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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 Springer New DelhiHeidelberg NewYork Dordrecht London LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2014942064 (cid:2)SpringerIndia2014 Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsarereservedbythePublisher,whetherthewholeorpartof the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation,broadcasting,reproductiononmicrofilmsorinanyotherphysicalway,andtransmissionor informationstorageandretrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. Exempted from this legal reservation are brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis or material supplied specifically for the purposeofbeingenteredandexecutedonacomputersystem,forexclusiveusebythepurchaserofthe work. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of theCopyright Law of the Publisher’s location, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Permissions for use may be obtained through RightsLink at the CopyrightClearanceCenter.ViolationsareliabletoprosecutionundertherespectiveCopyrightLaw. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publicationdoesnotimply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesareexempt fromtherelevantprotectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse. While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication,neithertheauthorsnortheeditorsnorthepublishercanacceptanylegalresponsibilityfor anyerrorsoromissionsthatmaybemade.Thepublishermakesnowarranty,expressorimplied,with respecttothematerialcontainedherein. Printedonacid-freepaper SpringerispartofSpringerScience+BusinessMedia(www.springer.com) 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

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