Personality, cognitive styles and Morningness-Eveningness disposition in a sample of Yoga trainees

BACKGROUND Yoga is a psychophysical, spiritual science of holistic living, aiming towards body and mind development; it can influence well-being, cognitive processes, personality (Gunas), psychophysiological parameters, and human health. Since it has been observed that Morningness-Eveningness disposition is associated with personality, and that personality can characterize people practicing Yoga, in this exploratory study we posited that Morningness-Eveningness might be associated with personality in Yoga trainees. Since Yoga can have influences over cognitive perspectives, and since it has been observed that Morningness-Eveningness disposition can associate with cognitive processes, we investigated a sample of Yoga trainees with reference to relationship with styles of learning and thinking (relevant aspects of cognitive functioning) and also with Morningness-Eveningness disposition. MATERIAL AND METHODS We tested 184 Yoga trainees using the following questionnaires: Styles of Learning and Thinking (Torrance), Big Five Questionnaire (Caprara, Barbaranelli, Borgogni), and reduced Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (Natale). RESULTS We found that Morning types score significantly higher than Evening types on Conscientiousness, Friendliness, Scrupulousness, Openness to Culture, emotional Stability, emotion Control, they score higher than intermediate types on Conscientiousness, Friendliness, Scrupulousness. Moreover, data showed that the high majority of subjects, also with reference to Morningness-Eveningness disposition, have right-sided styles of learning and thinking, pointing out a tendency towards right-sided cognitive precessing in the whole sample. Personality traits of the Yoga trainees were also investigated. CONCLUSIONS Data are discussed with reference to existing literature, psychological and neuroscientific perspectives are suggested, previous studies about Yoga published on Medical Science Monitor are also considered.