A Questionnaire to Study

Research into the effectiveness of treatment modalities of the traditional medical system of Ayur-Veda can be aided by access to a self-report questionnaire based on the dosha or "temperament " theory of Ayur-Veda. Fifteen adjective pairs were selected to create bipolar Likert-type scales that purport to capture psychophysiological "state " as deter-mined by the subject’s self-report. A sample of 931 varied subjects completed the self-report questionnaire at least twice, with an intervening musical experience. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient indicated only one adjectival pair failed the test of internal consistency. It was removed from further analysis. Factor analysis showed that the hypothesized grouping of adjectives matched the three temperaments or doshas of Ayur-Veda theory brough out by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. This included a test-retest comparison of the factor loadings, as well as comparisons of two diverse subject subpopulations. Historical trends in temperament theory are covered to aid understanding of the construct validity of the questionnaire. Ayur-Veda is recognized by the World Health Organization as an effective system of traditional health care and is widely used in India (Bannerman et al., 1988, Sharma, 1993)