Article Version of Record

The journey towards Africanising psychology in Ghana

Author(s) / Creator(s)

Oppong, Seth

Abstract / Description

Psychology has come a long way since its origin in Africa and Ghana in particular. In this paper, an attempt is made to explore the current state of psychological knowledge in Ghana as well as the associated problems in the application of such knowledge. It was concluded that the approach to the study and application of psychological knowledge and tests has been too Eurocentric and westernized. As a result, it limits the applicability of the approach to the African setting, and yet, Western theorists may expect African psychologists to apply the theories to Africans. On the basis of this criticism, the scope of Pan-African psychology is defined and suggestions for pursuing an Africanisation project are presented. It is expected that the strategies that this paper advocates for indigenizing psychology in Africa can equally be useful to psychologists in other developing regions of the world.

Keyword(s)

Pan-African psychology indigenous psychology Africa Africanisation psychological testing psychology and national development humanitarian work psychology Ghana

Persistent Identifier

Date of first publication

2016-04-29

Journal title

Psychological Thought

Volume

9

Issue

1

Page numbers

1–14

Publisher

PsychOpen GOLD

Publication status

publishedVersion

Review status

peerReviewed

Is version of

Citation

Oppong, S. (2016). The journey towards Africanising psychology in Ghana. Psychological Thought, 9(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.5964/psyct.v9i1.128
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Oppong, Seth
  • PsychArchives acquisition timestamp
    2018-11-28T10:02:08Z
  • Made available on
    2018-11-28T10:02:08Z
  • Date of first publication
    2016-04-29
  • Abstract / Description
    Psychology has come a long way since its origin in Africa and Ghana in particular. In this paper, an attempt is made to explore the current state of psychological knowledge in Ghana as well as the associated problems in the application of such knowledge. It was concluded that the approach to the study and application of psychological knowledge and tests has been too Eurocentric and westernized. As a result, it limits the applicability of the approach to the African setting, and yet, Western theorists may expect African psychologists to apply the theories to Africans. On the basis of this criticism, the scope of Pan-African psychology is defined and suggestions for pursuing an Africanisation project are presented. It is expected that the strategies that this paper advocates for indigenizing psychology in Africa can equally be useful to psychologists in other developing regions of the world.
    en_US
  • Publication status
    publishedVersion
  • Review status
    peerReviewed
  • Citation
    Oppong, S. (2016). The journey towards Africanising psychology in Ghana. Psychological Thought, 9(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.5964/psyct.v9i1.128
    en_US
  • ISSN
    2193-7281
  • Persistent Identifier
    https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12034/1610
  • Persistent Identifier
    https://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.1976
  • Language of content
    eng
  • Publisher
    PsychOpen GOLD
  • Is version of
    https://doi.org/10.5964/psyct.v9i1.128
  • Keyword(s)
    Pan-African psychology
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    indigenous psychology
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    Africa
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    Africanisation
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    psychological testing
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    psychology and national development
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    humanitarian work psychology
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    Ghana
    en_US
  • Dewey Decimal Classification number(s)
    150
  • Title
    The journey towards Africanising psychology in Ghana
    en_US
  • DRO type
    article
  • Issue
    1
  • Journal title
    Psychological Thought
  • Page numbers
    1–14
  • Volume
    9
  • Visible tag(s)
    Version of Record