Take these two definitions of psychology offered in textbooks. One book was published in the US and the other in South Africa. Looking only at definitions does not give a full picture of the issue, but my intention is to show, rather than tell, why there is a need to situate Africa at the centre of global psychology, why Africa has to be consciously unstated in African psychology, and how best to articulate African psychology. In addition, I think that this exercise enables us to see what African-centred psychology is and what it is not.

In his general introductory US textbook, Psychology, John W. Santrock gives this definition: ‘psychology is the scientific study of behaviour and mental process’ (2000: 5). This definition assumes that psychology, taken as a science like physics, is the same everywhere. But psychology is not like physics. Psychology is a social science. Psychology centres the experiences of individuals and groups in the US. I have no objection to this. But let Santrock's book on a US-centric psychology, like many other US textbooks, not be projected as universal psychology. The US is the invisible term in front of Psychology.

In Introduction to Psychology, which he also edited, Lionel Nicholas (2003a) wrote the first chapter. In the chapter he states: ‘While the many definitions of psychology may have varying emphases, all agree that psychology is the scientific study of behaviour’ (2003a: 2). This edited textbook, published in South Africa and composed of sixteen chapters, covers the usual major topics of psychology written by authors based in South African institutions: developmental psychology, perception, learning, personality, intelligence, health psychology, and so on (Nicholas 2003b). Nicholas's definition also presupposes that psychology, as the scientific investigation of behaviour, is the same whether you are in South Africa or the American South.

A very interesting feature of the two definitions is their similarity. Santrock and Nicholas are partly in agreement about what psychology studies (behaviour and mental processes) and how it studies its object (scientifically). I wonder, though, if there are any differences between some behaviours and mental processes among South Africans and among US Americans? If there are no differences, of course we do not need Africancentred psychology. Euroamerican-centred psychology is all we need.