Psychologising Asia or Asianising Psychology: A New Prescription for Dr. Watson?

Discussion of the role of modern psychology in the developing world has prompted commentators from both east and west to urge the establishment of a branch of psychology devoted to the examination of fundamental theoretical issues. Such a discussion should both inform and be informed by an historical analysis of the spread of western psychology in Asian countries. The historiography of psychology, itself a rapidly expanding field in the west, would likewise benefit from an extension of its present scope to include the history of the relationship between the spread of psychology and colonialism, and that between traditional Asian and western (whether traditional or modern) psychological concepts, and from adopting the fresh perspective on the perennial questions of the basic truth structure in psychological science to which such an enlargement of scope will lead.