Internationalising imperatives and decolonising aspirations: Navigating social psychology teaching in Asia

Abstract

Working in a field that underrepresents populations outside Western societies, social psychologists in the Asia‐Pacific region encounter challenges in conducting research and imparting knowledge about social behaviour that resonates with local contexts. This paper argues that teaching can be a pathway for social psychology to rectify this representation problem. In this study, we report the results of our survey designed to contribute to an initial understanding of how and what social psychology is currently taught. Collectively, our survey respondents teach social psychology to over 12,000 students each year across 11 societies in the region. Results indicate that social psychology is seen as a crucial part of psychology education. About 80% of the respondents agreed that students should be taught that what is known in the international literature may not apply to a local context. At the same time, about 70% of the content taught was estimated to come from Western countries. Our findings highlight an opportunity for social psychology to evolve through teaching that embraces a more inclusive approach to meet societal demands for sound psychological knowledge.