Integration as the Goal of Indigenization: The Cross-Cultural Psychology of Durganand Sinha

• Published in: History of psychology 2024-05, Vol.27 (2), p.97-120
• Main Author: McWhorter, Matthew R.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cross Cultural Psychology; Human; Indigenous Populations; Male; Psychologists; South Asian Cultural Groups
• ISSN: 1093-4510; 1939-0610; 1939-0610
• DOI: 10.1037/hop0000252

Durganand Sinha (1922-1998) was an important Indian cross-cultural psychologist whose research spanned half a century. In commemoration of Sinha's passing 25 years ago, I explore in this essay his vision of the integration of Hindu religious psychology and Western scientific psychology. In the first part of the discussion, I consider a brief history of the interaction between Indian cultures and Western scientific psychology. In the second part, I next consider the proposal of Sinha that outlines various approaches that researchers might take with respect to the indigenization of scientific psychology. In the third part, I consider Sinha's discussion of integration as the expected outcome of the process of indigenization. Sinha indicates that when a researcher establishes a successful integrated cultural research paradigm in this way, it can serve as a framework for future researchers.