The Influence of Indigenous Culture on Sport Psychology Practice: Challenges and Prospects

Abstract

Given that contemporary cultural sport psychology has advocated for more inclusiveness involving intersecting cultural identities for applied work (research and practice), it is still surprising that information on indigenous practices across many societies remain untapped. This opinion paper highlights a range of issues that have been addressed within differing cultural contexts and offer ways in which indigenous practices could be integrated into existing professional frameworks across diverse societies that maintain respect for new set of culture-specific behavioral norms, beliefs and practices.

Historicising Cultural Sport Psychology: Dare we De-centre Methodological Eurocentrism?

“…Furthermore, cultural praxis provided a conceptual framework and language to articulate indigenous practices and ways of knowing as legitimate sport psychology. This indeed facilitated publication and information sharing of original work developed in the Global South, such as, discussions about cultural rituals and dance (Hagan & Schack, 2017), and meditation and mindfulness (Si et al, 2011) that are ontologically authentic, non-Western intervention strategies. On the organisational level, by adopting CSP lenses in its mission, the International Society of Sport Psychology (ISSP) has been an institutional power to foreground considerations and knowledge that embraces concepts of inclusivity.…”