Indigenous and Cultural Psychology Perspectives

Indigenous and cultural psychology perspectives emphasise the centrality of culture in shaping human thought and behaviour. In contrast to earlier models that posited universal psychological processes, this approach foregrounds the diversity of epistemologies, values and practices that inform mind, self and community across societies. Indigenous psychology advances emic frameworks drawn from local cosmologies, healing traditions and social structures, fostering the decolonisation of the discipline and meaningful collaboration with communities. Cultural psychology examines cross-cultural patterns, seeking both commonalities and variations in cognition, emotion and identity. Together, these perspectives illuminate how self-construction, moral reasoning and mental health are embedded within cultural narratives and social relations. They have generated culturally tailored interventions, informed educational and clinical policies, and supported inclusive research methodologies. Current work spans contexts from rural indigenous communities to urban multicultural settings, emphasising relationality, reciprocity and ecological approaches to wellbeing. By integrating theory, method and practice, indigenous and cultural psychology offers a comprehensive framework for understanding the interplay between culture and mind, with profound implications for research, practice and social justice.

Research from Nature Portfolio

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Indigenous and Cultural Psychology Perspectives publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in indigenous and cultural psychology perspectives across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Emic perspective: An insider’s viewpoint focused on concepts and behaviours meaningful within a specific culture.

Etic perspective: An outsider’s analytic viewpoint that seeks cross-cultural comparability.

Self-cultivation: The process of personal development and moral refinement as conceptualised within particular cultural traditions.

Decolonisation: The critique and restructuring of research and practice to remove dominant cultural biases and privilege indigenous knowledge systems.

References

1. Cross-Cultural Psychology and Compassion. Encyclopedia (2024).
2. Saúde mental em contextos indígenas: Escassez de pesquisas brasileiras, invisibilidade das diferenças. Estudos de Psicologia (Natal) (2016).
3. The “One Mind, Two Aspects” Model of the Self: The Self Model and Self-Cultivation Theory of Chinese Buddhism. Frontiers in Psychology (2021).