Colonial Mentality: The Social Psychology of Colonialism on the Filipino Psyche

Introduction

The advent of colonialism dates back to the Renaissance period when European colonial powers navigated the seas to conquer the uncharted lands of the world (Licata, 2012). It is defined as the territorial conquest, extraction of material resources, and the direct control of political and cultural institutions of another nation (Young, 2018). However, Loomba (2015) describes this cross-cultural encounter between the native inhabitants and European colonizers as “the most complex and traumatic relationship in history”. According to him, colonialism has profound consequences on the psychology of the colonized that endures even after gaining formal political independence. Similarly, the postcolonial theoretical framework supports the assertion that aside from the economic and political aspect, colonialism lingers in the minds of the natives long after their liberation from overt political control (Decena, 2014).

Due to the unassuming psychological aspects of colonialism, social psychology seeks to recognize its impacts on the mental wellbeing of formerly colonized countries. A salient example is the case of the Philippines that has endured an extensive history of colonialism from the three hundred years of Spanish rule and the subsequent regime of the United States. According to David and Okazaki (2006), the unique colonial experience of the country has resulted to colonial mentality which is a condition that predisposes Filipinos (both mainlanders and diaspora) to uncritically reject anything Filipino and accept anything that is American. Numerous studies have linked this mindset to feelings of inferiority and negative body images that can potentially inflict psychological harm and negative mental health outcomes (David and Okazaki, 2006; Felipe, 2010; Ferrera, 2011; Murillo, 2009, Tuazon et al., 2019, Utsey et al., 2015).

Hence, it is the principal task of social psychology to recognize the historical and cultural context of mental health by identifying the different dimensions of colonial mentality. Furthermore, it presents alternative psychological approaches that veer away from mainstream Western discourse that is ahistorical and blind to power structures that can affect mental health amongst specific cultural and ethnic groups (Painter, 2015).

The Psychological Impacts of Colonial Mentality

Colonial mentality can be conceived as a multifaceted construct. According to David and Okazaki (2006) colonial mentality is manifested through four different ways amongst Filipinos and Filipino Americans: (a) denigration of the Filipino self, (b) denigration of Filipino culture and body, (c )discrimination against less Americanized Filipinos and (d) tolerance and acceptance of historical and contemporary oppression of Filipinos. Firstly, the denigration of the Filipino self is the internalization of feelings of inferiority about one’s ethnic or cultural identity (David and Okazaki, 2006; Ferrera 2016). According to the theories of Memmi (1965), Fanon (1965), and Freire (1997), a direct consequence of colonialism is the internalization of the colonizer’s inferior perception imposed on the individual. Hence, the person may constantly experience feelings of shame, embarrassment, and resentment for belonging to a particular social group. These insights compelled David (2008) to conclude that mental health and colonial mentality may be dependent on the internalization of these negative views about one’s identity.

The next dimension of colonial mentality is denigration of the Filipino culture and body. This aspect is the unwitting perception that anything Filipino is inferior to anything that is White, European, or American. Moreover, it encompasses normative judgments on culture, physical appearance, language, and material products (David and Okazaki, 2006). A relevant example of this phenomenon, particularly the denigration of the body, is the excessive desire of Filipinos to use skin whitening products. Filipinos perceive that having dark skin is a negative trait while fair skin is conceived as the ideal to mimic their colonizers. Due to their preconceived notion that Europeans are superior, Filipinos aspire to conform to unrealistic beauty standards that can potentially harm their bodies (e.g. bleaching) and reinforce feelings of self-loathing (Bergano and Bergano-Kinney, 1997; Rondilla, 2012; Singson, 2017). This idealization of Western beauty standards has been linked to negative mental health outcomes such as low self-esteem and depression amongst Filipino and Filipino American women (Felipe, 2010).

On the other hand, discrimination against less Americanized Filipinos is another manifestation of colonial mentality. This involves the discriminatory attitudes and behaviors that Filipinos exhibit towards other Filipinos who they perceive to display negative Filipino characteristics (David and Okazaki, 2006). According to Allport (1979), intra-group discrimination may be due to the minority individual’s eagerness to conform to the dominant group’s values, beliefs, and attitudes, which includes discrimination and racial prejudice. A familiar scenario of discrimination against less Americanized Filipinos is the notion that English proficiency is an indicator of one’s status and intelligence (Clement, 2014). Filipinos who speak with an accent are reported to be labelled with subjugating remarks by their highly Americanized Filipino counterparts (Strobel, 1997). Therefore, the study of Clement (2014) has linked a strong correlation between colonial mentality and anxiety amongst Filipino Americans who experience bullying and harassment for speaking in English.

Tolerance of oppression is the final impact of colonial mentality. According to David and Okazaki (2006), colonized individuals start to view their colonizers as “well-intentioned, civilized, freedom-giving, liberating, noble, and sanctified heroes”. This belief leads to the normalization of incidents of maltreatment, because such treatment is perceived as a trade-off to achieve progress, or it is an inherent part of the process that colonized individuals must experience to become similar to their colonizers (Memmi, 1965). For example, migrant Filipino workers who experience racism and discrimination in the workplace may remain passive in the face of abuse of their foreign employers (Castro et al., 2011). This deferential attitude of Filipinos towards instances of oppression can further reinforce structures of inequality that breed more negative mental health outcomes due to harassment, abuse, and aggression in the environment (David and Okazaki, 2006).

Alternative Approaches to Address Colonial Mentality

For mainstream psychology, the impacts of colonial mentality are hastily reduced as individual pathologies rather than a consequence of specific historical and cultural contexts (Painter, 2015). Thus, alternative approaches are necessary for the holistic understanding of the psyche of colonized individuals. According to Strobel (1997), a critical approach to the social psychology of colonialism is through the process of decolonization. This is described as the “process of reconnecting with the past to understand the present…and strengthens the cultural connection to Filipino indigenous culture as a source of grounding”. In order for Filipinos to overcome their cultural shame, they must acknowledge their internalized oppression, understand their history, and collectively challenge structures of inequality.

A perfect example of decolonization is the emergence of Sikolohiyang Pilipino. It refers to a psychology that originates from the experience, thought, and orientations of Filipino culture and language. Moreover, it is based on the “indigenization” of theoretical frameworks and methodology that contextualize historical and socio-cultural realities (e.g. colonialism) to mental health (Pe-Pua and Protacio-Marcelino, 2002). For Sikolohiyang Pilipino, the negative body image of Filipinos is not merely symptom of depression and other mental illness, but is also a colonial legacy produced by historical and cultural circumstances. Hence, treatment does not only revolve around the diagnosis of the diseases but the critical reflections of one’s colonial history to understand deeply ingrained feelings of inferiority, resentment, and shame in one’s cultural identity (Adams et al., 2015).

Conclusions

The study of colonialism and social psychology is a budding field in the academe. Although there is a corpus of literature on the psychology of colonialism, it still lacks further research particularly in terms of cross-cultural studies and interdisciplinary dialogue (Okazaki et al., 2008). Firstly, in order to understand the specific history and context of colonial mentality, it must span both urban and rural settings and across various class, gender, and religious strata to yield more substantive insights (Pe-Pua and Protacio Marcelino, 2002). So far, the studies have been limited to women and the Filipino-American diaspora and may not represent the entirety of the Filipino experience. Therefore, incorporating a cross-cultural approach will be beneficial for the enrichment of the topic. On the other hand, Okazaki et al. (2008) believes that there must be collaboration between psychology and postcolonial scholars in order for psychology to theorize culture that is attuned to the complexity of social and psychological lives. Furthermore, it is also essential for psychology to engage with history in order to understand how specific historical developments give rise to problematic practices such as colonialism that can affect the psyche of individuals. All of these identified limitations can further contribute to the refinement of social psychology and liberate our minds from the shackles of colonialism.

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