What is African Psychology the psychology of?

Abstract

Throughout the past half-century, the formal study of psychology in African universities has been colonized by mainstream Western psychology. This situation was inimical to any early efforts to entrench African Psychology as an academic discipline in African universities. However, this negative state of affairs did not last indefinitely. But with the recent emergence of African Psychology it soon became necessary to trace the history of its emergence and evolution, formulate its definitive core of reference, engage the question about its relationship to Euro-American psychology, foreground its claims to Africanity, determine the topics it embraces as an academic subject field, and discuss the epistemological and ontological foundations on which it is grounded. This article is an attempt to contribute to this need.