARMAYOGA: CONCEPTUALIZATION
ANDVALIDATION 3s
we performed
the regressionfor eachdimension
separately.The
facetsof
conscientiousness
viz.dutifulnessandachievement
strivingwerecentered
(i.e.by subtractingthe meanfromeachscore),
and
the interactionterms
as well as the maineffectswere
haegslon
thesecentered
scores.Table
and Table 3 showthe resultsof regression
on karmayoga-sense
of duty
and karmayoga-absence
of desirefor rewardsrespectively.
The interaction
termwas moderatety
significant
(p<.1) for
karmayoga-sense
of dutyand
not significant
for karmayoga-absenceof desirefor rewards.
Table
Means, Standard Deviations,and Zero-OrderIntercorrelations
Variable
M SD 1
- Beliefin IndianPhilosophy
- Karma
Yoga-Senseof Obliga-
tion or duty towardsothers
- KarmaYoga-Absenceof a
desire for rewards
- Conscientiousness-Dutifulness
- Conscientiousness-Achieve-
ment Striving
- Life Satisfaction
3.7e .66 (.70)
.
"
.54 .24*
4.23 .41 .23'
- O 51. 7 7
. O 7 . 1 4 (. 6 4 )
.24* .45*. (.
. 3 1 * *. 2 8 *. 4 5 ". (. 7 6 )
.00 .43** .27" .39**
7 1
Note:Coefficients
alphasare in parenthesis
alongthe diagonalN varies
from
68 to 74.
" P
" * P
T a b r e 2
Resultsof Hegression Analysisto check the interactioneffect of facets
of conscientiousness
on Karma Yoga-sense
of obligationor duty
towardsothers
95%cl
Predictor
SE b LowerUPPer B
Constant
Dutifulnessx Achievement
Striving
Dutifulness
AchievementStriving
Note:
N varies from 68 to 74.
To investigatethe interactionfurther,we did a mediansplit
of the
sampleon achievement
striving.Dutifulness
was not relatedto karma
yoga-Senseof duty when achievementstrivin" was low and was
significantly
relatedto karmayoga-sense
of duty (F =.32,p<.05)when
achievement
strivingwas high (greaterthan the median).Although
dutifulness
was relatedto karmayoga-absence
of desirefor rewardsboth
36 JOURNALOFINDIANPSYCHOLOGY
whenachievementstrivingwas low (p
p<.05)andwhenachievement
strivingwas high1p
=.41,p<.01), the relationship becamemorepronounced
whenthe achievement strivingwas high.Theseresultsare exactlyopposite
to our hypothesizedrelationship betweenthe facetsof conscientiousness
and the dimensionsof karma yoga; thereforeHypothesis 2 was not
supported.
Table
Results of Regression Analysis to check the interaction effect of facets
of conscientiousnesson Karma Yoga-absence of desire for rewards
Predictor
95% Cl
b SE b Lower Upper p
t p
Constant
Dutifulnessx Achievement
Striving
Dutifulness
AchievementStriving
2.54 2.U
Note. N varies from 68 to 74.
Resultsof regressionanalysesto checkthe impactof beliefin Indian
philosophy, dutifulness,and achievementstrivingon karmayoga-sense
of dutyand karmayoga-absenceof desirefor rewardsare shownin Table
4 and Table5 respectively.Beliefin Indianphilosophywas significantly
relatedto karma
yoga-senseof duty but not to karmayoga-absence
of
desirefor rewardsand henceHypothesis1 was only partlysupported.
Table
Results of Regression Analysis to check the effect of facets of
conscientiousnesson Karma Yoga-sense of obligation
or duty towards others
95% Ct
Predictor
b SE b LowerUpper p
Constant
Beliefin Indian
Philosophy
Dutifulness
AchievementStriving
.08 .U
.o
Note. N varies from 68 to 74.
Iesfs of Hypothesis -Karma Yoga and Life Satisfaction
We performeda forwardregression to check the effectsof beliefin
Indianphilosophy,karmayoga-sense of duty,and karmayoga-absence
of desirefor rewardson life satisfactionand foundthat only karmayoga-
38 JOURNALOFINDIAN PSYCHOLOGY
positivecorrelation
with lifesatisfaction; thereforeHypothesis 3 was parly
suppofted.
Discussion
All our hypotheseswere partlysupported.
We found a relationship
between beliefs in Indian philosophyand karma yoga-senseof duty;
however,we did not see any relationship
between beliefs in Indian
philosophy
and karmayoga-absence of desirefor rewards.There
could
be two reasons for this.
Firstly, our conceptualization of karmayogaas two factorsmay need
some refinement. One of the dimensionsrevealed in the contentanalysis
was being neutralto oppositesor keepingsenses
under control.lt is
likelythatbeliefin Indian philosophy mayhavean impact on the dimensions
of karma yoga only in the presenceof this factor
i.e. being neutralto
opposites.Furtherstudiesmust includethis as one of the variables
in
orderto understand its rolefully.
Secondly,sincekarmayoga-absence
of desirefor rewardsdepends
on the extentto which
a personidentifies with the soul and not with the
body, it is not sufficientfor us to measurethe belief
in the existenceof
the soul. Perhapswe must introduceanothervariableto measurethe
extentto which the individual identifieshimselfor herselfwith beingthe
souland not the body.Thus havingbelieved in the existence of the ioul,
only to the extentthat a personidentifies
with the soul and not the body,
willthepersonbe highon karmayoga.
Our conceptualization
of karmayoga beingdescribed as the facetof
dutifulnesswas parily supportedsince dutifulness
showed a high
correlationwith at leastone of the factorsof karmayoga
i.e. an absence
of a desirefor rewards.Howeverour hypothesis
that high achievement
strivingwould weaken the relationship betweendutifulness and karma
yoga was not supported.Therecouldbe two reasonsfor this.
Firstly, the
facetof achievement
strivingdescribedin the RevisedNEO personality
Inventory(NEo-Pl-R)prepared
by
p.
T. costa,Jr. and R. R. Mccrae (1992j
includesan elementof hardwork
and an elementof pure achievement.
while these terms may be viewedas the same by a westernaudience,
our findingssuggestthat Indianexecutives
may view thesetwo termsas
different. Our factor analysis of the selected items of the facet of
achievement strivingsupports this argument. ltem numbers1, 6, and 7
which describe
1;he
iub-facet of pure
achievementreceiveda relativefy
low factor loading(.56, .s4, and .51 respectively) as comparedto ltem
numbers 2,4,5,3, and 10 (.7s,.69,.6s,.62,and
.61respectively) which
describethe sub-facetof hard
work in the facetachievement
stiving.
when we tested the rerationship
of the two sub-facets,hard work
(cronbach Alpha .58) and pure achievement (cronbachAlpha .69)with
each of the other variables,we found that the two sub-facetsshowed
significantly differentrelationships with life satisfaction, beliefsin Indian
KARMAYOGA:CONCEPTUALIZATIONANDVALIDATION
39
philosophy,and the dimensions
of karmayoga.Specifically
the sub-facet
of hard
work was more stronglyrelatedto life
satisfaction
(r=.41,p<'
for hardworkas
compared
to r=.25,p<.05for
pureachievement).Similarly,
hard work was significantly
relatedto karmayoga-senseof duty (r='34,
p<.01)and karmayoga-absence
of desirefor
rewards
(r=.35,p<.01),while
pure achievementwas not relatedto eitherof the dimensionsof karma
yoga.
When we checkedfor the interaction
effectof dutifulness
with pure
achievement,we found that the interaction
term in a regression
was
moderatelysignificant
(p<.1)for the dependant
variablekarma
yoga-
absenceof desirefor rewardsand
not significant
for the dependant
variable
karmayoga-sense
of duty.Whenwe testedfor moderation,
we foundthat
dutifulnesswas more
strongtyrelatedto karmayoga-absence
of desire
for rewards(ft.48, p<.01)whenachievement
strivingwas
lowas compared
to the relationship
betweendutifulness
and karmayoga-absence
of desire
for rewards(B=.44,
p<.01)when achievement
striving
was high(greater
than the median).These numberssupportthe hypothesis
that the
moderatingeffectof pure
achievementacts
on the relationship
between
dutifulness
and karma
yoga-absence
of desirefor rewardsin a manner
thatthestrengthof
the relationshipreduces
as pureachievement
increases.
The results also indicatethat there is a case for splittingthe facet of
achievementstrivingintothe
sub-facets
of hardworkand
pureachievement
in the Indiancontext.Hence,in furtherstudieswe mustensurethat
we
measurepure achievement
independent
of the sub-facet
of hardwork.
Anotherreasonfor
the
weaksupportfor Hypothesis
2 couldbe social
desirability,
whichwas neithermeasured
norcontrolled.Persons
who are
highon socialdesirability
liketo be seen as beingpersistent
and hence
are lit
ety to rate higher
on achievement
strivingthan they actuallyare
(Moon,dOOt
). Hence,it is possible
a numberof persons
whilenot
actually
highon achievement
striving,
scoredhighon
thisfacetbecause
of socially
dJsifable responses.
Future studies must either control for social
desirability
orfind moreingenious
methods
of measuringthe truelevelof
achievement
striving.
Our third hypothesis
studyingthe relationship
betweenkarmayoga
and life satisfaction
was partlysupportedwith one dimensionof karma
yoga showinga positiverelationship
with lifesatisfaction.
Individuals
who '
icoreO high on karma
yoga-absenceof desirefor rewardsalso scored
highon lif6satisfaction
wniletherewds no
significant
relationshipbetween
karmayoga-sense
of duty and
lifesatisfaction.Therecouldbe
two reasons
for this.
Firstly, our sample was biased towards persons involved in
manufacturing
and operations.Hough(1992)foundopposingrelationships
between duty, achievementstriving
and performancefor managers-
executivesas comparedto health
care workers.
lt is likely that in our
sample,personsdid not see any association
betweenduty orientation
KARMAYOGA
: CONCEPTUALIZATION
ANDVALIDATION
41
Managersin Indianbusinesses
are facingthe onslaught
of
muttinationalsand
with it, the impactof foreign
cultures.
At a timelike
this,thereis likelyto be a tendency
to secu-larizethe workplace
and' ,'
makeit freeof all
cultural
artifactsin tne mistaken
betief
thatthese3re:
barriers
to progress.
Insteadof ,,,,rdlyrelyingi
onlyon alientechniqueS,.
managersmuslleverage
conceptslikekarma
yoga,whicharepartof
our'
culturil
heritageto adaptand modify
globalpractices
to bestsuitthe'
needsof their
peoPle.
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APPENDIX
Scale for Belief in Indian Philosophy
- lf I do good deeds,I will
get good resultseitherin this lifeor in the
next.
- Joys and sorrowsexperienced by me are a resultof my actions
in this life or earlierlives.
- There existsa permanententitycalled
"sout"
withinme.
- The goal of life is to be liberatedfrom the cycle of birth and
death.
- lt is possibleto grow spiritually by performingone's worldlydu-
ties selflessly.
