An Inclusive Indigenous Psychology for All Chinese: Heeding the Mind and Spirit of Ethnic Minorities in China

Over the past 30 years, the psychological literature among the ethnic minorities in China has shown a pattern of uncritical replication of Western psychology, as well ethnocentrism among the majority of the Han Chinese group. We argue that an indigenous psychology’s (IP’s) perspective in “voice-giving” (see Chapter 2) (Bhatia & Priya, 2018) could be more empowering and enriching by studying ethnic minorities. To propose a different research paradigm, this chapter cites an anthropological psychology study among the Yi ethnic minority group in Southwestern China, where their religious traditions shape their cognitive style (mind) and emotional profiles (spirit). The authors extrapolate four major psychological dimensions: suffering emotion, help-seeking patterns (religious coping), explanatory model (cognitive attribution), and resilience through the framework of ecological rationality. This IP model could be extended to study other Asian indigenous people whose ecological niches are shaped by strong-ties society.