4446 - RECLAIMING CULTURAL ROOTS: INTEGRATING INDIGENOUS PSYCHOLOGY INTO SPORT PSYCHOLOGY

Session: 4445 - HARMONIZING TRADITION AND INNOVATION: CULTURAL COMPETENCE IN ASEAN PSICHOLOGY
AUTHORS:
Guinto Maria Luisa (College of Human Kinetics, Department of Sports Science, ~ Philippines ~ Philippines)
Abstract text:
As a specialized field within applied psychology, sport psychology has largely been shaped by WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic) paradigms. These dominant frameworks often prioritize individualism, performance metrics, and cognitive-behavioral models that may not fully resonate with the lived experiences of athletes in non-WEIRD settings. In the Philippines, fostering both high performance and athlete well-being requires incorporating culturally framed relational, communal, and spiritual values. This presentation demonstrates how Indigenous Filipino psychological concepts can enrich and inform sport psychology practice, making it more context-specific and culturally grounded for Filipino athletes, coaches, teams, and communities. Employing qualitative methodologies—such as narrative inquiry, case study analysis, and program evaluation—the study draws from decades of sport psychology consultations, performance enhancement interventions, participatory research, and community-based initiatives. Findings reveal how core indigenous constructs—such as loob (relational inner self), kapwa (shared identity), bayanihan (communal unity), and pananampalataya (faith/spirituality) —are meaningfully integrated into both elite sport and communities in crisis. By embedding Indigenous Filipino psychology into sport psychology, this work offers a pathway to reclaim cultural roots, challenge one-size-fits-all approaches, and promote psychological practices that value relationality, spirituality, and collective strength. This work contributes to the global discourse on new directions in applied psychology, especially in culturally diverse and historically underrepresented regions such as those in the ASEAN.