the filipino athlete’s experience of the bahala...
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THE FILIPINO ATHLETE’S EXPERIENCE OF THE BAHALA NA ATTITUDE IN
INTERNATIONAL SPORTING COMPETITION
A Dissertation Presented to
The Faculty of John F. Kennedy University
PsyD Program
In Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirements for the Degree of
Doctor of Psychology
By
Sheryll Magante Casuga
May 2011
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© 2011 by Sheryll M. Casuga All Rights Reserved
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THE FILIPINO ATHLETE’S EXPERIENCE OF THE BAHALA NA ATTITUDE IN
INTERNATIONAL SPORTING COMPETITION
This dissertation by Sheryll M. Casuga has been approved by the committee members, who recommend that it be accepted by the faculty of John F. Kennedy University, Pleasant Hill, Caifornia, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
DOCTOR OF PSYCHOLOGY
___________________________________________________ Eric Vogel, PsyD, Chair
___________________________________________________ Alison Rhodius, PhD, Reader
___________________________________________________ May 18, 2011
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ABSTRACT
THE FILIPINO ATHLETE’S EXPERIENCE OF THE BAHALA NA ATTITUDE IN INTERNATIONAL SPORTING COMPETITION
SHERYLL M. CASUGA
John F. Kennedy University
College of Graduate and Professional Studies Pleasant Hill, CA
This is a qualitative study on the Filipino athlete’s experience of the bahala na
attitude in international sporting competition. Bahala na translates literally as “leave it
up to God” and is used as an expression almost universally in Filipino culture. Filipinos
engage in the bahala na attitude when faced with challenging situations. Eleven Filipino
athletes who have participated in an international sporting competition participated in a
semi-structured interview, and the conventional qualitative content analysis was utilized
to analyze the data. The study found that Filipino athletes experienced and utilized the
bahala na attitude in sports and in other contexts. The common themes that emerged
among the participants’ description of their bahala na experience were: Bahala na as
adaptive attitudinal coping with significant challenges, performance pressure as
prompting context for bahala na, bahala na as an automatic response to routine stress,
bahala na as problematic effort reduction, use of bahala na as a source of performance
learning, and preparation obviating need for bahala na. The discussion concentrated on
the bahala na attitude as a culture-influenced coping strategy for performance anxiety and
to manage expectations and situational demands in sports and in similar contexts.
Clinical implications and directions for future research are also discussed.
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KEYWORDS: “bahala na”, “Filipino athletes”, “Filipino psychology”, “cultural sport
psychology”, “coping strategy”, “Philippine sports”
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DEDICATION
This dissertation is dedicated to
Constancia Mortel Magante and Agleo Magante,
Jose “Papa Joe” Casuga and Maria Marquez Casuga
In loving memory of my departed grandparents
They always inspire me to honor my Filipino roots
And seize every opportunity with dignity and pride
Maraming salamat po sa inyong mga payo
Tinuruan ninyo akong magsikap at magpahalaga sa karunungan
Nasa puso ko po kayo palagi…
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to express my gratitude to Mr. Bill Velasco for his invaluable
assistance and support during the research process. I would also like to express my
gratitude to Dean Leilani Gonzalo of the University of the Philippines, College of Human
Kinetics (UP-CHK) as well as Coach Louie Mangahis, Team Manager of the Philippine
National Water Polo Team and Director of the Southern Tagalog Amateur Swimming
Association (STASA), for helping with the participant recruitment process.
I would like to thank all the participants for sharing their experiences and insight
on bahala na, as well as for their contribution to the research on Philippine athletes and
sport psychology. I would also like to thank my dissertation chair, Dr. Eric Vogel and
my dissertation reader, Dr. Alison Rhodius, for their unwavering support, guidance, and
encouragement throughout this entire research process.
Lastly, I would like to acknowledge the support and inspiration of my parents,
Jesus and Nida Casuga, as well as my siblings, Ritzyl, Darlene Joy, and John Collins
Casuga. I would also like to acknowledge my family members in the Philippines: Jasmin
Balaquidan, Michael Martos, and Virginia Magante, who helped with the logistics during
the two weeks I stayed in the Philippines for data collection.
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Table of Contents
Page
Dedication………………………………………………………………………………. vi
Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………….. vii
List of Tables………………………………………………………………………….... xi
I. Introduction………………………………………………………………………… 1
II. Literature Review…………………………………………………………………... 4
Overview of Philippine History………………………………………………… 4
Psychology in the Spanish Colonial Era………………………………………... 6
Psychology in the American Colonial Era……………………………………… 7
Psychology in the Post-American Colonial Era………………………………… 8
The Rise of a New Filipino Psychology……………………………………….. 11
The Concept of Self in Filipino Psychology…………………………………… 13
Bahala Na: Definition and Origin……………………………………………… 17
Bahala Na as Fatalism…………………………………………………. 20
Bahala na as Optimistic Fatalism…………………….………………… 22
Bahala na as Determination……………………………………………. 26
Achievement Motivation………………………………………………………. 28
Achievement Motivation of Filipinos………………………………….. 29
Achievement Motivation in Sport Psychology Literature……………... 32
Culture-specific Influence on Achievement Motivation in Sport……… 32
Social Influence on Sport Performance………………………………………... 33
Non-Western Attitudes in Sports………………………………………………. 35
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Filipino Athletes in International Sporting Competition………………………. 39
III. Method…………………………………………………………………………….. 43
Participants……………………………………………………………………... 43
Recruitment…………………………………………………………………….. 45
Data Collection………………………………………………………………… 45
Data Analysis…………………………………………………………………... 46
Assumptions……………………………………………………………………. 47
IV. Results……………………………………………………………………………... 48
Bahala Na as Adaptive Attitudinal Coping with Significant Challenges……… 50
Bahala Na as an Automatic Response to Routine Stress………………………. 63
Bahala Na as Problematic Effort Reduction…………………………………… 66
Use of Bahala Na as a Source of Performance Learning………………………. 68
Performance Pressure as Prompting Context for Bahala Na…………………… 69
Preparation Obviating Need for Bahala Na……………………………………. 70
V. Discussion…………………………………………………………………………. 71
Bahala Na as a Distinctive, Culturally Normative Attitude Among Filipinos… 71
Bahala Na as the Prototypical Filipino Response to Adversity………………... 72
Bahala Na as Spiritual Coping……………....…………………………………. 75
How Adaptive is Bahala Na?…………………………………………………... 76
The Implications of the Bahala Na Attitude in Philippine Sports.…………….. 78
Bahala Na as a Coping Strategy in Sports……………………..………. 78
Bahala Na as an Alternative Confidence Technique.………………….. 79
Bahala Na as an Alternative Goal Setting Technique.………………… 79
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Bahala Na as an Alternative Imagery Technique.……………………... 80
Bahala na for Athletes from Similar Collectivist Cultures…………...... 80
Exporting and Adapting Bahala Na for Non-Filipinos………………… 81
Clinical Implications of Bahala Na…………………………………………….. 82
Filipinos in Therapy……………………..……………………………... 82
Working with Diverse Populations……..……………………………… 83
Recommendations for Future Research………………………………………... 83
References….…………………………………………………………………………... 85
Appendix A: Recruitment Flyer………………………………………………………... 93
Appendix B: Consent Form…..………………………………………………………... 94
Appendix C: Demographic Questionnaire……………………………………………… 95
Appendix D: Semi-Structure Interview Questions…………………………………….. 98
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List of Tables
Page
Table 1: Participant’s Demographic Information……………………………………… 44
Table 2: Number and Percentage of Participants per Theme………………………….. 48
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Chapter I
Introduction
The Tagalog expression “Bahala na!” meaning “leaving things to Bahala (God)”
is a phrase Filipinos commonly say when they are faced with a difficult circumstance.
Bahala na has also been described as a culturally-distinctive attitude and as a core
Filipino cultural value that can be traced back to pre-colonial times. Bahala na is derived
from the root Bathala, the name of the indigenous deity worshiped prior to the
introduction of Catholicism to the Philippines in 1571.
There is a debate in the psychology literature (Pe-Pua & Protacio-Marcelino,
2000) as to whether bahala na has debilitative or facilitative influence on Filipino
behavior, that is, whether the forms of coping it promotes are on-balance adaptive or
maladaptive. Most of the early literature (Bostrom, 1968) on the concept of bahala na
described it as being analogous to the Western concept of fatalism, associated with other
debilitative traits such as resignation, effort withdrawal, and inaction as a response to a
stressful decision-making process.
Subsequent research (Church, 1987) found evidence for both facilitative and
debilitative impacts of bahala na, describing bahala na as a form of optimistic fatalism,
suggesting that it is a dual-purpose coping mechanism, enabling the individual to
surrender control, yet persevere hopefully, in spite of apparent unlikelihood of success.
Recently, however, Filipino Psychology theorists have argued that bahala na does
not involve the passivity attributed to it by earlier conceptualizations. Rather, they argue
that bahala na is an assertive response to highly stressful situations, making it more
analogous to qualities such as determination and risk-taking. Furthermore, they argue
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that this purely facilitative conceptualization of bahala na is more consistent with the
overall conceptualization of Filipino personality norms, grouping bahala na among
several adaptive and confrontative values embodied by many Filipinos.
The task of evaluating the relative merits of these differing theoretical views on
bahala na is complicated by the lack of inductive research exploring the subjective
experience of bahala na. Prior research supports the contention that bahala na functions
as a coping mechanism for Filipinos during times of stressful decision-making or in
socially evaluative situations, such as in academic and sport performance. The stressful
nature of international sporting competition suggests this a good context in which to
examine the bahala na attitude, particularly with the demands placed on high-level
Filipino athletes and with their motivation to achieve at this level of sport participation.
The achievement motivation literature (Reeve, 2005) identified several factors
that influence an individual’s drive to excel, overcome obstacles and compete. Studies of
culture-specific influences on achievement motivation suggest that causal attribution,
coping strategies, and motivational behavior vary cross-culturally. This suggests that
culture-specific influence on achievement and sport performance needs to be studied.
Furthermore, the intersubjective experience of bahala na may influence an
athlete’s emotion and behavior in socially evaluative situations. This is supported by the
Filipino Psychology theory (Enriquez, 1994), which suggests that Filipino cultural norms,
such as bahala na, are known to impact the expected achievement motivation in a wide
variety of settings such as in athletic situations.
This current study investigated the Filipino athlete’s experience of the bahala na
attitude through an in-depth qualitative exploration. This current study illuminated how
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Filipino athletes engage in the bahala na attitude in different performance situations to
mediate anxiety, cope with challenging performance situations, and manage performance
demands, with implications on how the bahala na attitude could be adapted as a coping
strategy by more Filipinos as well as non-Filipinos in similar situations.
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Chapter II
Literature Review
Overview of Philippine History
The Philippines is an archipelago comprised of more than 7,107 islands. The first
inhabitants appear to have reached the Philippines 500,000 to 2,000,000 years ago.
Various ethnic groups such as the Negritos from Burma and New Guinea, Indonesians,
and the Malays settled in different parts of the archipelago (Agoncillo & Guerrero, 1984).
During the last quarter of the 13th century, Muslim traders settled in the southern islands
of the Philippines. In the early 14th century, maritime trading brought people from the
neighboring countries in Asia, including China, Vietnam, Thailand and India to dwell in
the islands (Abeto, 1989). Intermarriages between the locals and the traders created an
ethnically diverse population throughout the archipelago (Fernandez, 1998).
Muslim, Chinese and Indian influences were predominant in early Filipino
culture, as could be observed in their language, arts and customs. For instance, the
polytheistic religious belief system of the early Filipinos was a fusion of Islamic,
Christian, Hindu and Eastern beliefs in a chief God referred to as Bathala, as well as the
worship of an ancestral god referred to as anito (Agoncillo & Guerrero, 1984). Bathala
worship was widely supported by the babaylan or a female priestess who held an
important role in the early community, particularly in the healing of the body and the
spirit. The babaylans were considered to be the first to carry out a counseling function
and their advice constituted of an indigenous approach to coping with different issues,
including childcare and interpersonal relationships (Enriquez, 1994).
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The year 1521 marked the first arrival of Spaniards in the Philippines. Ferdinand
Magellan set foot on the island of Samar, befriended the natives, and converted them to
Catholicism. However, not all the natives cordially welcomed Magellan. A Filipino
ruler by the name of Lapu-Lapu waged a war with Magellan and his crew, and claimed
the life of the Spanish explorer. The Spanish conquistador Miguel Lopez de Legazpi
eventually succeeded in invading the archipelago, which led to over 300 years of Spanish
rule in the Philippines (Agoncillo & Guerrero, 1984). During the Spanish colonial era,
many of the beliefs, customs and social structures of the early settlers were suppressed.
Instead, Western Hispanic systems and customs were imposed, with the notable
exception of the use of the Spanish language (Arcilla, 1971). This was meant to keep the
natives ignorant of the communication of the colonizers. As a result, while most
Filipinos became baptized and converted to Catholicism, they continued to speak in their
native languages (Abeto, 1989).
Throughout the period of Spanish colonial rule, various resistance groups formed
to overthrow the Spanish government but these had little success until the end of the 19th
century. Jose Rizal together with other Filipino scholars in Spain formed the
Propaganda Movement. The goal of the Propaganda Movement was to campaign for
reforms in the Philippines through the Spanish legislatures. The Propaganda Movement
distributed the newspaper, La Solidaridad, which inspired the Filipinos in the Philippines
to start the revolutionary group the Katipunan. Contrary to the educated, upper class
membership of the Propaganda Movement, the Katipunan was comprised of mostly
uneducated, working class Filipinos. The goal of the Katipunan was to fight for the
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freedom of the Philippines against the Spaniards, which became known historically as the
1896 Philippine Revolution (Agoncillo & Guerrero, 1984).
Although the Filipinos won the revolution, a treaty between Spain and the United
States subjected the Philippines to the American rule for more than 40 years. The
American colonial era began in 1898 and ended in 1941, at the dawn of World War II in
the Pacific. During the war, Japanese forces ruled the Philippines for a terrifying five
years. The Americans returned to the Philippines in 1945, which signaled the end of the
Japanese regime. The Philippines became an independent nation on the 4th of July 1946
but kept close ties with the United States (Agoncillo & Guerrero, 1984).
Psychology in the Spanish Colonial Era
Western psychology reached the Philippine shores from various sources, starting
with the Spanish priests teaching psychological philosophy in Manila at the University of
Santo Tomas and at the Collegio de San Juan de Letran in the 17th Century (Enriquez,
1994). According to Salazar (1985), this psychology was mainly theological. The strong
influence of Catholicism in the teachings and philosophy of the educational system
during the Spanish era prevented the exploration of thought inconsistent with the tenets
of the Church.
In the late 19th century, two notable Filipino scholars who became important to
the revolution, Jose Rizal and Apolinario Mabini, had the opportunity to study in Europe
and objected to the characterizations of Filipinos and Filipino culture in the West
(Protacio-Marcelino & Pe-Pua, 2000). Spanish colonial landowners had depicted
Filipinos as inherently lazy, and such depictions became widespread as evident in the
popular Philippine folklore, Juan Tamad (Lazy John). This is consistent with how
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colonized populations are portrayed by European colonizers as wasteful of opportunities,
incapable of caring for themselves and needs direction from the colonizers (Pickren,
2009). Rizal (1890) was the first to contest indolence as a Filipino trait by attributing the
lack of motivation among Filipino laborers to the harsh and oppressive conditions under
the Spanish misgovernment, specifically, coercion and insufficient monetary
compensation.
Psychology in the American Colonial Era
When the Philippines became a colony of the United States in the early 19th
century, American psychology spread in the Philippines due to the effort to Americanize
Spanish-colonial educational institutions. The University of the Philippines (U.P.), a
state-owned school was established in 1908 and began offering psychology courses in the
early 1920s (Enriquez, 1994). Enriquez (1994) described the curriculum at U.P. as
following an academic-scientific psychology model, which focused on experimental
methods. Behaviorism was in its heyday in American psychology for most of the
American Colonial era, thus students were trained in laboratory animal behavioral
experiments. However, in spite of some of these limitations, the psychology taught at
U.P. was comparatively liberating in that the students were given the freedom to explore
conflicting ideologies, which had previously been forbidden under the Catholic university
administration (Enriquez, 1994).
During the 1950’s, there was an expansion of psychology as an academic
discipline from other European sources such as the Germans and the Belgians. German
psychologists taught a different kind of experimental psychology in the tradition of
Wundt at the University of San Carlos in Cebu City. The psychology students were
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involved in laborious perception experiments. However, Wundtian psychology struggled
to advance in the Philippines and the supporters of American psychology from Manila-
based universities ridiculed the perception experiments as “brass and cymbals”
psychology (Enriquez, 1994).
According to Enriquez (1994), although American psychology became
widespread in Manila, the Belgians became successful up north in the Cordilleras during
the 1960’s. The Belgians introduced counseling psychology at Saint Louis University.
The students conducted community outreach programs in the Cordillera Mountains,
which enabled Filipinos in rural areas to avail counseling services. The Belgians were
regarded as the pioneer of applied psychology in the Philippines. However, the success
of community outreach counseling services was primarily limited to the Cordillera
region.
Psychology in the Post-American Colonial Era
Twenty years after the Philippines gained its independence from the United
States; the Americanization of educational institutions in the Philippines impeded the
development of an indigenous psychology (Enriquez, 1994). Through the process of
cultural diffusion, which can be described as the flow of the dominant cultural values
from the colonizer to the colonized nation, the American cultural values permeated all
aspects of Filipino living, including the work force, arts and sports. The English
language became an established medium of instruction and American Western concepts
were taught in schools, which greatly influenced the ways of thinking among educated
Filipinos (Lagmay, 1984).
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Filipino Psychology theorists suggested that the use of the English language
combined with the dominance of Western-oriented methods in research and in the
training of psychologists in the Philippines, led these psychologists to misapply American
theories and methods in clinical work and research (Pe-Pua & Protacio-Marcelino, 2000).
This in turn created negative depictions of the culturally normative aspects of behavior
and personality of Filipinos (Church, 1987).
Furthermore, Enriquez (1994) suggested that the disparity in the quality of
education within the regions and social strata in the Philippines, particularly among those
with lower English proficiency in the rural areas, created a discrepancy between the
levels of acculturation of Filipinos. According to Enriquez (1994), Filipino scholars and
researchers who were able to afford American Western-oriented education were a
privileged few. These Filipino scholars were mostly from affluent families, and as such,
they were disconnected from some of the realities of poverty in the rest of the country.
Thus, those who received psychological training in the American colonial era were likely
to be differentially acculturated to American cultural norms, and to be distanced from
daily realities of the populations they were conceptualizing on the basis of economic and
social class. This resulted in Filipino scholars and researchers incorporating biased
Western views about Filipinos into their formulations.
Lagmay (1984) suggested, however, that while Filipino Psychology in the
academy had produced a distorted view of Filipino norms, the: “traditions, customs and
folkways of the people [Filipinos] have been preserved more in the rural areas, relatively
untouched by Western concepts, theories and cognitive categories” (p. 32). He suggested
that taking a fresh look on Filipino values free from the distorting lens of comparing the
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Filipino values with the predominant Western concepts and theories could enable the
creation of a Filipino Psychology that would be more applicable to the needs of the
Filipino people.
Similarly, arising psychologies, such as the Afrocentric Psychology and
Liberation Social Psychology from post-colonial countries recognized the need to deal
with the lingering psychology legacies of colonialism (Burton & Kagan, 2005). Nobles
(1991) contended that psychology “has contributed more clearly to the domination and
continued oppression of people of color” (p. 295), describing how African worldviews
have been deemed primitive and appear disordered when subjected to Euro-American
worldviews. Pickren (2009) provided further support for the impact of racism and
internal colonialism in the psychology of racial and ethnic minorities, suggesting that the
future of a globally inclusive psychology lies with the understanding and connection with
various indigenous psychologies.
Although some Filipino scholars began to identify the need for an indigenous
Filipino Psychology, there were a few Filipino scholars who viewed this as a lost cause.
Samson (1995) contended that the regional differences in the country make the study of a
general Filipino Psychology to be difficult. He further argued that the Philippines today
shares more cultural and social values with the Western world than with the cultures of
the Far East, and so Western depictions of Filipinos are sufficiently accurate. Samson’s
(1965/1995) view appeared representative of the internalization of colonial values
identified by Enriquez (1994) and Pickren (2009).
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The Rise of a New Filipino Psychology
According to Pe-Pua and Protacio-Marcelino (2000), it was not until the early
1970’s that a movement led by Virgilio Gaspar Enriquez, regarded as the father of the
Filipino Psychology movement, began to call for the study of the Filipino psyche from an
indigenous perspective. Enriquez returned to the Philippines after obtaining a doctorate
in Social Psychology from the Northwestern University at Evanston, Illinois and
pioneered the development of Filipino Psychology research and courses in various
universities in the country.
Pe-Pua and Protacio-Marcelino (2000) provided a basic definition of Filipino
Psychology as the psychology created from the Filipino’s experience, thought and
orientation. According to Enriquez (1994), Filipino Psychology is largely based on the
historical and socio-cultural context of indigenous Filipinos. Filipino Psychology is
greatly dependent on the approach called indigenization from within (Pe-Pua & Protacio-
Marcelino, 2000), a theoretical framework that recognizes the importance of
understanding the local language and developing an indigenous lens through which
observations are drawn.
The focus of Filipino Psychology is on “unraveling Filipino characteristics and
explaining them through the eyes of the native Filipino” (Pe-Pua & Protacio-Marcelino
2000, p. 51). Enriquez (1994) acknowledged that previous psychologies have been
influenced by the colonial history of the country, namely the philosophical influences of
empirical philosophy and Thomasitic philosophy, a belief derived from the Catholic
doctrine that faith combined with reason can lead to the truth; as well as the influence of
American Western Psychology. As a discipline, Filipino Psychology promotes
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approaches that are applicable for the Filipino population and discourages methodologies
that views non-Western ideologies as pathological. Filipino Psychology appreciates both
the science and art in psychology and places a greater emphasis on collective experience
than individual experience.
One of the methods used in Filipino Psychology research is Santiago’s
(1977/1995) pakapa-kapa or groping, an indigenous method of inquiry designed to
address the shortcomings of earlier foreign-derived method of inquiry used in the
Philippines that used quantitative approaches rather than process-focused approaches.
Torres (1995) defined pakapa-kapa as "a suppositionless approach to social scientific
investigations… characterized by groping, searching, and probing into an unsystematized
mass of social and cultural data to be able to obtain order, meaning, and directions for
research" (p. 171). Thus, pakapa-kapa avoids the imposition of Western values in
studying the Filipino population. A qualitative research method is similar and consistent
with these principles of Filipino Psychology.
The history of Filipino Psychology reflected a larger tension between imported
and indigenous ideas in post-colonial Filipino culture, particularly in the use of Western-
oriented methods in research. The failure of Western-oriented models to describe
Filipino behavior supported the use of an inductive, qualitative method in understanding
the experience of Filipinos, such as in describing the bahala na attitude. This current
study aims to contribute to the larger body of research in Filipino Psychology and to
adhere to maintaining a historical and socio-cultural context in the study of Filipino
behavior.
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The Concept of Self in Filipino Psychology
One of the main differences between Western-oriented psychology and Filipino
Psychology is their conceptualization of self. The concept of self in Filipino Psychology
is integral to its conceptualization of normative Filipino attitudes. Filipino psychologists
analyzed normative Filipino values and patterns of behavior; with the ultimate aim being
to construct a personality theory that accurately encompasses Filipino identity.
The concept of kapwa, a sense of shared inner self, is central to the understanding
of Filipino Psychology. Enriquez (1994) differentiated kapwa from the Western concept
of self as separate from other, in that the Filipino self, known as ako, lacks a vital sense of
its own context, known as kapwa, when the self is individuated. This means that the
Filipino self loses its value without the context of the other. This was consistent with
Kitayama and Markus’ (1997) model of Asian norms for the self that is based on a
cultural framework of interdependence, where the “self-in-relation-to-other” (p. 97) is the
focus of the individual experience. Kitayama and Markus (1997) suggested that this
interdependent view of self is normative in Japan, China, Korea, and in Southeast Asia,
possibly reflecting some cultural commonalities or influences between the Philippines
and these countries. This conceptualization of the self is highly similar with more
collectivist post-colonial cultures, such as the Afro-centric Theory and Liberation Social
Psychology mentioned earlier.
According to Enriquez (1994), kapwa was considered to be a core aspect of
Filipino personality. Kapwa or pakikipagkapwa, meaning being with others, determines
a Filipino’s personality and personhood. As such, personality and personhood are
intertwined in the Philippine value system. Enriquez (1994) further emphasized that for
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Filipinos, “Without kapwa, one ceases to be a Filipino. One also ceases to be human” (p.
63).
Next to kapwa, pakikiramdam or shared inner perception is another essential
aspect of the Filipino personality. Mataragnon (1987) was among the first to describe
pakikiramdam, which she characterized as an active process by which a person attempts
to feel and understand the feelings of another. This was also consistent with Kitayama
and Markus’ (1997) description of intersubjectivity as an essential component of the
emotional experience of an interdependent view of the self. Intersubjectivity is very
similar to pakikiramdam in its key features of having “a heightened sense of the other and
of the nature of one’s relation to the other” (p. 102), together with an expectation of
mutuality. Mansukhani (2005) suggested that pakikiramdam facilitates Filipinos’
adaptation to and navigation of different social situations. Pakikiramdam could be
maladaptive, however, for Filipinos when maintaining harmony and indirectness in
relating to others results in confusion and miscommunication in interpersonal relations.
Mansukhani (2005) noted that the non-verbal nature of the enactment of pakikiramdam
creates a particular risk for cross-cultural miscommunication. For instance,
pakikiramdam can enable a Filipino working for a foreign manager to quickly adapt and
please the manager by being sensitive to the manager’s needs. In that example,
pakikiramdam is deemed adaptive. However, pakikiramdam can also subject a Filipino
employee to be agreeable to the foreign manager even if he feels otherwise, just to
maintain harmony. When pakikiramdam leads a Filipino to be dishonest for harmony’s
sake, pakikiramdam can be viewed as maladaptive in interpersonal relations. This,
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however, works under the assumption that both parties share the value of pakikiramdam
and abide by it.
Enriquez (1994) contended that pakikiramdam is a pivotal value in the Filipino
Psychology conceptualization of self, linking the core value of kapwa to what he refers to
as surface values or observable values that are anchored to the less-visible core values in
the Filipino culture. Among the surface values that sprung from the core value of kapwa
and pakikiramdam were the Filipino attitudes such as pakikisama or companionship, hiya
or dignity and the attitude in the current study, bahala na, which is the surface value
equated to determination. He suggested that pakikiramdam underlies common Filipino
surface values, and that recognizing these values sheds new light to these concepts.
These surface values produce the normative behavior patterns, which were
mischaracterized by Western psychology.
Enriquez (1994) argued that instead of analyzing the Filipino surface values
through similar Western constructs, Filipino Psychology theorists explain these surface
values using the underlying motivation created by pakikiramdam. For instance, the
surface value, bahala na, is related to pakikiramdam in that both share an “improvisatory
character” (Enirquez, 1994, p. 64) or a spontaneous, intuitive manner of behaving to
adapt to the situation. In pakikiramdam, Filipinos exhibit this improvisatory character
when they navigate unstructured and unpredictable situations by attuning to the feelings
of other people. In the case of bahala na, the same improvisatory character is exemplified
as determination in the face of uncertainty and readiness to deviate from a set game plan
to cope with surprising aspects of the situation.
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According to Enriquez (1994), Filipino surface values are categorized as either
accommodative, which main function is to maintain the status quo, or confrontative,
which main function is to create reforms. Bahala na is among the confrontative surface
values together with lakas ng loob (guts) and pakikibaka (cooperative resistance). These
confrontative surface values are also inter-related in their function of effecting change.
For instance, bahala na is often coupled with lakas ng loob, just as a person who is
determined often exemplifies a gutsy attitude as well.
Enriquez (1994) suggested that a tree-like structure best represents the Filipino
personality, in which kapwa are the roots of the tree. The trunk of the tree is the pivotal
value, pakikiramdam or shared inner perception. This pivotal value functions in
processing the various Filipino traits as it relates to the surface values. The tree branches
are the surface values, which are the observable Filipino values. These surface values are
comprised of behavior patterns evident in the Filipino personality.
An illustration of the tree-like structure of the Filipino personality could be
demonstrated in the conception of an individual who is walang hiya (has no dignity or
shame). This Filipino negative trait befits an individual who does not have the surface
value of hiya, has a fragmented sense of pakikiramdam and has difficulty with his kapwa.
This means that for a Filipino to be without shame, that person would have a flawed
sense of shared inner perception and difficulties with relating to others that is consistent
with the individual’s personality. This conceptualization of an individual who is walang
hiya is more applicable for Filipinos more so than from the Western understanding of a
person who is without shame.
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Thus the difference between the conceptualization of the self in Filipino
Psychology and that of traditional Western psychology accounted for the common
misrepresentation of Filipino surface values when viewed through the lens of Western
theories of personality, resulting in a distorted view of the Filipino character. This could
impact how Filipinos experience their socio-political status, specifically, in socially
evaluative situations wherein the core value of kapwa is influencing the Filipino’s
attitude. Similarly in Nobles’ (1991) article on the African worldview, Western theorists
subscribing to the dominant Euro-American values that emphasize on individual rights
and independence found the extended self and interdependence in the African self-
concept as uncivilized and seen as a failure to assimilate to the superior Euro-American
values.
Moreover, in contexts defined by Western cultural norms, such as in international
sporting competitions, the experience of Filipinos might be influenced by the same
indigenous Filipino values and yet might be misinterpreted by foreign observers. An in-
depth exploration of the experience of Filipinos is necessary to understand how the
Filipino surface values, particularly bahala na influence the thoughts, feelings and
behaviors of Filipinos.
Bahala Na: Definition and Origin
The bahala na expression can be traced back to pre-colonial times, when Filipinos
worshiped Bathala and the babaylan priestesses were giving life advice, including on how
to cope with difficulties. According to De Guia (2005), the alibata, which is the syllabic
ancestral Filipino alphabet, the word bahala was broken down into three syllables: ba,
which meant woman; ha, which meant breath or wind that signified God; and la, which
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meant man. Together, the three syllables comprising bahala represented a trinity of the
balance of these three forces, united by God. Prior to the colonization of the Philippine
archipelago, the bahala na attitude had existed and was utilized by early settlers as a
positive outlook synonymous to putting forth one’s best energies. The survival of this
pre-Christian religious construct through the extensive cultural and religious transitions
of the Philippines is perhaps an indicator that bahala na constitutes a core cultural idea.
The root word bahala has had several meanings in the Filipino language. De Guia
(2005) provided some of the nouns associated with the term bahala, namely:
“responsibility, care, management, as well as apprehension” (p. 31). According to Roces
and Roces (2006), the bahala na expression meaning, “leaving things to Bahala (God)”
(p. 102) is a common expression that many Filipinos say when they are faced with a
seemingly insurmountable circumstance. Roces and Roces (2006) further elaborated
upon bahala na, referring to the phenomenon as, “the Filipino ‘too hard’ basket, where
planning and worrying are shelved because it depends not on him but on other persons,
minds and whims” (p. 102).
Filipino culture can be described as a collectivist society, and Filipinos tend to be
highly interdependent within tight kinship networks (Roces & Roces, 2006). In
Leoncini’s (2005) conceptual analysis of the Filipino cultural trait of pakikisama or
getting along with others, he described this kinship network as hierarchical, requiring
deference towards elders, this same deference being extended to superiors in non-familial
hierarchies such as the workplace. According to Leoncini (2005) it is expected that
individual’s choices will likely reflect awareness of the needs of others and it can be
expected to produce anxiety for Filipinos in socially evaluative situations, particularly
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when an individual is forced to make a decision that yields to the will of the group.
Based on Leoncini’s (2005) analysis of how Filipinos navigate group decision-making
situations, bahala na could serve an anxiety-mediating function for Filipinos to cope with
the collective pressure in decision-making found in socially evaluative situations such as
in international sporting competition.
As a confrontative surface value bahala na is an attitude that Filipinos may utilize
when faced with a stressful situation that calls for decisiveness (Enriquez, 1994). The
bahala na attitude might appear to observers as having an escapist value, that the person
is resigning to his or her fate just when the odds of succeeding get slim (Bostrom, 1968).
However, Enriquez (1994) described this resignation to fate as “an indication of an
acceptance of the nature of things, including the inherent limitations of one’s self” (p.72).
Enriquez (1994) added that this acceptance is not passive. Instead, it is an acceptance
that requires resourcefulness and creativity given the inevitable failure that lies ahead.
Lagmay (1976) further argued that though the situations wherein individuals operate in
bahala na are filled with uncertainty, there is an observable courage in that the individual
continues to confront the situation.
The question of whether the bahala na attitude is facilitative or debilitative in such
stressful decisive situations has been debated in both Western and Filipino literature. As
noted previously, the earliest attempts to define bahala na were made by comparing the
concept to Western counterparts. Bostrom (1968) compared bahala na to the Western
concept of fatalism, or leaving things to fate. Enriquez (1994) challenged this
interpretation, suggesting that the understanding of indigenous Filipino values had
become distorted by their being likened to non-equivalent Western constructs.
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Enriquez’s critique came at a time when most of the literature on Filipino values was
based on comparisons with universal and foreign concepts. Pe-Pua and Protacio-
Marcelino (2000) contended that there is no existing English term which is truly
equivalent to bahala na, supporting the idea that bahala na is an example of a truly
culture-specific construct. A review of the literature suggested that, there were three
understandings of the meaning of bahala na, which were classified here as: (a) fatalism,
(b) optimistic fatalism, and (c) determination. This is presented below.
Bahala na as fatalism. Pe-Pua (1995) provided a definition of bahala na in the
Filipino language as “mistikal na pagpapaubaya sa tadhana” (p. 326), which translates to
the mystical deference to fate. According to Pe-Pua (1995), this definition was derived
from the work of sociologists who were aral-Amerikano (American-schooled).
Similarly, Andres (1994) defined bahala na as “the Filipino attitude that makes him
accept suffering and problems, leaving everything to God” (p. 12). Andres (1994)
elaborated that bahala na is a fatalistic attitude towards a crisis or indifference in
decision-making, leaving everything to fate. In addition, he associated the extreme
depiction of bahala na with the attitude of Filipino gamblers or those who invest
everything they have on a single bet to determine their fortune. As such, the author
contended that the bahala na attitude has a debilitative influence in Filipino behavior.
In Gripaldo’s (2005) philosophical analysis of bahala na, he derived the meaning
of fatalism from the Greek word, Moira or fate. He aligned the use of bahala na, with
theistic fatalism, a providential form of fatalism where one surrenders to fate with a wish
that a higher being, such as Providence or God, will take care of the future. Gripaldo
(2005) suggested that although both theistic fatalism and the bahala na attitude have
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debilitative influence on Filipino behavior, Filipinos exhibit this attitude in situations
where it is a psychological necessity for them to do so, therefore making it adaptive. He
stated:
It is construed as a violation of freedom when one does not accept God’s
will and the person, in this case, becomes psychologically disturbed,
emotionally unbalanced, and will generally have no peace of mind.
Resignation, indifference, or apathy to adverse occurrences in life are [sic]
considered the highest good (Gripaldo, 2005, p. 208).
Fatalism carried a negative concept in the modern Western perspective, associated
with passivity, effort withdrawal, and having an external locus of control (Andres, 1994;
Church, 1987; Gripaldo, 2005; Pe-Pua & Protacio-Marcelino, 2000). The fatalistic
resignation version of bahala na appeared to be derived from early Western depictions of
the Filipino personality, particularly in the Filipino’s predisposition to inaction. This
depiction of Filipinos is consistent with other negative traits, such as indolence, that were
inaccurately attributed to Filipinos by colonial sources with a sociopolitical agenda.
These probable misrepresentations have been learned and accepted by Filipino scholars
through the cultural diffusion in the educational system.
De Guia (2005) contended that the negative fatalistic notion of bahala na is a
misinterpretation of the literal translation of what it means to submit to forces greater
than mankind. According to De Guia (2005), this submission is an expression of courage
and perseverance in the face of difficulty, as well as acceptance of consequences.
Furthermore, the passivity in the bahala na attitude is actually the contemplative
confidence of an individual who has intrinsic motivation towards mastering challenges.
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The colonial construct of bahala na, however, thrived among the younger generations of
Filipinos, attaining notoriety as the negatively construed bahala na mentality.
Bahala na as optimistic fatalism. Osias (1940) was among the earliest to
present a more balanced depiction of bahala na. Colin-Jones and Colin-Jones (2004)
provided a different perspective on bahala na, a perspective tied to the pre-colonial
Bathala worship and the strong Roman Catholic influence on Filipino culture. They
characterized the attitude which bahala na attitude evokes as optimistic fatalism, and
suggested that it functions as a dual-purpose coping mechanism that Filipinos exercise in
times of great adversity. The fatalistic aspect of bahala na is enacted when the individual
surrenders control to a higher being and allows the circumstance to take care of itself.
The optimistic aspect of bahala na is exhibited when the individual engages in hopeful
perseverance despite the lack of any reasonable chance for success. The authors
suggested that bahala na is really two different attitudes, which serves one function as an
effective coping mechanism for many Filipinos who undergo various hardships in their
daily lives. De Guia (2005) described bahala na as a double-edged sword in that it
involves both a risk-taking quality as well as acceptance of the nature of things.
The optimistic fatalism theory of bahala na appears to be consistent with some of
the teachings of the babaylan priestesses from pre-colonial Philippines. The babaylan
priestesses were spiritual healers who encouraged faith in Bathala as a coping
mechanism. Additionally, the optimistic fatalism theory is aligned with the earlier
findings of Church (1987), describing bahala na as a result of the fusion of Christian
values and traditional Filipino values about spiritual and supernatural beings. Church
(1987) also suggested that bahala na inspires Filipinos who have very few resources to
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avoid resentment of their current situation and continue moving forward in spite of
limited chance for success.
In the sport context, the “spiritual wellbeing” in the study done by
Hammermeister and Ridnour (2008) is comparable to Church’s (1987) depiction of the
spiritual aspect of bahala na. According Hammermeister and Ridnour (2008), there study
showed a relationship between spiritual wellbeing, which is the heightened sense of
connectedness to either others or a higher power that provides meaning and purpose in
life, and athletic coping skills among NCAA Division I athletes. Among the coping skills
that were found influenced by spiritual wellbeing were, “coping with adversity, freedom
from worry, goal setting/mental preparation, confidence, and achievement motivation”
(Hammermeister & Ridnour, 2008; p. 88).
The spiritual roots of bahala na that was emphasized in the optimistic fatalism
theory appears consistent with the modern Filipino worldview as well. Quito (1996)
described the Filipino worldview as both Theo-centric and others-centered in nature.
According to Quito (1996) the integral part of God in the Filipino belief system is evident
in the acknowledgement that God created life and it is His to take, involving aspects of
external locus of control. Quito (1996) added that most Filipinos have a transpersonal
worldview, where faith in God is very much a part of the decision-making process.
Likewise, the other-centered worldview of Filipinos, as demonstrated in kapwa, impacts
how some Filipinos behave in socially evaluative situations. This implies that invoking
God and consideration of others is a part of the decision-making process among Filipinos.
A study by Quito (1996) examined Filipino worldviews to determine the
relevance of Western counseling models as an intervention in the Philippines. She
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contended that the Filipino worldview is simultaneously optimistic and fatalistic. This
characteristic of the Filipino worldview, thus, encourages the use of a dual-purpose
coping mechanism such as bahala na as part of the Filipino way of life. According to
Quito (1996), the optimism in the Filipino worldview could be observed in the Filipino’s
belief that there will be an end, to which one could look forward, to every suffering. This
optimism is partly indicated in bahala na as optimistic fatalism.
On the other hand, Filipinos also believe that life is plagued with hardships, which
could lead to feelings of despair. An important point that Quito (1996) raised is that the
fatalistic nature of the Filipino worldview could be maladaptive in problem solving when
the acceptance of problems manifests behaviorally as effort withdrawal. In effort
withdrawal, there is a lack of deliberate action towards the fulfillment of the goal, which
reduces the person’s chance to succeed in the task. When the bahala na attitude is
manifested as effort withdrawal, the optimism serves a consoling function that giving up
is the best thing that one can do at the moment, which may not always be the case. At
times, engaging in bahala na in problem solving situations could prevent the active
pursuit of solutions, most notably when bahala na is used irresponsibly as an excuse for
inaction.
Quito’s (1996) findings substantiated that the bahala na attitude as optimistic
fatalism is a culturally normative response to the decision making process in stressful
situations. This provides a cultural framework within which the bahala na attitude could
be viewed. The Filipino worldview that Quito (1996) explicated shows that the bahala na
attitude is an integral concept for understanding the Filipino culture as seen in the
existence of the aforementioned fatalistic and optimistic aspects of the Filipino culture.
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Furthermore, the optimistic fatalism theory assumes both adaptive and
maladaptative functions of bahala na, which Gripaldo (2005) described as the
ambivalence of bahala na. Gripaldo (2005) named the positive, adaptive functions of the
bahala na attitude in situations as follows: during calamities or death of a significant other
despite active preventative measures, when undertaking a task that requires fortitude, and
when uncertainty prevails after a long deliberative process. The bahala na attitude seems
to incorporate a notion roughly equivalent to “God helps the person who helps
himself/herself” (Gripaldo, 2005, p. 215). On the contrary, bahala na might be
experienced as negative and maladaptative in decision making situations that require time
and effort to deliberate yet a haphazard decision is chosen instead, or when a detrimental
pursuit is undertaken irresponsibly without understanding the consequences of the chosen
decision (Gripaldo, 2005).
Tuason (2008) described various Filipinos’ experience of their socio-economic
status resembling the bahala na attitude in her qualitative study on the psychological
experiences of poverty. The study compared two groups of Filipinos, those who were
born poor and stayed poor versus those who were born poor and became wealthy. Some
of the participants lived in the Philippines, while others lived in the United States.
The study showed that both groups exhibited attitudes similar to bahala na as a
way to cope with adversity, although the groups differed in their explication of
facilitative and debilitative attitudes in terms of changing their socio-economic status.
The group that eventually became affluent put their trust in God and prayed for “courage
and strength to take the risks necessary to change their circumstances” (Noel, 2008 as
cited in Tuason, p.165). The group that remained living in poverty also relied on God
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and trusted that God would not give them more than they could handle. The main
difference noted between the groups was that the former exhibited a markedly more
optimistic and facilitative mind frame, while the latter displayed a more fatalistic and
debilitative mind frame. Tuason’s (2008) study suggested that bahala na is a widely
expressed attitude among Filipinos of varying levels of socio-economic status, and that
having optimistic and facilitative attitudes were observed more on the successful group.
Furthermore, Tuason’s (2008) findings showed that Filipinos living in the
Philippines found it hard to self-identify with success or visualize overcoming their
poverty in the future. The author attributed this to the low morale and limited
opportunities that accompany the standard of living in the Philippines. As a result,
Filipinos living in unfavorable conditions might find it difficult to see themselves
improving their situation and just resort to effort withdrawal. Tuason (2008)
recommended that her study be replicated on impoverished populations in other
countries, who may have a different historical and socio-cultural context to that of the
Philippines to see what behaviors and attitudes will be present in their population.
The marked demoralization and inability to self-identify with success might be an
important factor in the achievement motivation of Filipinos living in the Philippines.
Tuason’s (2008) study showed the depth and complexity of the bahala na attitude as a
psychological experience. This established a useful precedent for qualitative approaches
in exploring the meaning and function of the bahala na attitude.
Bahala Na as Determination
Filipino Psychology theorists proposed an alternative definition of bahala na that
de-emphasized the fatalistic aspects of the construct, those appearing to be related to
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colonial ideologies. Lagmay (1977) argued that the bahala na attitude is not fatalistic and
that Filipinos do not respond with resignation or passivity when they experience bahala
na. Instead, Lagmay (1977) suggested that bahala na is more accurately described as
determination and willingness for risk-taking. The thought or utterance of “Bahala na!”
is thus a form of positive self-talk that Filipinos employ to prepare themselves for
challenges and to remind themselves to give their best regardless of the favorability of the
situation. Similarly, Salazar (1976, as cited in Pe-Pua, 1995, p. 326) defended the bahala
na attitude as one of deliberate acceptance of responsibility to strive, in which one
courageously accepts and immerses oneself into the situation despite the lack of hope.
This vision of bahala na seems almost existentialist in nature, although the theological
and collectivistic aspects of bahala na are certainly inconsistent with existentialism.
The characterization of the bahala na attitude as determination is a response to
situations which the individual perceives as more challenging than the person can cope
with, and only then that the person would be summoning God’s help. The bahala na
attitude provides Filipinos with “a psychological peace of mind and emotional stability”
(Gripaldo, 2005, p. 215), both of which are motivating for the person to continue facing
the situation. This provides support for the purely facilitative function of the bahala na
attitude and its influence in the motivation of Filipinos.
Although there is hardly any literature on bahala na as it pertains to Filipino
athletes, bahala na as determination appears to be analogous to virtues associated with
admired athletes. Lagmay’s (1977) depiction of the bahala na attitude is comparable to
the Japanese samurai term konjo. The notion of konjo describes the athlete’s inner
potential associated with “physical endurance, courage under adversity, and the tenacity
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to face pain and hardship for the good of the team” (Kozuma, 2009, p. 207). Japanese
athletes believe that winning or losing relies on one’s konjo, which makes konjo a highly
acknowledged attitude in Japanese sports.
There appears to be a lack of research on the bahala na attitude regarding the
meaning it holds for various Filipinos who operate under this notion. For instance, how
much of the bahala na attitude is optimistic and how much of it is fatalistic? Is bahala na
facilitative or debilitative? Additionally, is bahala na an adaptive or maladaptive
behavior? Due to the lack of literature on bahala na as optimistic, the Western notion of
fatalism, which is deemed debilitative and maladaptive, remained the more widespread
perspective. If the bahala na attitude were experienced as debilitative and maladaptive,
then Filipinos in stressful decision-making situations would be at risk of thinking and
acting in ways that could be detrimental to themselves or the situation. This current study
aims to clarify the meaning of bahala na as experienced by Filipinos who engage in this
attitude and to provide more depth to the complex construct that this Filipino attitude
embodies. Part of understanding the Filipinos’ psychological experience of the bahala na
attitude, it is crucial to grasp its role in the context of achievement motivation.
Achievement Motivation
Murray (1938) defined achievement motivation as “a person’s efforts to master a
task, achieve excellence, overcome obstacles, perform better than others, and take pride
in exercising talent” (as cited in Gould & Weinberg, 2003, p.59). Reeve (2005) identified
three main foci in achievement motivation research: (a) socialization influences, (b)
cognitive influences, and (c) developmental influences. The early focus in achievement
motivation research was on the influence of socialization on achievement motivation to
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create an environment that would maximize achievement motivation, particularly in
children. The achievement motivation research also looked into the cognitive influences
and developmental influences on achievement motivation, and examined the individual
development of the need to achieve as shaped by experiences of successes and failures.
The bahala na attitude appears to be partly a fusion of socialization and cognitive
influences on achievement motivation with a cultural influence unique to Filipinos.
In addition to the traditional influences discussed by Reeves (2005), there was a
small body of literature that suggested culture-specific factors mediate achievement
motivation. Kitayama and Markus (1997) argued that the individual’s behavior, motives
and feelings are constructed relative meaning derived from the individual’s cultural
construction of self, as well as other core cultural ideas. Bahala na appears to be an
instance of the kind of distinctive motive or feeling state derived from core cultural ideas
which Markus and Kitayama (1997) described, and which they suggested should be the
focus of further research.
Achievement motivation of Filipinos. As discussed earlier, theorists using
Western psychological frameworks authored most of the psychology literature on
Filipinos until quite recently, including the achievement motivation literature. Filipino
Psychology theorists argued that the stereotypic image of the indolent Filipino
contaminated a lot of prior research in the area of achievement motivation. In a
personality study on Filipino culture, Church (1987) noted that motivational
characteristics of Filipinos were compared to Western measures, such as hours spent on a
task and productivity. These studies however, failed to account for the historical and
socio-cultural contexts of Filipinos. For instance, the impact that climate had on work
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hours in the Philippines had been overlooked. The afternoon snack time, merienda, a
customary practice among Filipinos, was characterized as an unnecessary meal that
diminishes productivity, although similar practices were commonplace in a wide variety
of European cultures.
In Church’s (1987) critique of the early depictions of the Filipino’s motivational
character, he highlighted the Filipino accommodative surface value of pakikisama
(companionship) as a cultural trait that influences achievement motivation. When
Filipinos exercise pakikisama, getting ahead is seen as harmful to group harmony and
achievement motivation is lessened. For example, a worker might choose to slow down
to avoid making a slower co-worker look bad. Conversely, achievement motivation is
increased by opportunity for collective gains, where an individual could share success
with relatives or co-workers.
Aside from pakikisama, the confrontative surface value explicated in the bahala
na attitude also impacts achievement motivation. A study conducted by Watkins (1982)
showed how the bahala na attitude serves as a causal attribution for Filipinos in academic
performance situations. Watkins found that unsuccessful students, both male and female,
tend not to attribute their poor performance to ability or effort, but to factors beyond their
control, such as luck and difficulty of task. He contended that the rural Filipino students’
explanation of their poor performance being beyond their control, served as an adaptive
way of coping with extreme adversity and provided them with achievement motivation.
Similarly, Quito (1996) found that external locus of control regarding perceived failure
actually enables Filipinos to persevere instead of becoming hopeless when there is very
little that is in their control. Furthermore, the causal attributions for academic
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performance in Watkins’ (1982) study were similar to the optimistic aspects of the bahala
na attitude exhibited by the subjects in Tuazon’s (2008) study who succeeded in
overcoming poverty.
Watkins’ (1982) and Quito’s (1996) findings demonstrated that bahala na is active
for Filipinos in performance situations, and that this attitude mediates the influence of
anxiety upon performance. It is possible that bahala na would likewise be active in
athletic situations, just as other anxiety-mediating, group-specific dynamics such as
stereotype threat appears to function similarly in academic and athletic situations.
The theory of stereotype threat was developed by Aronson and Steele (1995)
predicting that when an individual group member experiences anxiety over being
evaluated in a performance that could potentially confirm a negative stereotype about his
or her group, the threat would engage a priori self-handicapping response, particularly
with individuals with high achievement motivation. A study conducted by Stone (2002)
showed that the theory of stereotype threat applies in the athletic setting in that White
students used behavioral self-handicapping as a strategy to deal with the threat of
confirming the negative stereotype of poor White athleticism. In Stone’s (2002) study,
the engaged White students reduced practice effort compared to that of the engaged
Hispanic students when their performance in a golf task was linked to natural athletic
ability, to create ambiguity as to the cause of a potentially poor performance that could
confirm a negative stereotype about White athleticism.
In a similar way, the bahala na attitude might be viewed as behavioral self-
handicapping to mediate anxiety from socially evaluative situations. Thus these findings
support the contention that bahala na is a common response to stressful situations for
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Filipinos, and that the bahala na attitude might influence Filipinos’ behaviors across a
wide range of important areas of functioning: academic, social and occupational.
Achievement motivation in sport psychology literature. Since the beginning
of the field of sport psychology, motivation has been the focus of much of the research in
this field. Achievement motivation in sport performance became the core of the
motivation literature. Theories of achievement motivation were applied in the context of
sport competition as a way to enhance athletic performance (Balaguer, Cumming &
Duda, 2005; Duda & Treasure, 2006; Gould & Weinberg, 2003).
Due to the Western-centric focus of research on achievement motivation in the
sport domain, there appears to be a lack of cultural consideration for the non-Western
cultural influences that shape athletic performance. Gill and Kamphoff (2009) shared
this contention, in that they acknowledged the Western cultural influence in the field of
sport psychology and the need for a more multicultural framework for working with
clients of increasing diversity.
Culture-specific influence on achievement motivation in sport. Bhatt and
Higgins (2001) compared the causal attributions of undergraduate students from Canada
and India using a revised Attributional Style Questionnaire (Abramson, Baeyer,
Metalsky, Peterson, Seligman & Semmel, 1982). They found that both groups showed a
self-serving bias, that is, they attributed failure to external factors and success to personal
qualities and effort. Although both groups displayed a self-serving bias, culture-specific
differences were evident. The Indian sample attributed negative life events less to
internal and controllable factors compared to the Canadian sample. The study also found
that, although both cultural groups presented with a self-serving bias to explain negative
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events, the Indian sample used more external explanations that could be related to emic
factors (Bhatt & Higgins, 2001).
Bhatt and Higgins (2001) surmised that the cultural ideology Karma, a deeply
rooted Hindu belief in India that an individual’s life events is somewhat predetermined
by one’s actions in the past, contributed to the largely external explanation for negative
events evident in the Indian sample. The study provided further evidence that collectivist
cultures, such as the Indian culture used in the study and maybe others like the Filipino
culture, might have different biases with regard to causal attributions than individualist
cultures, because of the role that culture plays in how one views the self and others.
Additionally, the authors contended that individuals from collectivist cultures, wherein
the view of the self is more intertwined with that of others, were less likely to distinguish
between their own achievement and the success of the group. This means that
individuals from a collectivist culture are more likely to use external, culture-specific
causal attributions for their achievements and that their achievement motivation might be
perceived as both personal and interpersonal. The bahala na attitude might function
similarly as Karma, a culture-specific explanation for Filipino individuals’ responses to
negative events. Furthermore, the collectivist culture of Filipinos might shape how they
experience achievement, specifically in socially evaluative situations.
Social Influence on Sport Performance
It has been established in the achievement motivation literature that there are
cultural factors influencing the athlete’s motivation and sport performance. In order to
solidify an in-depth exploration of the Filipino athlete’s experience in the sporting
environment, it is logical to look into the influence of social factors on the athlete’s sport
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performance. The international sporting competition arena is comprised of both cultural
and social factors that present additional consideration for the competing athlete. The
literature on the impact of social influence on sport performance helps explain the
underlying factors in socially evaluative situations that could potentially influence
Filipinos in similar situations.
Babkes and Partridge (2004) reviewed the role of social influence on sport
performance in existing studies based on a primarily Western theoretical framework. The
authors found that athletes’ emotional responses in sport are affected by their perception
of significant others’ attitudes and behaviors. For instance, the athlete might perceive
parental pressure as stressful. This perception of stress could create negative emotional
responses, which could impact the athlete’s motivation. Conversely, the athlete might
perceive the coach’s positive feedback as inspiring, which could be a source of
enjoyment for the athlete. The social influence on emotion in sport has long been
considered valuable in achievement outcomes and was supported by research targeting
Western participants. However, the authors suggested that further research is necessary
to illuminate the complexities regarding how significant others impact the athlete’s
emotional response when cultural factors are considered.
Based on the findings of Babkes and Partridge (2004), the athlete’s emotions,
reactions and achievement outcomes are in part influenced by the athlete’s perception of
his or her social world. The authors also acknowledged that social factors could interact
with cultural factors and together influence the athlete’s emotional response. This
provided support on the contention to further examine the socio-cultural factors that
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underlie the athlete’s experience in the sport environment, which in the Filipino athlete’s
case would be the bahala na attitude.
The connection between expectation and performance has been one of the key
social factors influencing sports. Horn, Labrador and Lox (2006) looked into the
expectation-performance process as it relates to coaches and the ability of individual
athletes. According to Horn and colleagues (2006), the coach’s expectation of the
individual athletes could serve as a self-fulfilling prophecy, which is based on a theory
stipulating that expectations can determine the achievement of each athlete, making the
expectation into a reality. Expectations are believed to shape the coach’s behavior
according to what he or she perceives as the athlete’s potential, which could limit the
athlete’s level of achievement. At the same time, coach’s expectations influence the
athlete to conform to these expectations. The self-fulfilling prophecy is similar to the
bahala na attitude in that there is a strong social component in this Filipino attitude as
explicated by Roces and Roces (2006). Furthermore, expectations appears to determine
performance in bahala na, such as when a Filipino expects that risk-taking would yield
success even when failure is unavoidable.
Non-Western Attitudes in Sports
Peters and Williams (2009) stated the importance of socio-cultural factors in sport
particularly for non-Western athletes who adhere to indigenous practices or attitudes in
sport. More and more athletes all over the world compete globally, which translates to an
increasing diversity among athletes participating in the predominantly Western-centric
international sporting competitions. Despite the growing diversity in sport, very little
research has been done on non-Western attitudes in international sporting competitions.
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In a study conducted by Blodget and colleagues (2009) on the aboriginal athletes
in Canadian communities, the authors found that sensitivity must be exercised when
working with these athletes. The authors argued that many of the aboriginal athletes have
experienced oppression from the mainstream culture, which embodies the cultural values
exercised in sports today. Finally, the authors suggested that effective cross-cultural
exchanges come with the understanding of the relevant cultural practices that occur in the
sport performance of athletes from non-Western cultures (Blodget, Enosse, George, et al.,
2009).
Recent researchers have begun looking into unconventional attitudes in sports that
might be negatively perceived in the Western culture and yet have overlooked positive
qualities, such as in the case of self-handicapping in sports. The self-handicapping
attitude in sports is a Western construct that shares attributes with the bahala na attitude.
For instance, the similarity between effort withdrawal, which is similar to the fatalistic
manifestation of bahala na, and the concept of self-handicapping in sports can be further
examined.
Maddison and Prapavessis (2007) reviewed various studies on self-handicapping
in sports and defined it as a self-preserving act of avoiding threat by externalizing losses
through the use of excuses and internalizing success. The authors named two types of
self-handicapping: dispositional or what is more trait-like, and behavioral, which presents
as a response to certain situations. Behavioral self-handicapping is similar to effort
withdrawal in sports, in that an athlete withholds task involvement to deal with a
threatening situation. The bahala na attitude might be perceived in Western sport
psychology as similar to behavioral self-handicapping employed by athletes during
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performance as an excuse for not winning, although it is also similar to dispositional self-
handicapping in that it is considered an attitude employed by many Filipinos across
various contexts.
Bailis (2001) performed a field study on behavioral self-handicapping with
swimmers and found that there were costs and benefits to self-handicapping as a strategy.
The results of Bailis’ (2001) study showed that based on the Self-Handicapping Scale
(SHS), self-handicapping had low and inconsistent correlation with negative emotions.
The study, however, revealed some aspects of positive emotion related to the athlete’s
depth of involvement and lower anxiety associated with positive coping among self-
handicapping athletes. Additionally, Bailis (2001) reported that self-handicapping is
associated with racing speed advantage in swimmers during the first two months of the
study.
In observing university swimmers and wrestlers for over four months, there was
no reliable evidence of negative consequence to self-handicapping with regards the
athletes’ emotions and performance during competition. Instead, the findings showed
that self-handicapping serves a purpose of “escaping evaluative pressure, specifically by
arranging unfavourable conditions for performance in advance” (p. 220).
Although self-handicapping appears to be merely a way for athletes to explain
losses post-performance, Bailis (2001) found self-handicapping as a strategy used during
the performance. According to Bailis (2001), self-handicapping attitudes in competitive
sports catered to the need of university-level athletes to maintain esteem, public image
and motivation. Bailis (2001) further argued, “while self-handicapping is contrary to the
techniques that sport psychologists would recommend, it also reveals a threatening aspect
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of the performance situation – the potential loss of self-esteem or public image – for
which these techniques may have limited relevance in helping athletes” (p. 221). The
unforeseen benefits of self-handicapping in Bailis’ (2001) study provided support for an
in-depth exploration of the Filipino athlete’s experience of the bahala na attitude to reveal
similar hidden benefits for Filipinos who engage in this attitude.
Bailis (2001) was aware of the limited generalizability of his study due to the
small sample size of his participants. He speculated that using university-level athletes as
subjects might have weeded out ineffective self-handicappers who were not able to
progress and participate in a higher level of competition. Additionally, there might have
been a sampling bias, with the sample being over-representative of athletes that
effectively and adaptively utilize self-handicapping as a strategy in athletic performance.
Furthermore, Madisson and Prapavessis (2007) suggested the use of qualitative
approaches in studying self-handicapping due to methodological concerns about the Self-
Handicapping Scale’s (SHS) low reliability and the failure to account for cultural
differences in self-handicapping behaviors. Although the SHS is a common measure
used in quantitative studies on self-handicapping, the SHS is ineffective in explicating the
complex relationship between self-handicapping and performance. Madisson and
Prapevessis (2007) suggested the use of a qualitative approach that could look deeper into
the relationship between behavioral self-handicapping and performance as well as look at
various antecedent conditions and socio-cultural factors that lead to this phenomenon,
providing further support of qualitative methods in studying bahala na as a non-Western
attitude in sports.
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Filipino Athletes in International Sporting Competition
In order to solidify a multicultural framework for working with Filipino athletes
that takes into consideration the socio-cultural and historical context of Filipinos, it was
logical to examine the history of Filipinos in international competition as well as the
current status of Filipinos in the global sport scene. It was reasonable to infer that the
Philippines has been a nation invested in international sporting competition in that the
Philippines participated in various global sporting events despite the country’s limited
economic resources. The history of the Philippines in international sporting competition
provides contradictory evidence to the indolence of Filipinos, and instead, it manifests
that Filipinos exhibit high achievement motivation and passion for sport participation.
The Philippines has been participating in international athletic competition almost
as long as its neighboring countries. According to Gems (1999), the Americans in the
early 20th century used sports to teach Filipinos workforce skills such as teamwork, and
to promote American patriotism among the newly colonized people. Filipinos learned
American sports such as basketball, baseball and volleyball (Gems, 1999).
According to Dayrit (2003), the Philippines debuted in international competition
in 1913, when it became part of the Far Eastern Games (FE Games), a triangular athletic
meet with China and Japan. Dayrit (2003) described the Philippines reigning as “Asia’s
best for half a century from 1913 to 1965” (p. 119). Filipino athletes during this period
won four out of ten FE Games and lost the Asian championship only once. This early
success of the novice Filipino athletes was surprising. It could be inferred that for the
Philippines to succeed in the early years of competing internationally, there must be
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psychological skills that were contributing to the success of Filipinos despite their
inexperience.
In 1950, the Far Eastern Games became the quadrennial Asian Games, wherein
the Filipino athletes competed in athletics, basketball, swimming, and weightlifting.
Throughout the first 15 years of the Asian Games, the Filipinos dominated basketball and
won five gold medals. This success could be due to the experience and comfort Filipinos
have with the game of basketball, gained through the American influence. In 1977, the
Philippines joined the South East Asian (SEA) Games, a biennial tournament for
Southeast Asian countries (Dayrit, 2003).