Karma-Yoga, the Indian Work Ideal, and its Relationship with Empathy

Abstract

Karma-Yoga, the technique of performing action such that the soul of the actor is not bound by the results of the action, constitutes the Indian work ideal. The relationship of Karma-Yoga with the dimensions of empathy was explored through a study done on 108 students in a postgraduate programme of business management. Karma-Yoga was found to be related to some dimensions of empathy. The results highlighted the differential impact of dimensions of empathy. Empathic concern was found to be related to Karma-Yoga only for those individuals who were low on personal distress. For individuals high on personal distress, empathic concern was not related to Karma-Yoga. Findings indicate that Karma-Yoga is very similar to altruism motivation in the Indian context. Individuals who are high on empathic concern and low on personal distress are more likely to take actions for the benefit of others rather than for their own benefit.

Do Karma-Yogis Make Better Leaders?

“…The last item measures the belief in salvation, viz., 'The goal of life is to be liberated from the cycle of birth and death'. The scale for beliefs in Indian philosophy has been found to be reliable in earlier studies (Mulla and Krishnan 2006, 2007, 2008.…”

“…For belief in Indian philosophy, we used the SixItem Scale developed by Mulla and Krishnan (2006, 2007, 2008. The scale for belief in Indian philosophy contains six items and earlier versions of the scale have shown adequate reliability with Cronbach alphas ranging from 0.66 to 0.70.…”

“…The scale for belief in Indian philosophy contains six items and earlier versions of the scale have shown adequate reliability with Cronbach alphas ranging from 0.66 to 0.70. (Mulla and Krishnan 2006, 2007, 2008. For measuring Karma-Yoga, we used the 18-Item Scale developed by Mulla and Krishnan (ibid.).…”

“…When taken together, the three existing studies on Karma-Yoga (Mulla and Krishnan 2006, 2007, 2008 validate Karma-Yoga against three dimensions of moral development, viz., moral sensitivity, moral motivation, and moral character. Thus Karma-Yoga shows good potential as an alternative model for moral development in the Indian context.…”

“…It involves the skills of empathy and role taking with respect to individuals affected by one's actions (Narvaez and Rest 1995). Mulla and Krishnan (2008) validated Karma-Yoga with dimensions of empathy and showed that empathic concern (i.e., otheroriented feelings of sympathy and concern) was related to Karma-Yoga only for individuals who were low on personal distress (i.e., self-oriented feelings of personal anxiety and unease).…”