vot Te ae kon oe SBS 232 Resarve Raading oo Or age INTERNA ONAL JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY. 1993, 242), 18-16 Indigenization of Psychology: Empirical Assessment of Progress in Indian Research John G. Adair University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada Biranchi N. Puhan Uikal University, Bhubaneswar, India Neharika Vohra University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada The dev elopmier tof sa indigenous psychology has generally been documented by examples of indigenous constructs and! conceptual analyses of thert emer Bence. In contest, the present article proposes an empirieal approach, Tr dligenication is conceived as a gradual process that may be operationalized land measured by content analysis of journal articles ts the dseipline develops 40d changes. Measures are propused to assess the extent to which the cone Eqhts, broblems. hypathees, method. nd tests: (a) emanate from. (6) adequately eeprevent, and! (c) reflect back upson, the cultural context in which behaviour wohscrved. Application of these to 38S empiiiculand 31 theoretic titles trom Ladin» jouunaly and 39 forcign empirial articles published by {patinn peychologits indicates some slight movement toward an indig Giscipline. and sme interesting selitionshps that asist in understanding ie dlevelooment, Factors contributing to indigenization and the utility of the ‘empirical approuc’s are discussed Le developement d'une psychologic indigene est générslement docunenté pur des exemples des construttsincligencs ct par des analyses conceptucllen de eur emergence. Par contrast. le eprint souk he sent wo oko Gi, Adit, Department of Pssehotoy. Uni ay Manitobs. Wionipeg. Manitohs. Coviada RAT 2N2. Copies ol the ealing sete aa alo be obtained on request from the senior thor ral Peach Was suppwrted by Shei Indo-Canadian Insitute Fellowships tothe senior futbol hy rants Po the Lieto Manitobu’s Research Grants Commie, Reseach Development Fund. ans SSHRC esearch Fund. The date ere cl the xenioe futher wow vino Ueha University. Bhubaneswar, ad the University af Alldtahad ihe Bad India ‘The support ot zhese dputments i ratetully acknouleget Copyright © 2001. All Rights Reseved.150 ADAIR, PURAN, VOHRA sees pur évaluere degré suivant leque! les concepts, problémes, hypotheses éthodes et tests: Gi) emanent de, (b) représentent adéquatement. et (c) refltent a posteriori. le contexte culturel dans lequel le comportement esi oben, L'application de ces mesures & 358 acticles empieiques. 2 3) articles théoriques provenant de revues scientifiques indienne’, ainsi qu’a 39 amveles empiriques pubes Fetranger par des psyehologues tn tum feger mouvement vers une diseaplie indivene ec quelques relations qui aiden comprendre ce développement, Les facteurs qui conti uent a Piadigenisstion, ains que Futilité d'une approche empirique sont dineutés. INTRODUCTION Appeals for indigenous psychologies from developing countries (e.g. Diaz Guerrero, 1977; 1984; Ho. 1982: Lagmay, 1984; Serpell, 1984; D. Sinha. 1984: J.-B. P. Sinha. 1984), and elsewhere (Azuma, 1984: Berry. 1974; Gardner & Kalin, 1981; Kim, 1986; Moscovici. 1972; Schwendler, 1984: Smedstund, 1984), have arisen from two primary sources, First. short comiings in the positivist. experimental method. and advances in cross- cultural research over the past couple of decades, have encouraged « rethink ‘of the traditional view in the West that researeh findings are universally applicable: The second source is found within the social problems that plague de- veloping countries. ‘The clash of cultural traditions with modernization, and rapid change fuelled by (echnological development, have created an urgent need for problem-oriented research, However. culturally inappropriate social science disciplines distort interpretations of behaviour, divert attention from key social variables, and result in research that does not ‘match national social priorities. To address these concerns, Third World psychologists have called for the development of indigenous disciplines, 3.e, social research that emanates from, adequately represents, and reflects back on the culture in which behaviour is studied. rather than a discipline that is imported trom, and primarily addresses Developed World models. She problem pervades the social sciences, but is especially evident in psy- chology. which has its roats in North America and is dominated by gre: numbers of United States psychologists (Moghaddam, 1987) An indigenous psychology would be one that is “culturally appropriate” (Azuma. 1984: Moghaddam & Taylor, 1986). It gradually develops trom the blending of an imported discipline with the generation of new concepts and approaches from within that culture. Indigenization should be contrasted with endogenous development (Atal, 1981). The former takes devclop- ments elsewhere and introduces modifications und new applications of these to fit them to the new culture rather than suggesting that something entirelyINDIGENIZATION OF PSYCHOLOGY 151 different be develaped trom within the culture. This would resemble the distinction that is made within the cross-cultural titerature between derived tic and emic approaches (Berry, 1980) Writings have focused on examples ot indigenous concepts (e.g. Sharma, 1981), oF on the process of indigenization based on individual experiences within countries in different stages and contexts of development (Atal, 1981: Azuma. [984 Sinita, 1986; J.B. P. Sinhes, 1984). This literature hus con: tently suggested that indigenization develops through a characteristic series of stages. The problem. however. is that virtually all of this work has been conceptusi, often anecdotally based, and without empirical documentatio of the discipline’s movement toward culturally appropriate psychological research within any country. The purpose of the present article is to develop aset of measures that retlect increasing indigenization of the discipline, und to apply these to Indian psychological research as a case example of their validity GENERAL APPROACH Assuming that indigenization develops by degrees, increasing sensitivity to the local culture should appear in the studies of a widening circle of native researchers, These changes would be archived within their published re search. Because journals are the universally accepted outlet fot empirical work, they would provide a untform database for assessing the discipline at cach stage of its development. Indigenization within « country, therefore, would be empirically measurable by content analysis of the research pub lished in representative journals over a number of yeurs There are several constraints and qualifications to measurement of the indigenization process. The first is the stercotypic form of the research report, Journal format is rigidly fixed by professional standards (American Poychological Asseviation, 1984), and by tradition. Although this may limit the scope for novel or indigenous developments, measures nay be devised te be sensitive within this constraint, Second, in sume countries indigenous rescarch may be resisted initially, stow to appear iid ivore often first reported in books and reporis, Nonetheless eon research within any country should he determinable from analysis of journal artic. Finally, indigenous theories, concepts and methods occur infrequently in any new discipline. Their anecdotal description may be useful for champion- ing the cause of incligenization, but they arc insufficient, too subjective, and unreliable for siudy of its development. Measures of the indigenization of a discipline mast be sensitive to changing degrees of general concern with culturally relevant variables. and focus on the process rather than on ine digenous accomplishments. \ Copyright © 2001. All Rights Reseved152 ADAIR, PUAN, VOHRA MEASUREMENT OF INDIGENIZATION Elements within research journal reports have been operationalized into specitic measures of each of the components of the indigenization process, Because an empirical approach has not been used previously. the rationale and nature of each measure are fully described below Does the Research Emanate from the Culture? The first clement oF the definition of indigenousness, that “the research emanates from the culture in which itis conducted”, should be reflected in the extent to which the culture or culturally unique behaviours are cited This can be assessed in the introduction of each article by ratings of the extent of reference to the culture in comparison to the usval previous research literature, Because so much research in developing countries ‘emulates work done in the Develaped World, cultural reference must be broadly interpreted to include any mention of the country. its customs, lorms. or behaviours typically not found in the West. A 6-point scale is employed tor this purpose, with points ranging from sole reference to the previous literature to exelusive reference to the culture: inter- mediate points refiect the eatent to which culture is given only slight, modest, equivalent, or primary reference in comparison to the citation of previous research literature,! A second indicator is to be found in the Justification or rationale for the research that is typically provided in the introduction to the article. Universalistic research is often justified by the importance of the topic, its previous neglect. its practical relevance, and so on (Spiege!-Rosing, 1977). Expressions of special needs for the research to be conducted! within the culture, such ay the lack of prior rescarch or some unique relevance of the topic, would characterize culture-based justifications. A Uhird item systematically assesses whether the rescarch emunates ex clusively from some universalistic or Developed World literature, or appears in part 10 come from the religion. cultural traditions, norms, social problems. rapid social change, or publie policies of the studied culture. Such. an item claborates the sources of indigenousness, as well us measuring the extent to which the culture or social problems are the conceptual basis for the researeh " Geese Third World wsues have nox heen extensively reseae. twas though tha anight be pussble to rat te exten’ to whic it was necessary fo Fler ta Sowa issu. practical experience and anformatobservatons. ether than a prior eescagch itcrature ws the basi or the research. A Sepoint sale Wisdevicd: however, whe ang the fndianactile i as vealed shat praetcal eypricnee wo dil lo aia sow nd as nfrequelly apie tw eval not be reewraricnde for inlisionINDIGENIZATION OF PSYCHOLOGY 183 A measure of a more advanced level of indigenousness is whether the specitic hypotheses tested in the study reflect culture-specific variables Normally limited to a single sentence. the hypothesis permits only a scoring of reference or not 10 the culture. rather than a sealing of the degree of indigenous concerns. Themost obvious indicator of the development of an indigenous science is inercasing referees 1o publications by local researchers relative to those by psychologists from the Developed World. Such a measure was employed by Petzold (19X6). whose frequency counts of citations of Chinese literature in subareas of the discipline provided post-hoc linkage to the degree of indigen- ousness achieved by psychologists in the People's Republic of China, A trend toward citation of locally-published rescarch reflects « growing aware- ess of an increasing pool of iocal referenees—hoth indigenous and general in nature. Indigenous Methodology The degree tu wich the culture is adequately represented is determined in part by whether the methods and measures have hecn appropriately tailored to the culture. The simplest form of method indigenization may be reflected in the language of sastructions. surveys, and/or psychometric tests. Noting whether the language utilized was one of the native languages rather tian English indicates some indigenization of methodology, Articles not specity- ing the language utilized reflect an insensitivity to their cultural distin nes, Standardized psychological ests and scales borrowed fron: the West offer humerous possivilitics for the measurement of indigenization. First, in- creasing use of tests tha have been locally constructed. or Developed World tests that have been adapted for local use, and decreasing use of borrowed tests, reflect degrees of indixenization. The degree of aduptation of a foreign test ean range from use “without change” toa test that has been substantially altered, i.e, translated and items reworded andor deleted to accommodate cukura) differences. Intermediate stages of increasing adaptation include minor word changes, translation only, and translation plus minor word changes. Untortunitely, in many instances it may merely be stated that a test was “adapted”, without the magnitude of changes specified Any aclapred test should be revalidated und its reliability determined on an appropriate local sample. Yest reliability may have been reassessed on an appropriate local sample, be tested in the current article, or there may be no 2 Although we oss that itmight I posit wae thecvatent of th ypthesian a Seominsm of tere scutes suistantaly a only lightly rekreneed a es hyphens mei eam apparen: that oa’ tatimyof the peescnce tn of altura ferense in the hypothesis wis all at as pense Copyright © 2001, All Rights Reseved.154 ADAIR, PUMAN, VOHRA report at all. A similar scale can be applied to the validation of the adapted. test. Any methods uscd to achieve equivalence of meaning of the Western test in the indigenous context should be noted (Hui & Triandis. 1985) ‘Aside from the adaptation of foreign tests. attempts to adopt special methods for illiterates, subjects of mixed-language ability, or other cultur- ally unique samples should be recorded, Oral or pictorial rather than written presentation of stimuli or test items for illiterate subjects would be examples. Because of infrequent reporting a simple listing of unique meth- odological procedures may suffice. As these methods become common- place, frequency counts could he employed. Research subjects may be representatives of the modern culture--Uni- versity students or office workers—rather than samples of villagers or farm ers, for example. who typify the more traditional culture. Classification and frequency counts of the source of research subject would assess this aspect of indigenous research. Applications of Research Results ‘The third element of the definition of an indigenous psychology. the extent to which the rescarch results “reflect back upon the culture from which they emanate”. may be found in cither discussions of the applications of the research 10 the local culture. or identifiable practical contributions to local andor national conezens, Applications 1 culture. Discussion sections within universalistic re search focus on the dita and discussions of their application to the prior reseach literature, Degrees of indigenization are reflected in the extent 10 which there is a shit toward a discussion that includes cultural consides- ations. One endpoint of this scale is represented by the two response options of focus solely on the data or solely on own research literature: the other endpoiat is solely on own cultural context, The intermediate scale points are for discussions which are focused mostly on the literature with cither slight. or modest. reference to the culture, equi focuson both, ora focus mostly on the cultural context with only slight reference to the research literatur The most direct measure would be a count of indigenous contti- butions—by narrow definition, frequencies of novel, culture-based con- cepts, incthods, or insights, However, these appear tov infrequently to form useful measure, and do not provide an indication of increasing attention to culturally relevant variables throughout the discipline--a characteristic of an emerging indigenous psychology. It would be more appropriate to tally the frequencies of research developments within categories reflective of levels of increasingly culturally sensitive contributions. Empirical, theoreti- cal. and psychometiic test contributions, because of their different forms,INDIGENIZATION OF PSYCHOLOGY 156 are each scaled separately. Empirical research may be scaled as making increasing indigeuous contributions if: (a) differences between India and the ‘West were identified: (h) differences within India or between India and non-Western cultures were identitied: (¢) the research attempts to explain behaviours observed in the local culture; or (d) an indigenous theory or concept guides the research or its interpretation. Psychometric test develop- menis may be classified as either adaptation of a Western psychological test, or development of an indigenous test. Theoretical articles may be classified ing Western concepts, measures, or theory, or as urging and/or promoting indigenous developments. In each case the higher point on the scale represents the more indigenous contribution Social Problem Contributions. A tally of studivs that contribute to the annelioration of local social problems, by promoting their understanding or by suggesting changes to local social policies, practices. or programmes, are indicators of the extent to which the research is indigenous, These contri- butions to local social problems may be evaluated against the number of studies making comparable gencral social contributions, Finally. the topic of the research may vary in the extent to which it addresses the primary issues of national concern, which is both a goal and an indicator of an emerging indigenous psychoiogy. In India, for example. the ICSSR (1972: Sinha, 1973) has spelt out a list of topies that are important to national development, such as the disadvantaged and poverty, rapid social change and its management, and social perceptions and intergroup har- mony. ‘The extent to which research matches these may be used as an indicator. Research Characteristics Facilitative of Indigenization Certain kinds of research or research practices promote an indigenous focus by providing « context or background within which variables unique to the culture muy be examined, For example, cross-cultural comparisous, by their very nature, force local cultural variables to be compared with those of other countries. None, Pyxclumrcie Data Reported Reabliy MoM. Moe ROS? Mx 2 hu 2 4 woot 28 “oom DLs oaks i we + oa Su Wow re naraar ot ass wwe site bused on the number al derstand wold tests only Perceniates ate hosed on the cartbined numberof liga act ally apted texts culture, ¢.g. furmers or underprivileged ch Ikiren. were infrequently studied (2.2% of less of the articles) auel this pattern did not change across the time blocks. Applications of Research Back to the Culture. ‘The last element of the definition of indigenousness is the extent to which the research results reflect back upon the culture from which they emanate”. The relevant data are reported in Table 3. Reterences to the culture in discussion sections were minimal and substcntially less than in the introduction sections in the first two time perils. However, percentages of cultural references in the Copyright © 2001. All Rights Reseved.162 ADAIR, PUHAN, VOHRA discussion sections steadily increased to levels that corresponded to those in the Introductions in the mast recent period. Token references (slight or modest) steadily increased in frequency. whereas substantial (equal or greater) references to the cultural context increased only in the most recent time block, The proportion ot urticles with indigenous empirieal research contri- butions systematically increased across the dire time petiods (7.6%; 12.7%; & 20.5%, respectively). Asindicated in Table 3, dramatic increases occurred in the most recent time period (from 1.8% to 12.1%) in the combined frequencies of the two most indigenous cateyories—attempts to explain the behaviour of Indias, and references 10 indigenous theories. Measures on psychometric tests, however, showed no evidence of change— adaptation of tests were evenly distributed across the time periods, whereas indigenous test constructions were uniformly rare, TABLE 3 Apolications of Research to the Culture of Origin ae 178-30 hem Reforence to Culure in Disesion No seference Sight culture Modest culture Equal allure ‘Mostly culture Solely culture Test Indigenizesion Test adaptation Test development Research Indigenizaion Compare with West Difference within India Explain local behaviour Indigenous theory Souial Problem Contibutions:Local Sock Problem Understanding promotes tay Suggests changes aeeeaeiy General Social Prohiem Understanding promotes Suggests changes SNUBS nnn SESE Heep eeeINDIGENIZATION OF PSYCHOLOGY 163. Research in India does 20t appear to make much of « contribution to the understanding or resolution of local social problems. Although the data in Table 3 indicate a modest increase in attention t0 local problems in scent years, the percentage of studies muking general social contributions were consistently more numerous, Moreover, the discipline’s response to the problems of national concern identified by the ICSSR was minimal The number of studies focusing on poverty and the disadvantaged. or problems of rapid social change ranged from two to five within cach time block. and showed no trend toward increased frequency. Other items on the ICSSR list, such as organizational behaviour and social perception, were already presen! in sume frequency from the beginning of the study, and it would he difficult to assess any meaningful change. As we shall see below, the infrequency of applied research in India, further precludes the discipline making a noticeable contribution co the resolution of social problems Factory Facititaive of Indigenization. Most factors that might be help- ful in promoring indigenization were not found in Indian research. For cxample. cross-cultural comparisons, infrequent in the first wo time periods, increased only slightly in 1984-87, Also, there did not seem to be a corresponding shift toward applied research (Table 4). Nearly t¥o- thirds of the published research had a basie focus. Although research reference to applications increased in the most recent time period. research with some applied aspect still comprised only about 25% of all studies. The inclusion of social structural variables was expected to promote a focus on society and its social problems. However. their infrequency in Indian research yielded title that might be measurable. For example, sub- jects were sampled according to social structurat variables in Jess than 5% of| the studies and there was no trend toward their increased usage, Similarly. great dependence on psychometric tests resulted in most Indian research focusing on micro measures, There is certainly scope for greater attention toward Indian social problems—and expanded use of any of these variables would promote its increase. One of the few trends favourable to the development of an indigenous discipline has been the development of a local research literature. As indicated in ‘Table 4, the mean number of references to the more widely accessible Indian literature (journals and books) steadily increased from the carliest time period. and the ratio of widely accessible to less accessible works (unpublished, government reports. and university journals), ine creased dramatically after the first time period and has subsequently remained stable. Copyright © 2001. All Rights Reseved.164 ADAIR, PUHAN, VOHRA TABLE igenous Research SSeS SESS ee 1o78.s0 887 ' ' ' om ws nos we? Crossctltnal Dace Nane Ce Slight Uscussion eae iets 8 fl Substunil seuss ee 32S eee Bavieppled Onemanon Parely basic m8 NT OS Primority hase hos 2 m2 TG Primarily applied mo owe 2 m2 ow Reterenve to application > 1 sees a eeaeaeIS: Soiely applied : - a Reference Sees ar KD Ms 285 nse) 158 Trice Hom Gah souree, Meansare haved the amber 72,08, ans 414, respective mr cach source © Man aumiber ol telerenes p tices that rslenencel Indi authors ( ‘Moun perventage o ill Indian reforem of Non-empirical Articles Because of uneven distribution af non-empirical articles. those published within the first two time periods (= 15) were combined and compared with those from the most recent time period (ir = 16). Comparisons for the most recent time period indicated that references to the culture within non- mpirical articles 7977 were much greater than those found within both the Introduction 3.172. P< 0.115). and Discussion (22%. 2 = 3.32. P-<0.1)5) sections of empirical articles. The hargce percentage of cross- ‘cultural comparisons in theoretical compared to empirical articles (40.16% ¥s. 9.16, 2= 258, P The Indian experience, New Yor Suge Sinha (1888). Ineigenisstion of peyebolugy an Inia and ts relevanee. Hie Indian Jourat of Sucial Science. | Sinha. 1B. PL (U8) Teowards partnership for relevant research inthe Thied Won, ther ruta Journ Bsvebalog, 19.19 178 Siedsiund.J._ (1988), "he invisite obvious: Calnye in psycholony. tn K. MJ, Lagerspetz 8 P. Niemi {Fs}. Paycinlgy i te 9847s, Amsterdam: North: Lotland Severe studies: Bibhomerri and content analyse, Sota Sie of Science, 7.42113, Copyright © 2001. All Rights Reseved.