Factors Facilitating and Impeding Growth of Psychology in South Asia with Special Reference to India

The growth of psychology in South Asian countries has been impeded by the lack of intellectual climate, scarcity of resources, and poor professional support. These proximate factors are embedded in a socio-cultural milieu of pervasive poverty, collectivism, and centralized control of resources. The cultural factors get a free hand because of the inappropriate nature of Western psychology, which is being transplanted as a greenhouse plant. Psychologists can come out of this greenhouse and develop an appropriate science by addressing societal problems from indigenous perspectives. If they do so, the same cultural factors would either facilitate the growth of psychology or be contained to a great extent.