The Ayurveda concept of Prakŗti and the Western construct of personality: a comparative pilot study

Introduction. In the Indian medical system of Ayurveda, health results from the balanced interplay between three functional principles or doṣa - Vāta, Pitta, and Kapha - that regulate psychophysical functions. The relative proportion of the three doṣa in an individual determines the person’s psychophysical constitution, Prakŗti. The aim of this pilot study was to jointly assess individuals’ Prakŗti and personality and emotional traits, investigating convergences and divergences between the two classification approaches.
Method. Data were collected among 391 adult participants through the following self-assessment instruments: Questionnaire on DoṣaPrakŗti AyurVeda (QDAV), specifically developed in this study to evaluate Prakŗti; Big Five Inventory (BFI) to assess personality; Positive Affect Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), to evaluate emotional profile; Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), to measure perceived health. Participants’ Prakŗti profile was identified first through QDAV and subsequently through its implemented version QDAV-R. Individuals characterized by predominant Vāta, Pitta, or Kapha Prakŗti (N=173) were selected for subsequent analyses. Personality, emotional profile, and perceived health were compared across these groups through nonparametric procedures.
Results. QDAV-R allowed for effectively classifying participants according to their Prakŗti. Personality, emotional and health features reported by Vāta, Pitta, and Kapha participants were consistent with the corresponding descriptions provided in the Ayurveda literature.
Discussion. Findings suggest that Prakŗti classification can be fruitfully integrated into diagnostic and treatment protocols in healthcare and psychotherapy. These results can inform future studies, aimed at combining psychophysical measures derived from different knowledge traditions within an authentically integrated and person-centered approach to health and well-being.