Thematic and Theoretical Moves in Psychology in Modern India

Abstract

The development of psychological thought in the Indian subcontinent may be divided into three distinct periods: first, a multi-millennial span from antiquity to the founding of the British empire in the mid-nineteenth century; second, about a century of British colonial times up to independence attained in 1947, and third, bit over half a century of the postindependence era. This chapter attempts to highlight some of the major developments in psychological research in the Indian context during the second and the third periods. While the overview presented is selective and not exhaustive, it does indicate notable but uneven progress in addressing different issues relevant to social change and development. The conceptual and methodological positioning of the majority of the researches continues to be aligned with the Euro-American tradition of psychological science. In recent years, however, reflective endeavors have started to find ways to contextualize the discipline in the Indian cultural matrix. The struggles have led to many proposals including indigenization and building or rediscovering Indian psychology rooted in the Indian knowledge systems.

An abridged version of this paper had appeared as Misra, G., & Paranjpe, A. (2012). Psychology in modern India. In R. W. Rieber (Ed.), Encyclopedia of the History of Psychological Theories (pp. 881–892). New York: Springer-Verlag.