Indigenous psychology (shortened to IP) is an academic field with researchers and theorists around the world. As a movement, it started around the 1970s when many foreign-trained psychologists returned to their home countries after realizing that what they learned in Western institutions did not totally apply to their own upbringing.
Among them is our very own Virgilio Enriquez, who was a pioneer of Sikolohiyang Pilipino.
What is Indigenous psychology (IP)?
IP is a very rich and exciting field, and these days it seems to be enjoying a resurgence of popularity among students, advocates, and artists. After all, think of everything going on in the world today:
- Ancestral domains are being destroyed by greedy businesses
- Social media trends are making us more and more Americanized
- Sociopolitical crises are harming lands, cultures, and people
Obviously, IP is not the answer to everything, but if we are to change anything at all, we need to first change our way of thinking.
Why it’s important and relevant
An important point made in IP is this: Yes, we are all human, but we express our humanness in different ways. We think that the theories we are taught in “psychology” are universal, but there are literally billions of people around the world, and countless variations of culture.
An important point made in IP is this: Yes, we are all human, but we express our humanness in different ways
The psychology most of us are taught in school is heavily based on Western culture, dominated by White, industrial, and colonial ways of thinking. Many of its revered thinkers and schools of thought—such as psychoanalysis and behaviorism—have also been developed in Western institutions, following the norms of Western populations.
Does this mean we should erase our current psychology curriculum just because it is largely based on Western psychology? Not necessarily—but we do have to reassess whether certain theories and therapies are actually useful to our context.
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The dangers of Western psychology
The danger is that we are using Western psychology to assess sanity and mental dysfunction, judge a person’s employability, test the supposed intelligence of children, and so on.
If the norms are based on Western societies, then we are at a severe disadvantage. We contort ourselves just to fit into these boxes—in other words, we allow our minds to be colonized. We become colonized from the inside.
IP offers an alternative: Maybe we can look at our own traditions, languages, values, and stories to find what best works for us. If we are only thinking in one way—that is, the Western way—then much of this generational knowledge is lost.
Some misconceptions
In my teaching, research, and consultation sessions, I have come across two main misconceptions about IP as a field. (Disclaimer: These are my views; I am not representing the entire field.)
Misconception #1: Indigenous psychology is about going back to the past to find our “original” psychology
This is usually a misguided nationalistic endeavor. We tend to ignore the struggles of our colonized ancestors to look for evidence of some great but interrupted genius.
This is usually a misguided nationalistic endeavor. We tend to ignore the struggles of our colonized ancestors
The truth is that who we are today is shaped by past struggles—this applies to both the personal and the larger sociocultural context. Our culture today is shaped by how we have adapted foreign technologies and how we resisted or accepted colonial and authoritarian forces.
If we want to dream of “what we could have been,” why do we have to project ourselves to the past? Why not take an honest look at ourselves today, and dream of “what we could be” in the future? We do not have to be trapped in our own regretful nostalgia.
Misconception #2: Indigenous psychology is only about rural communities, not modern, urbanized people
“Indigenous” here just means it came from a particular culture—that is, any culture. We have to be honest about our differences and open to the possible patterns.
Many people ask me why most of the concepts discussed in Sikolohiyang Pilipino are in Tagalog—the language of the capital—when in fact the Philippines is a multi-ethnic archipelago. Maybe it is because its founder, Virgilio Enriquez, is a native of Bulacan and speaks Tagalog. He was coming from his own native experience to develop a more authentic way of thinking.
But just because Dr. Enriquez explored Tagalog psychological concepts does not mean that it should be imposed on every other region in the Philippines. Instead, this should encourage regional scholars to develop psychologies drawn from their own native experience.
If the Manila style of doing things does not work in other regions, then what does? And what can we learn from each other? And, yes, this includes developing psychologies derived from the wisdom of Indigenous cultures, as well as from our hybrid identities. Many of us have a probinsya to go home to—we are “native” to that context.
Here is a radical thought: some IP theorists say that Western psychology is actually its own “Indigenous psychology,” since it was developed following the norms, trends, and traditions of Western culture. It is therefore useful for Western peoples because it is indigenous to them, but it is not always useful for everyone else in the world because it is foreign to them.
To be honest, this discussion sometimes makes my head spin, so I am reserving this topic for another time.
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So, what now?
Indigenous psychology is an academic field and a cultural-political movement. It is about meeting people as they actually are, not as they ought to be. It is about honoring diversity and recognizing our shared dignity as humans.
Differences in language can be a limitation, but they should not limit our desire to learn from each other. This is why we need translators and community bridges.
The way I see it, Indigenous psychology is like a potluck gathering… and everyone is invited to bring themselves.
