Psycho-Social Analysis of the Indian Mindset

253 Pages·2014·2.668 MB·English

by  Jai B.P. Sinha (auth.)

Jai B.P. Sinha
Psycho-Social
Analysis of
the Indian
Mindset
Psycho-Social Analysis of the Indian Mindset
Jai B.P. Sinha
Psycho-Social Analysis
of the Indian Mindset
123
Jai B.P.Sinha
Psychology andManagement
ASSERT InstituteofManagement Studies
Patna, Bihar
India
ISBN 978-81-322-1803-6 ISBN 978-81-322-1804-3 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-81-322-1804-3
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Preface
This book is about how Indians think, feel and behave and why they do so dif-
ferently than many other nationalities. Unlike other books, this one neither
seamlessly adulates nor outrightly denigrates India or Indians. It neither takes a
journalistic approach feasting the reader on ‘‘interesting’’ surface behaviour and
sensational events nor does it get the reader lost in the intricacies of ancient
philosophical abyss. Rather, it places Indians in the contemporary societal frame
and profiles the major facets of their thought and behaviour, then goes back to
trace their roots into the ancient past with a purpose to see how the past predis-
poses and the present guides Indians in their everyday life. Indians are deeply
anchored in their ancient thoughts and habits that are still resilient and helpful to
understand,copewithandexcelintheglobalizingworld.Themostsalientfeature
of the primordial mindset is a pluralistic worldview that allows adding new ideas
andinfluencestotheoldones.Indiansneithergetridoftheoldnorrejectthenew.
Thus, they accumulate paradoxical beliefs, values, norms and practices. They
smoothly navigate back and forth between them, often inviting the comment that
Indians are elusive, hypocritical and unreliable. But in reality, they are highly
sensitive and responsive to contextual factors in organizing their thoughts and
behaviourinordertoservetheirindividualandcollectiveinterestsandgoals.They
have radar-like sensitivity to threats and opportunities and the agility to shuffle
paradoxes and keep reorganizing their mindset to get the best in a particular
situation.Inadversesituations,theylaylowandwaithopingthatthebadwillsoon
pass, or adopt defensive, selfish, quick fix and desperate measures to survive. As
new opportunities open up, they get instantly energized and hugely entrepre-
neurial, and move quickly to cash them through fair or foul means depending on
the rules of the game or the crevices in the opportunity structure. By the same
token, they coil back and run for cover at the slightest ominous signs. They are,
however, incorrigible optimists, and spring up as soon as the weather clears.
Itexplainshowthe‘‘IndiaStory’’buildsupquickly,seemslikeover,andiskicked
start again. The book presents a process analysis of the underlying dynamics of
this story.
The book starts with a conceptual framework showing how the pluralistic
worldviewhasencompassedandenvelopedavarietyofideasandinfluencesfrom
divergent sources, which were superimposed on the foundation of the primordial
mindset.Asaresult,Indiansarebothcollectivistsandindividualists,hierarchically
v
vi Preface
oriented while recognizing merit and quality, or resisting dominance, religious as
wellassecularandsexuallyindulgent,spiritualaswellasmaterialists,excessively
dependent but remarkably entrepreneurial, nonviolent by professed values but
violent in behaviour, and comfortable in taking analytical, synthetic as well as
intuitive approaches to reality. Such a coexistence of opposites often causes
inaction, perfunctory action, feuds and infightings, but also equips them to be
creativeandjugaru(improvisers)throughcontinuouslyaligningtheirthoughtand
behaviour tothe demands ofamilieu. Themilieu has aninnerlayer consisting of
desha(place),kaala(time)andpaatra(person),whichareembeddedinthelarger
societalcontextsconsistingofcaste,poverty,corruption,fragmentingpoliticsand
conflicts and violence. A window of opportunities has been opened in the milieu
byliberalizingtheeconomythatledtoglobalinfluencesfromfoodandfashionto
lifestyle and worldview. But then Indians are always conscious of their cultural
heritage. Thus, Indians live in the existential reality of their socio-economic and
political conditions, aspire to achieve and excel globally by imbibing modern
values,beliefsandlifestyle,andyetyearnforrealizingtheirculturalidealscentred
onspiritualityandpersonalgrowth.TheIndianmindsetoscillatesinthiscomplex
dynamic two tired multi-factors space.
The various intellectual traditions have sliced this complex space differently
highlighting the divides and the overlaps between colonial, nationalist, subaltern,
elitist, Brahmanic, dalit, orientalist, global, cultural, institutional, and other narra-
tives. The book bypasses their breaches and ignores their intricacies in order to
exploreIndians’culturallytemperedunifyingcognitivealgebraintheserviceofa
context bound inclusive mindset that is much more adaptable and agile than the
mindset of many other nationalities. In order to support this conceptualization,
evidencefromthenationalandinternationalresearchisaddedtopresentthestate-
of-the-scienceontheconceptsandissuesathand.However,thereisnohesitationto
indulge in anecdotal evidence, cases and speculative ideas based on personal
experiencesinordertocompletethepicture.Thebookhasbeenwritteninajargon-
freelanguage.Scientificstudieshavebeensummarizedtomakesenseandfitwith
livedexperiences.Ihopethebookwillinterestnationalandinternationalacademics,
Indianpolicymakers,changeagents,businessmenandallthosewhoareinterested
in understanding and dealing with Indians. I am highly thankful to Ms. Shinjini
ChatterjeeandMs.NupoorSinghofSpringertohelpandencouragemetorevisethe
manuscriptandtoMs. P.KavithaoftheScientificPublishingServicestoprepareit
for publication. My wife, Gita, has been a constant source of strength and persis-
tence.Withouther,Iwouldnothavebeenabletocompletethiswork.Themembers
of ASSERT have directly and indirectly contributed many ideas contained in the
book.Iamthankfultothem.
Jai B.P. Sinha
Contents
1 Conceptual Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 The Mindset and the Milieu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Continuity Amidst Continuous Change
in Culture and Mindset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2.1 Adding New Ideas and Influences to the Old. . . . . . . 4
1.2.2 Tolerance of Differences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.2.3 Metonymic Thinking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.2.4 Oral Tradition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.3 Layers of the Indian Mindset. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.3.1 Primordial Mindset. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.3.2 Demoralized Mindset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.3.3 Colonized Mindset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
1.3.4 Multilayered Mindset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
1.4 Putting the Pieces Together. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
1.5 How Does the Indian Mindset Work?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
1.5.1 Mental Blocks and Disputations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
1.5.2 Shifting Mindset. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
1.6 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2 Collectivism and Individualism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
2.1 Concepts of Collectivism and Individualism . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
2.1.1 The Indian Approach to Collectivism
and Individualism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
2.2 Cosmic Collectivism and Individualistic Striving . . . . . . . . . . 29
2.2.1 Cosmic Collectivism: One in All and All in One. . . . 29
2.2.2 Individualistic Striving for Self-Realization. . . . . . . . 31
2.3 New Avatar of Collectivism and Individualism . . . . . . . . . . . 32
2.3.1 Collectivism, Allocentrism
and In-Group Influence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
2.3.2 The Coexistence of Opposites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
2.3.3 Means-End Relationship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
vii
viii Contents
2.4 A Reflective Note. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
2.5 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Appendix 2.1: Modal Responses Combining Collectivism
and Individualism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
3 Hierarchy and Power Process. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
3.1 The Cultural Conditioning of Hierarchy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
3.1.1 Genesis of Hierarchy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
3.1.2 Cultural Mediation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
3.2 Indian Hierarchical Orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
3.2.1 The Emerging Trend of Discordance . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
3.3 Ancient Hierarchical Worldview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
3.4 Power Distance and Hierarchical Order. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
3.5 The Power Process in Indian Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
3.5.1 Cultural Construction of Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
3.5.2 Perceptual Frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
3.5.3 Power Process Among Apane Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
3.5.4 Power Process Among Paraye Log. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
3.5.5 Power Process in Twilight Zone of Relationships. . . . 71
3.6 Integrative Reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
3.7 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
4 Spirituality and Materialism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
4.1 The Constructs of Spirituality and Materialism . . . . . . . . . . . 77
4.2 Ancient Constructions of Spirituality and Materialism. . . . . . . 79
4.2.1 Vedantic Perspective. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
4.2.2 The Saankya School. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
4.2.3 Buddhism and Jainism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
4.2.4 Thoughts on Materialism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
4.2.5 The Caarvaakas’ Lokaayata Tradition
of Materialism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
4.3 Contemporary Formulation of Spirituality and Materialism . . . 86
4.3.1 Expressions of Spirituality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
4.3.2 Materialistic Indians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
4.3.3 Spirituality Embedded in Materialism. . . . . . . . . . . . 93
4.4 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
5 Religiosity, Secularism and Sexuality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
5.1 The Triangular Configuration Between Religiosity,
Secularism and Sexuality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Contents ix
5.2 The Cultural Roots of Religiosity, Secularism
and Sexuality in India. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
5.2.1 Religiosity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
5.2.2 Secularism in Indian and Western Perspectives . . . . . 102
5.2.3 Sexuality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
5.3 The Contemporary Formulation of Secularism,
Religiosity and Sexuality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
5.3.1 Political Secularism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
5.3.2 Hindu Nationalism and Religiosity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
5.3.3 Religiosity of Modern Indians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
5.3.4 Contemporary Expressions of Sexuality . . . . . . . . . . 116
5.4 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
6 Entrepreneurship Amidst Dependence Proneness. . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
6.1 Concepts of Dependence Proneness and Entrepreneurship. . . . 123
6.1.1 The Source of Dependence Proneness
and Entrepreneurship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
6.2 From Entrepreneurship to Excessive Dependency. . . . . . . . . . 127
6.2.1 Rise of Entrepreneurship. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
6.2.2 Fall into Excessive Dependency. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
6.2.3 Sprouting of Entrepreneurship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
6.3 Emerging Entrepreneurship from Pervasive Dependence
Proneness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
6.3.1 Pervasive Dependency. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
6.3.2 What Dependence Prone People Do,
Believe and Prefer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
6.3.3 What Those Who Are Not Dependence Prone Do,
Believe and Prefer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
6.3.4 Resurrection of Entrepreneurship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
6.4 Figure–Ground Relationship. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
6.5 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
7 The Paradoxical Indian Mindset. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
7.1 Paradoxes in the Indian Mindset. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
7.1.1 Harmony and Nonviolence Versus Conflicts
and Violence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
7.1.2 The Doctrine of Karma, Faith in Destiny
and Premium on Efforts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
7.1.3 Avoidance and Tolerance of Uncertainty. . . . . . . . . . 152
7.1.4 Masculinity and Femininity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
7.1.5 Analytic, Synthetic and Intuitive
Ways of Knowing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
x Contents
7.2 Paradoxes Can Be Adaptive and Creative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
7.2.1 Paradoxes Are Universal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
7.2.2 The Mediating Role of Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
7.2.3 Adaptive and Creative Potential of Paradoxes . . . . . . 162
7.3 Duplicity, Selfishness and Achieving Orientation. . . . . . . . . . 163
7.3.1 Fathers’ Discrepant Behaviours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
7.3.2 Mothers’ Discrepant Behaviours. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
7.3.3 Adolescents’ Discrepant Behaviours. . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
7.4 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
8 The Shifting Mindset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
8.1 Variable Indian Mindset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
8.2 Switching of Cultural Frames. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
8.3 Reorganizing Indian Mindset. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
8.3.1 Construction of Situation and Response . . . . . . . . . . 176
8.4 Context Sensitivity and Balancing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
8.4.1 Ways of Balancing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
8.4.2 Relativism as Part of Contextualization. . . . . . . . . . . 181
8.4.3 Structural and Functional Dimensions. . . . . . . . . . . . 183
8.4.4 Empirical Evidence of Contextual Effects. . . . . . . . . 185
8.4.5 The Unfinished Task. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
8.5 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
9 Mindset in the Larger Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
9.1 The Bright and the Bleak in the Indian Milieu. . . . . . . . . . . . 195
9.1.1 Window of New Opportunities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
9.1.2 Surrounding Darkness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
9.2 Enduring Constraints. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
9.2.1 Caste and Poverty. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
9.2.2 Culture of Poverty and Poverty Syndrome. . . . . . . . . 205
9.3 Trinity of Disablers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
9.3.1 Enveloping Corruption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
9.3.2 Conflicts and Violence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
9.3.3 Fragmenting Politics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
9.4 Integrative Reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
9.5 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217