Sikolohiyang Pilipino

1975

Alfredo Lagmay (1919–2005), Virgilio Enriquez (1942–1994)

The Philippines was ruled by Spain for three centuries; then from 1898 until 1946, the country was governed by the United States. After the country’s release from American sovereignty, many Filipinos sought to create institutions and approaches that reflected purely Filipino beliefs and values. Alfredo Lagmay and Virgilio Enriquez led this effort in psychology. After Lagmay became the chair of the psychology department at the University of the Philippines in Manila, Enriquez returned to the Philippines from the United States, where he had received his doctoral degree. Together the two men created Sikolohiyang Pilipino (“Filipino Psychology”), which is intended to decolonize the Filipino psyche after the long period of Western domination. The formal beginnings of this movement were established at the first National Conference on Filipino Psychology, held in 1975 and chaired by Enriquez.

Lagmay and Enriquez founded the Philippine Psychology Research and Training House, where hundreds of students engaged in developing Sikolohiyang Pilipino. The development of research methods that accord with Filipino culture is one of the most singular innovations of Sikolohiyang Pilipino. Enriquez established the technique of “groping” toward an appropriate design and methodology as the project moved forward, rather than beginning with a strategy and shaping the questions to fit the methods a priori. Rooted in Filipino culture and history, Sikolohiyang Pilipino emphasizes that psychological knowledge arises from the collaborative demands of relationships and not strictly from an individual psychological development. One must see the participant as another human being, not as a data point, and begin to build trust and genuineness before proceeding with data collection.

Enriquez and Lagmay insisted that Filipino values must be at the center of Sikolohiyang Pilipino. Thus the study of a sense of propriety (hiya), gratitude and solidarity (utang na loob), and, most important, shared identity (kapwa) assumed prominence. Kapwa, for instance, leads us to treat others as fellow human beings, worthy of respect; whether that person is an insider or outsider determines the kind and level of interaction. Sikolohiyang Pilipino remains a vibrant force in the Philippines today.

SEE ALSO Confucian Psychology (c. 500 BCE), Culture-Bound Syndromes (1904), Cultural Relativism (1928)

Community members helping to move a house to a new location—a volunteerism tradition still practiced in the Philippines today. The image illustrates the close connection between culture and psychological constructs that are part of Sikolohiyang Pilipino.