Decolonial perspectives challenge the notion that standard knowledge in hegemonic psychology is productive of progress and enlightenment. They instead emphasise its association with the colonial violence that constitutes the darker underside of modern development. Our contribution to the special issue applies a decolonial perspective to theory and research on obligation to an elderly parent. Thinking from the standpoint of West African epistemic locations not only illuminates the culture-bound character of standard models but also reveals their foundations in modern individualist selfways. Although modern individualist selfways can liberate well-endowed people to pursue fulfilling relationships and avoid unsatisfying connections with burdensome obligations, these ways of being pose risks of abandonment for people—like many elders—whose requirements for care might constitute a constraint on others’ satisfaction. In contrast, the cultural ecologies of embedded interdependence that inform everyday life in many West African settings afford selfways that emphasise careful maintenance of existing connections. Although these selfways may place constraints on the self-expansive pursuit of satisfying relationships, they provide elders and other vulnerable people with some assurance of support.

非殖民主义观点挑战了霸权心理学中的标准知识可以产生进步和启发的观念。他们反而强调了它与构成现代发展的黑暗面的殖民暴力的联系。我们对这个特殊问题的贡献将殖民主义的观点应用到了对年迈父母的义务的理论和研究上。从西非认识论位置的角度思考，不仅阐明了标准模型的文化约束特征，而且揭示了它们在现代个人主义自我道路中的基础。尽管现代个人主义的自私方式可以解放富裕的人们，以追求充实的关系，并避免因负担繁重的义务而导致的不满意的联系，这些照料方式会给人们（如许多长者）带来被遗弃的风险，这些人的照料要求可能会限制其他人的满意度。相反，在许多西非地区，日常生活相互依赖的嵌入式相互依存的文化生态学提供了强调谨慎维护现有联系的方式。尽管这些方式可能会限制自我扩展追求令人满意的关系，但它们为长者和其他弱势群体提供了一定的支持保证。