Philippine E-Journals

Filipino Culture As It Affects Child Development

Gundelina Velazco

Discipline: Psychology, Literature

 

Abstract:

Worldviews are a means of identifying differences in the perspectives held by all people in general (Sue and others 1982). Like many Asian cultures (Saeki & Borow 1985), the Filipino culture nurtures a collectivist or nondualistic or holistic worldview (Mercado 1976), in contrast to the individualistic worldview of most Western societies. Whereas most Western cultures emphasize the uniqueness of the individual, self-assertion, and strengthening of the ego (Reynolds 1976), the Filipino orientation prescribes interdependence, plays down individuality, and teaches the losing of oneself in the totality of the family, society, and cosmos. The individual is not totally delineated from others. Children are considered as extensions of parents, and this phenomenon has profound implications. A father may command a son or daughter to pursue a career that he wanted for himself but was unable to attain for one reason or another. The ignominy of an ancestor may tarnish the name of every member in the clan. A powerful person brings power to all of his kin. A personal affront against an individual can be taken as personal affront against his whole family.