Ahamkara: A study on the Indian model of self and identity

Abstract

Ideas around self and identity are at the core of various reflective traditions in both East and West. In the psychological literature, they have multiple meanings. However, they usually reflect the idea of self-sameness across changing time. The current study aimed to explore various ways in which contemporary Indians define their ‘self’ and if there were any parallel between modern and traditional construal of self. An open-ended Twenty Statements Test (TST) was used along with a quantitative measure Ahamkara Questionnaire (AQ) based on an Indian model of self, known as ‘ahamkara’. A sample of 240 educated, adults (Females=104, Males= 136; Mean age= 38.17 years, SD=11.45 years; range 20-60 years) were purposively selected from an urban area of North India and recruited in this mixed-method, cross-sectional research study. Thematic analysis of TST responses uncovered five broad thematic categories in self-concepts: Individuality, Belongingness, Separation, Agency and Spiritual/Transpersonal. Four of them overlapped with sub-components of ‘ahamkara’. They also differed with age where Spiritual/Transpersonal theme was frequent in self-concepts of older samples. Quantitative results from AQ also indicated that the level of ahamkara significantly differed with age and gender. These findings have implications for mental health and developing interventions utilising Indian conception of self.

An Empirical Study of Ancient Wisdom : Effect of Anasakti (Non-Attachment) and Ahamkara (Ego) on Well-Being Amongst Indians

“…Therefore, psychological measures rooted in specific knowledge traditions may also tap into similar yet distinct aspects of anasakti (non-attachment), and it was noted that such scales had shown good psychometric properties. Similar issues have been reported for the definition and measurement of ahamkara (ego), with few tools available (Gupta & Agrawal, 2021).…”

“…Furthermore, investigating well-being variables that have not been previously studied in relation to anasakti and ahamkara would help develop interventions based on these philosophical concepts, to improve the quality of life. Additionally, the ahamkara (ego) model (Salagame et al, 2005) remains more or less valid, as reported in another empirical study (Gupta & Agrawal, 2021). A significant feature of the sub-components of ahamkara (ego) is that these might be present in different degrees among people, giving them a layered sense of identity (Gaur, 2011;Salagame et al, 2005).…”

“…In the psychological literature, authors have noted that many psycho-spiritual concepts originating in Eastern cultures are difficult to define; for example, issues related to the definition of mindfulness have been widely discussed (Anālayo, 2019;Nilsson & Kazemi, 2016). Along similar lines, anasakti (non-attachment) also remains a hard-to-define concept, with scholars giving multiple and occasionally overlapping definitions (Gupta & Agrawal, 2021). Nevertheless, based on the available descriptions, anasakti (non-attachment) represents non-clinginess to desires and non-insistence on over-controlling life events and selfish actions.…”

Dark side of skin‐lightening products: Social responsibility of advertisers

“…Introjected regulation (INR), a sub‐type of extrinsic motivation, motivates a person to act to get rewards (like ego enhancement) or avoid shame (Gupta and Agrawal 2021; Ryan and Deci 2000). Social pressure enforces individuals to exhibit INR, which compels them to behave in a particular manner (Wang and Hou 2015).…”

Self in psychotherapy: An Indian perspective

“…Multiple studies, using a mixed-method approach, have been conducted, to understand the concept of self in modern times. The model of ahamkara based on Vedantic literature was validated by the emergent themes in one of our mixed-method studies [19] . It reported that the research participants had self-construal themes on the lines of Individuality, Separation, Agency, and the Belongingness aspect of the Identification, as per the Ahamkara model [19] [13] .…”