Self-Image and Psychological Implications of Aso-ebi in Contemporary Yoruba Socio-Cultural Settings
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Date
2020-03
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International Review of Humanities and Scientific Research
Abstract
The Yoruba people of the South Westerns Nigeria both at home and in diaspora are endowed with rich
cultural indices of which “Aso-Ebi” (Family Solidarity Uniform) is part. Aso-Ebi, a tradition of wearing
specific fabrics specially chosen and uniquely worn for important celebrations, is rooted into age-long
Yoruba cultural history and has gained tremendous acceptance and popularity in many contemporary
Yoruba and none Yoruba people. In this study, we used historiology, oral interview, participant
observation, and archival materials to further dig into the why the phenomenon is expanding. For these,
varying degrees of ‘Aso-Ebi’ are worn to express several socio-economic and cultural idiosyncrasies. It is
in the light of this that this paper assessed the integrative roles of the special spectacle provided by AsoEbi and reviewed the psychological implications of being dressed in Aso-Ebi in social cultural
ceremonies. We submitted that Aso-Ebi promotes unity, friendship and togetherness; bestows collective
identity and respectability on wearers; influences the self-image as well as the overt and covert behavior
of the wearers; and offers significant psycho-social and cultural functions at both the individual and
societal levels. Authors recommended the promotion of the phenomenon by Nigerian government and
stakeholders, as well as further studies on the influence of Nigerian costumes on behavior
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Keywords
Aso-Ebi, Self-image, Yoruba, Socio-cultural setting