Which of these is a part of the typology of personality based on trigunas?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Sattva, rajas, tamas
Option (1) Id, ego, superego — Incorrect. These are the three structural elements of personality in Freud’s theory; they reside in the unconscious as forces. They are not a typology of personality.
Option (2) Neuroticism, extraversion, introversion — Incorrect. These come from Eysenck’s theory, which reduces personality to broad dimensions such as neuroticism vs. emotional stability and extraversion vs. introversion. They are Western trait dimensions, not gunas.
Option (3) Sattva, rajas, tamas — Correct. There is a typology of personality based on the trigunas, i.e. sattva, rajas, and tamas. Sattva includes cleanliness, truthfulness and discipline; rajas includes intensive activity, desire for sense gratification and envy; tamas includes anger, arrogance, laziness and helplessness. All three are present in every person in different degrees.
Option (4) Vatta, Pitta, Kapha — Incorrect. The Charak Samhita, a treatise on Ayurveda, classifies people into vata, pitta and kapha on the basis of three humoural elements called tridosha. This is a separate Indian typology, based on humours, not on gunas.
NCERT (2025-26): “Type Approaches … In India also, Charak Samhita, a famous treatise on Ayurveda, classifies people into the categories of vata, pitta and kapha on the basis of three humoural elements called tridosha. Each refers to a type of temperament, called prakriti (basic nature) of a person. Apart from this, there is also a typology of personality based on the trigunas, i.e. sattva, rajas, and tamas. Sattva guna includes attributes like cleanliness, truthfulness, dutifulness, detachment, discipline, etc. Rajas guna includes intensive activity, desire for sense gratification, dissatisfaction, envy for others, and a materialistic mentality, etc. Tamas guna characterises anger, arrogance, depression, laziness, feeling of helplessness, etc. All the three gunas are present in each and every person in different degrees. The dominance of one or the other guna may lead to a particular type of behaviour.…” |