The Gunas Personality Framework: Associations With Values, Virtues, and Risk-Taking Behavior

Every human being is composed of three gunas or fundamental elements – sattva (intelligence), rajas (energy), and tamas (mass). In a series of studies with 193 executives (Study 1), 131 engineering students (Study 2), and 176 engineering students (Study 3), we show the relationships between the gunas and values, virtues, and risk-taking behaviour. We found that sattva was positively related to self-transcendent values and negatively to self-enhancement values. t amas was negatively related to social risk-taking and positively to risk-taking in ethical, financial, and health matters. Together, the studies substantiate our argument that gunas constitute an inclusive and comprehensive framework of an individual’s personality.