Fipino Psychology

Filipino psychology or Sikolohiyang Pilipino is characterized as the study of psychology cored on the experience, ideas, and cultural orientation of the Filipinos. Like other culture and nations, Filipinos has their own discipline of Psychology founded by the nation’s history, society, environment, and people. It is but right that this country must have its own kind of Psychology as this would aid better every Filipino to understand himself and will provide an avenue for improvement of his/her living. The progress of this discipline depends on the forerunner of this study in our country – the Filipino psychologists. Some of the few Filipino scholars are Virgilio Gaspar Enriquez, Ph.D., Ma. Carmen C. Jimenez, and Rogelia E. Pe.

      Virgilio G. Enriquez is the Father of Filipino Psychology. He spearheaded the system that seeks to describe the Filipino's sense of being a person, and an entire field of study that differentiates the Filipino's sense of being from those of other cultures, especially the Western study of Psychology. Ma. Carmen Jimenez, on the other hand, classified some assumptions on Filipino Psychology: that an individual isn’t connected to his/ her society, that individuals are alike, and that the study of psychology doesn’t predisposed/ prejudiced to a particular group or any field of study. She also focused her study on the scientific method in conducting research. And Rogelia Pe-Pua based her study on assessing historical and socio-cultural realities, understanding the local language, unraveling Filipino characteristics, and explaining them through the eyes of the native Filipino. Among her studies are as follows: a body of knowledge including indigenous concepts, development of indigenous research methods and indigenous personality testing, new directions in teaching psychology, and an active participation in organizations among Filipino psychologists and social scientists, both in the Philippines and overseas.

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