Towards a Typology of Yogic Worldviews

I present findings from mixed-methods studies from culturally different contexts to arrive at a tentative typology of yogic worldviews. A 75-item Q-methodological instrument specifically designed to arrive at worldview typology from empirical data, I present findings from several case studies. One study was done in Sweden, another one in Finland, a third one in India, whereas fourth and fifth are from Poland and Turkey. While the results reflect local idiosyncracies, more importantly, they inform us about cross-culturally shared patterns. The shared patterns can be used to arrive at a preliminary theory of yogic worldviews, attentive to variety in terms of religiosity, identity, practice, openness to change, social orientation, and emotional profiles. These are assessed in light of prominent worldview theories. The results are specifically about yogic worldviews. More generally, they are informative about the unclear the intersection of religiosity, secularity, and spirituality, which may not neatly fit into existing categories.