The Psychology of, about, and for the Filipinos

Psychology as an academic discipline in the Philippines started in the early 1900s

when the U.S. colonized the country. Scientifically, it was generally viewed as a
continuation of the development of psychology in the West.
In the early 1970s, however, there came a turning point in the lives of Filipinos. It
was a period marked by a high degree of nationalism, brought about by the
declaration of the Martial Law. It was ironic that the father of Philippine
Psychology was, at that time, a recent Ph.D. graduate of Northwestern University
in the U.S.
It was precisely his Western education that made Sikolohiyang Pilipino founder
Virgilio Enriquez realize the need to have a psychology based on the experience,
ideas, and orientation of the Filipinos. Together with three other colleagues
Prospero Covar (anthropologist), and Zeus Salazar (historian), and Alfredo
Lagmay (psychologist)they helped establish the foundation for a psychology of
and for the Filipinos.
Enriquez had been a professor of Psychology in the University of the Philippines in
Diliman in 1963, but left in 1966 for the U.S. to pursue a Ph.D. in Social
Psychology. From there, he watched the disenchantment of young student activists
in the Philippines over the deteriorating political and social conditions of the
country.
When Enriquez returned to the Philippines in 1971, he embarked on a research
study with Lagmay into the historical and cultural roots of Philippine Psychology,
which included identifying indigenous concepts and approaches.
Four years later, he chaired the first national conference on Filipino Psychology. In
this conference, the ideas, concepts, and formulations of Sikolohiyang Pilipino
were formally articulated.











Sharmaine Seguera BSHM 2A