“Essentially, the psychology of Rastafari is an Afro-Caribbean way of feeling, perceiving, defining, affirming and fighting for human dignity and hope in the African diaspora....[it] involves expressions of self-confidence, affirmation of one's blackness and personhood, a rejection of Eurocentric understandings of black people and their cultures, and a longing for liberation and ultimate redemption for black peoples of the world (especially the oppressed). Blacks exuding this psychology are characterized by a strong sense of purpose, pride in their African heritage, racial solidarity, racial sovereignty and self reliance. Rasta psychology is, therefore, resistance and liberation psychology - the sum total of the organized and spontaneous campaign against racist subjection, fired by the burning desire to be free from all forms of social, economic and political domination.”

Hutton, C and Murrel N (1998. Rastas' Psychology, Resistance and Somebodiness in Spencer et al (edited) Chanting Down Babylon: The Rastafari Reader. Philedelphia: Temple University Press.