A SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF AFRICA’S DEVELOPMENT IMPASSE: INSIGHTS FROM A NIGERIAN SURVEY BY

Various theories and strategies have attempted to explain and overcome Africa’s developmental impasse to no avail. Indeed, from the modernization through the dependency debates the question of why Africa remains underdeveloped continues to attract attention-so much that there is now a shift towards alternative paradigms in the literature on African development and underdevelopment. How exactly do Africans conceive of development? Are there any psychological predispositions that can facilitate our understanding of Africa’s developmental impasse; particularly in the context of the modern state system? In essence, is post colonial Africa characterized by an African personality with regards to African development or underdevelopment? This paper is an unconventional analysis of Africa’s developmental impasse. Through an inductive method and from data gathered in Nigeria, the paper establishes a link between the psychological predispositions of Africans and the continued state of underdevelopment on the continent.