Paul Heelas - Two dimensions across which to understand various 'indigenous psychologies':

 

Two "etic Dimensions" Externalized vs. Internalized In Control vs. Under Control

 

these give rise to four "universal" types of "psychology of the self"

1) Passiones; 2) Modified Passiones; 3) Idealist; 4) Modified Idealist  

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 Heelas and Lock (Eds.) (1981) Indigenous Psychologies: The Anthropology of the Self.

Heelas (1981a) states that indigenous psychologies involve "the cultural views, theories, conjectures, classifications, assumptions and metaphor-together with notions in social institutions-which bear on psychological topics" (p. 3).

Lock (1981a) indigenous psychologies are necessary as they:
1) sustain the inner self
2) sustain and adjust the self towards social and cultural action
3) enable social cultural institutions to operate.

                         See Figure 1

Two dimensions across which to understand various 'indigenous psychologies'

Can sort and understand these various emic perspectives
against the context of these two etic dimensions

I. Passiones systems - are marked by having the individual being moved by, under the control of, external beings or forces NOT some internal will or agency.

Heelas (1981b) Eg., Dinka of Africa who view themselves as being moved by powers or "surrogate minds" where dreams are powerful states of mind during which "possession" occurs.

-Morality does not arise through something like a guilty conscience (as in idealist societies) but rather as the influence of "MATHIANG GOK" - a presence which acts upon the self like a creditor in search of a debt.  

Zar possession states are also seen in the African continent, as likewise Zombie states from Haiti which have come through voodoo (African origin).

II. Modified Passiones systems - the self is under control but by some internalized power.

A) Maori of New Zealand - Maori people believe themselves to descended from Atua (Gods), born with limited autonomy and tied to group membership  and ongoing relationship with gods.

Smith (1981) - Identity or self can be characterized principally by Mana - defining a man's worth and place in society. This is a "fluid concept" that is supernaturally given and nurtured through relationship with the gods (protection) and the cultivation of tapu.

Mana - is primarily an inherited status given by the gods (atua) and ancestors, but can also be earned through  individual achievement and is marked by tapu.

 Tapu is a central concept representing energy 'electricity' pervading all things including people and material possessions.

Mana varies across people and the Chief is expected to have the highest mana as it is also derived from the support of the group of community. As the community succeeds mana increases, as it fails mana decreases.

Mana includes qualities that are crucial for Chiefs, such as the "8 sources of the heart":  e.g., courage, success, repute, hospitality, leadership.

While responsibility is primarily towards the group and great deal of individualism is present.

For example mythology exists around first and last born sons where the first (high ranking) are adorned statues by birth but the later born (lower status) strive for achieved development of mana.

Mana may also become "polluted" (e.g., through damaging oneself accidentally).

Along with Mana other important psychological constructs exist, particularly those pertaining to unwanted emotions that are seen to be embodied in the organs and originating from outside sources.

Emotions are seen to be the result of a hostile atua and have been cast into the body, e.g., fear as a result of a violation of tapu.

"Aroha" seen as "love" coloured by grief, yearning or pity also is seen to "overwhelm" the person, "consuming" them like a raging fire.

E.g., following the loss of a loved one one might experience Aroha from the invasion of the Wairua (Spirit) of the loved one.

Strife is seen as a way of life for the Maori - being attacked by emotions and the reparation of them comes through  rituals to "make return" (utu) - like returning a gift with a gift or insult, sometimes as self-violence (tangi - mourning).

E.g., Crawling through the legs of a chief or high  status woman, Haka, ...

Organs of experience - embodiment of these emotions comes through:

Ngakau - much like mind, an impersonal experience that is grounded in the intestines.

Manawa represents breathing through the heart lungs and stomach and is responsible for the cognitive, conative (volitional), and affective (intellect).

Wairua"spirit" is a principle of being-in-general, and can leave the body and survives death. 

Mauri is the physical life principle and hau represents vitality, zest or activity (agitation and calming).

B) Psychoanalysis has been portrayed as a European emic psychology that describes the self as being internal and under control. It involves:

1) The Id-the reservoir of unconscious impulses and desires,
is filled with psychosexual energy or libido.

2) The Ego is second to emerge and is responsive to the reality principle
vs. the pleasure principle of the id.

3) The Super -Ego is third to emerge and follows the oedipal conflict where identification with the same sex parent leads to an acceptance of the morality (principles) of that parent.

-The dynamics of these three forces lead to psychological life where the id and super-ego work in opposition, with the ego trying to satisfy both. (Cunningham & Tickner, 1981)

The dynamics of these internal elements are revealed through dream states, slips of the tongue and neurotic symptoms.

C) Lohorung Rai of East Nepal

III. Idealist orientations - are marked by the self being internalized and in control.
Agency of the self, choice and the power to construct one's world, as seen in the Buddhist perspectives from Tibet, and some of western perspectives.

A) Dreitzel (1981) discusses the history of western European notions of Self that arose from the 

Christian and Roman conceptions of the individual person (Carrithers et al, 1985, Taylor, 1989). Culminating in Enlightenment thinkers like Descartes, Kant, Locke, (Hume) into psychological theories (James, 1890). More to come later in the course.

B) Paranjpe (1984, 1988, 1998) Adviata Vedanta

Focuses on distortions of the mind where mind is a "scanner" not "receiver" of knowledge. Looking for things the mind has expectations that lead to maya or illusions of reality.

Prakrti - refers to the all of the natural world that is in a constant state of flux or change. It is comprised of the intertwining of three 'strands' or qualities (gunas) which 'weave the cloth of the material world.

1) tamas - inertia or mass
2) rajas - movement or energy
3) sattva - 'intellectual stuff' referred to as 'lightness' or 'illumination'

Along with the law of Karma people vary in the amounts of these that influence their lives. E.g, being dominated by

tamas is unbalanced, vulgar, deceitful, malicious, indolent, despondent, dull
rajas is swayed by passion, greedy, aggressive, passionate, easily 'moved'
sattva is non-egoistic, unattached, full of resolve and zeal, unmoved by success and failure

Paranjpe (1984, 1988, 1998) Expands on the Vedantic perspective on the self.

  Jiva stands for self and is comprised of layers organised concentrically, like an onion skin.

Brahman is the eternal ubiquitous principle that can best be expressed as involving: Being (Sat), Consciousness (Cit), and Bliss (Ananda).

Jiva is connected to Brahman through the real self (atman) the innermost of jiva's five layers and the anandamaya kosa, the outer layers.

Together, these five layers comprise the "self" but 

1) the "true self" (the atman) is what is of most importance.

Other layers of jiva, representing the sheaths of "non-real" self are:  
2) "cognitive", intellect (vijnanamaya kosa);
3) "mental", sensory (manomaya kosa);
4) "vital breath", bodily functions (prananmaya kosa); and
5) "made of food", body (annamaya kosa).