The Concept and Measure of Sukha–Dukha: An Indian Perspective on Well-Being

Abstract

ABSTRACTIdentifying the dearth of research and tools on Indian perspective on happiness, we constructed a test on the concepts of sukha and dukha, theorizing them based on various Indian ancient texts. The study was conducted in three stages: a pilot study (n = 150), a main study (n = 300), and a validation study (n = 201). The participants were mainly from urban and semiurban settings. Exploratory factor analysis revealed four factors on both the Sukha and Dukha scales. Our scales are psychometrically robust with high internal consistency (Sukha: α = 0.86; Dukha: α = 0.91). The scales also demonstrated concurrent validity, as significant negative correlations were found between dukha and the Scale of Positive and Negative Experiences–Positive (r = −0.35, p < .01) and the Flourishing Scale (r = −0.40, p < .01) and positive correlations were observed between sukha and the Scale of Positive and Negative Experiences–Positive (r = 0.53, p < .01) and the Flourishing Scale (r = 0.55, p < .01). Our proposed model also fits the data well in subsequent confirmatory factor analyses thus adding to its robustness. Our test aims to bridge the theory–data disconnect in indigenous psychology and open relevant psychology concepts embedded in the Indian theory for cross-cultural testing.