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Psychology & Developing Societies, Vol. 20, No. 1, 27-49 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/097133360702000102

Articles

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

Zubin R. Mulla

Zubin R. Mulla, Adjunct Faculty, Organisational Behaviour & Human Resource Management, Prin. L.N. Welingkar Institute of Management Development & Research, Matunga, Mumbai–400 019, India. zubinmulla{at}yahoo.co.in

Venkat R. Krishnan

Venkat R. Krishnan is a Ph.D. in Business Administration from Temple University, Philadelphia. He is Professor (Organizational Behavior) and Director (Yale-Great Lakes Center for Management Research) at Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai, India. He does research on transformational leadership, value systems of individuals in organisations and Indian philosophy.

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.


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