Disciplines and Ideas in the Social Sciences

1
Indigenizing the Social Sciences

Indigenizing the Social Sciences

The following is the objective for this module:

1. Evaluate the person’s personality using the core values of Sikolohiyang
Pilipino

Sikolohiyang Pilipino
The History
Filipinos have never been a strictly intellectual culture. Their mindset even
before the dawn of the 21st century has always been a collection of both the
strictly academic and the open culture that Filipinos have always espoused.
Therefore, it is important that we know what this “Filipino psychology”
entails, and where it came to be before our time.

The article “Sikolohiyang Pilipino: A Legacy of Virgilio G. Enriquez” written

by Rogelia Pe-Pua and Elizabeth Protacio-Marcelino is an important piece of
work written on the origins of Sikolohiyang Pilipino and the theory itself.
Indebted to the work already done by Virglio G. Enriquez, these writers
sought out to amplify the meaning of Sikolohiyang Pilipino. This work is
therefore crucial to the topic of this module.

From the beginning of the periods when the Philippines was colonized
by Spain, ad then the USA, academic psychology, or the psychology
taught in schools, was predominantly Western in theory and in
methodology. Many Filipino intellectuals, notably the two Philippine
heroes Jose Rizal and Apolinario Mabini, expressed dissatisfaction at
the pejorative interpretations of Filipino behavior by Western
observers. This disenchantment continued as Filipinos struggled to
assert their national and cultural identity. (Pua and Marcelino, 2000)

Since the Philippines was a colony of three different countries, they

have been exposed to culture after culture, all of them distinct and special in
their own way, that have led to the Filipinos having a certain kind of identity
crisis. This ‘Westernization’ of the Philippines inspired a number of Filipino
scholars to identify culture that is uniquely Filipino, recognizing that other
cultures have had their share of influences on this new Philippine social
psychology. They continue, “In the 1960s, many Filipino intellectuals and
scholars were already sensitive both to the inadequacy as well as the
unfairness of the Western-oriented approaches to psychology.” (Pua and
Marcelino, 2000) This led to the creation of the Sikolohiyang Pilipino.

Course Module
 The Theory

According to Pua and Marcelino, “Sikolohiyang Pilipino is anchored on

Filipino thought and experience as understood from a Filipino perspective
(Enriquez, 1975). The most important aspect of this definition is the Filipino
orientation. For centuries, Filipino behavior has been analyzed and
interpreted in the light of Western theories. Since these theories are
inevitably culture-bound, the picture of the Filipino has been inaccurate, if
not distorted.” (Pua and Marcelino, 2000) In simpler terms, Sikolohiyang
Pilipino is aimed at understanding the Filipino according to the Filipino. This
theory is important not only because it gives us a psychological identity
appropriate for the Filipinos’ customs and culture, but also because it sets
aside Western interpretations of Philippine society, as mentioned by the
article, that does not take into account the individual features of Philippine
culture.

The principle emphasis of Sikolohiyang Pilipino is to foster national

identity and consciousness, social involvement, and psychology of
language and culture. It is thus concerned with proper applications to
health, agriculture, art, mass media, religion, and other spheres of
people’s daily life. (Pua and Marcelino, 2000)

Major Characteristics of Sikolohiyang Pilipino

According to Pua and Marcelino’s article, Enriquez sought out to define

Sikolohiyang Pilipino, it’s major characteristics as well as the roots or
antecedents of Sikolohiyang Pilipino.

(Pua and Marcelino, 2000) Its philosophical antecedents include:

(a) Empirical philosophy, academic-scientific psychology, the ideas and

teachings of Ricardo Pascual, logical analysis of language
(b) Rational philosophy, the clerical tradition, phenomenology, Thomistic
philosophy and psychology
(c) Liberalism, the Philippine propaganda movement, the writings of
Philippine heroes Jacinto, Mabini and del Pilar, ethnic psychology

Enriquez also eliminated the bondage of Western tradition that bothered

Filipino intellectuals before him. This proves that Sikolohiyang Pilipino is
something original to the Filipino, and that Filipino culture is not destined to
live under the shadows of another culture or an outside nation.

Glossary
 Sikolohiyang Pilipino – is anchored on Filipino thought and experience
as understood from a Filipino perspective

References
Pe-Pua, R. and Protacio-Marcelino, E. (2000) “Sikolohiyang Pilipino (Filipino
psychology): A Legacy of Virgilio G. Enriquez.” Asian Journal of Social
Psychology 3: 49-71.