Embracing Well-Being in Diverse African Contexts: Research Perspectives

432 Pages·2022·6.302 MB·English

by  Lusilda Schutte

Cross-Cultural Advancements in Positive Psychology 16
Series Editor: Antonella Delle Fave
Lusilda Schutte
Tharina Guse
Marié P. Wissing   Editors
Embracing
Well-Being in
Diverse African
Contexts: Research
Perspectives
Cross-Cultural Advancements in Positive
Psychology
Volume 16
SeriesEditor
AntonellaDelleFave ,UniversityofMilano,Milano,Italy
TheaimoftheCrossCulturalAdvancementsinPositivePsychologybookseriesis
tospreadauniversalandculture-fairperspectiveongoodlifepromotion.Theseries
will advance adeeper understandingofthe cross-cultural differences inwell-being
conceptualization. Adeeper understanding can affect psychological theories, inter-
ventionsandsocialpoliciesinvariousdomains,fromhealthtoeducation,fromwork
to leisure. Books in the series will investigate such issues as enhanced mobility of
people across nations, ethnic conflicts and the challenges faced by traditional
communities due to the pervasive spreading of modernization trends. New instru-
mentsandmodelswillbeproposedtoidentifythecrucialcomponentsofwell-being
in the process of acculturation. This series will also explore dimensions and com-
ponents of happiness that are currently overlooked because happiness research is
grounded in the Western tradition, and these dimensions do not belong to the
Westernculturalframeofmindandvalues.
Moreinformationaboutthisseriesathttps://link.springer.com/bookseries/8420
(cid:129) (cid:129)
Lusilda Schutte Tharina Guse Marié P. Wissing
Editors
Embracing Well-Being
in Diverse African Contexts:
Research Perspectives
Editors
LusildaSchutte TharinaGuse
AfricaUnitforTransdisciplinaryHealth DepartmentofPsychology
Research,FacultyofHealthSciences UniversityofPretoria
North-WestUniversity Pretoria,SouthAfrica
Potchefstroom,SouthAfrica
MariéP.Wissing
AfricaUnitforTransdisciplinaryHealth
Research
North-WestUniversity
Potchefstroom,SouthAfrica
ISSN2210-5417 ISSN2210-5425 (electronic)
Cross-CulturalAdvancementsinPositivePsychology
ISBN978-3-030-85923-7 ISBN978-3-030-85924-4 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85924-4
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Preface
When starting with this book project, we asked ourselves what the significance,
contribution,andlegacyofthevolumeshouldbe.Apossibleresponsecouldlinkto
thevolume’stheme:“EmbracingWell-beinginDiverseContexts”.TheCambridge
English Dictionary (2021) defines embracing as “accepting something with great
interest or enthusiasm”; diverse as “including many different types of people or
things”;andcontextas“thesituationwithinwhichsomethingexistsorhappens,and
thatcanhelpexplainit”.Well-beingcanbeconsideredtorelatetothefeelinggood
andfunctioningwellofindividuals,groups,communities,andsocieties(e.g.Keyes,
2007;Keyes&Annas,2009;Marujo&Neto,2014).Addingthistogether,embrac-
ing well-being in diverse contexts may thus refer to understanding and promoting,
with enthusiasm and great interest, the well-functioning of individuals, groups,
communities, and societies, where the differences and variety of cultures and
circumstances in which peoples’ functioning is embedded are acknowledged and
respected.Inthiscase,thefocusisspecificallyonworkdoneinAfrica.
Internationally,muchoftheworkonwell-beinginthefieldofpositivepsychol-
ogyhasbeendoneusingsamplesfromWestern,Educated,Industrialised,Rich,and
Democratic(WEIRD) countries (Henrich, Heine, &Norenzayan,2010), especially
in the early years of the field’s development (Rao & Donaldson, 2015; Hendriks
etal.,2019).Echoingthis,MøllerandRoberts(2017)observedthatfirststudieson
well-being in sub-Saharan Africa were done by non-Africans who uncritically
appliedtheirviewpointsandassessmentinstruments,developedelsewhere,toAfri-
can samples. This is not unique to well-being research and practice, as much of
psychology is built on research conducted in WEIRD countries (Henrich et al.,
2010).Inreaction,currentdebatesonanddiscussionsaboutthedevelopmentofan
African-centred psychology in terms of research, training, and practice are very
prominent (e.g. Nobles, 2013, 2015; Nwoye, 2006, 2013, 2015; Mkhize, 2020).
Againstthisbackdrop,thesignificance,contribution,andlegacyofthevolumerest
on two levels: (1) to present and promote context-sensitive and context-relevant
discussionsandempiricalresearchonwell-beinginAfricawhichshouldultimately
v
vi Preface
impact well-being promotion locally and (2) to contribute diversity to global dis-
coursesonwell-being.
In an attempt to achieve this, this volume presents 17 chapters that are divided
intofoursections.Thesewillnowbebrieflyintroduced.
Part I foregrounds theoretical perspectives on well-being in Africa. In Chap. 1,
MariéWissing,LusildaSchutte,andChristelleLiversageprovideanoverviewofthe
development of positive psychology as a science over time and argue that a third
wave of positive psychology is emerging, which is based on the assumption of a
strongrelationalontology,andthatemphasisescontextualembeddedness,intercon-
nectedness,andpost-disciplinarity.Theyillustratehowthesetenetsechotraditional
Africanwisdomthatacceptsinterconnectednessasawayofbeingandsuggestthat
one way to deepen our understanding of well-being is to harmonise Western and
African perspectives, with harmony and related facets being core to the
conceptualisation of well-being. They propose that, while positive psychology is
bynameboundtothedisciplineofpsychology,thethirdwaveofpositivepsychol-
ogysignifiestheemergenceofanewtransdisciplinaryscientificfieldofwell-being
studies,whichiscomparedto“abutterflyleavingitscocoon”.
Angelina Wilson Fadiji, Itumeleng P. Khumalo, and Ncamisile Thumile Zulu
propose in Chap. 2 an Africa(n)-centred positive psychology. After arguing that
cross-culturalpsychologyisinadequatetoexplorewell-beingincontext,theybuild
on the assumptions of critical, cultural, and African psychology to describe an
African-centredpositivepsychologythatiscritical,drivenbytheory,andsupported
byempiricalevidenceandthattakessocialandpoliticalcontextintoconsideration.
Concluding Part I, Elias Mpofu and Elias Machina propose in Chap. 3 that
African culture followers’ social affiliation and cultural orientation (ranging from
traditionalist to transitional to modern) may effect their health norms and health
practices. They point to the need for research that investigates health norms and
practicesacrossthedifferentculturalorientations,andpathwaystotheimplementa-
tion of health activities and actions within and between the orientations. In this
regard, they propose a research framework which could inform best practices and
publichealthpolicy.
Part II comprises three chapters on the measurement of well-being in African
samples.InChap.4,RichardAppiah,MariéP.Wissing,AngelinaWilsonFadiji,and
LusildaSchutteinvestigatethefactorialvalidityoftheTwitranslationoftheMental
HealthContinuum–ShortForminasampleofruralGhanaianadults,aswellasthe
prevalenceofpositivementalhealthinthissample.Abifactorexploratorystructural
equationmodellingmodeldisplayedbestfit,andsupportwasprovidedforuseofthe
total scale score but not the subscale scores. A concerning high percentage of
participantswerelanguishingorreportedmoderatelevelsofpositivementalhealth,
indicatingtheneedforcontext-relevantandappropriateinterventions.
SahayaG.Selvam,JoyceWanjiruKiige,andJeketuleSokoargueinChap.5that
hospitalityisaneglectedcharacterstrength,whichisparticularlysalientinAfrica.In
three studies, they investigate Kenyan participants’ experiences and perceptions of
hospitality,theypresentfindingsonthedevelopmentandpsychometricpropertiesof
theTangazaHospitalityScale,andtheyexaminethecorrelationsbetweenhospitality
Preface vii
andextraversionandwell-being-relatedvariables.Theyconcludethathospitalityis
animportanttopicforfuturewell-beingresearch,alsoinAfrica.
Recognising the importance of relationships and relatedness in the African
context, Amanda Cromhout, Lusilda Schutte, and Marié P. Wissing report on the
factorstructureofthePeerandCommunityRelationalHealthIndicesinEnglish-and
Setswana-speaking South African adult samples in Chap. 6. Applying bifactor
exploratorystructuralequationmodelling,theyfound(afterremovalofsomeprob-
lematic items) preliminary support for the use of total scale scores, but not all
subscalescores.Theystressthenecessityoftakingcognisanceofcontextandculture
whenmeasuringrelationalwell-beingandsuggestthatanemicapproachshouldbe
applied in future research to develop culturally appropriate measures of relational
well-being.
Inninechapters,PartIIIpresentsfindingsonthemanifestationsanddynamicsof
well-being among adolescents and emerging adults, students, and adults in Africa.
First,inChap.7,LindaTheronandMichaelUngarpresentasinglecasestudyfrom
South Africa to gain insights into how emerging adults who are unemployed and
havenoeducationortrainingaccountfortheirresiliencedespitethesocio-ecological
stressorstheyface.Theyfindthattheresilienceprocessisinformedbybothpersonal
and ecological resources. In the case under study, personal resources and self-
reliance wereforegrounded, probablyinresponsetotheecological constrictions in
the emerging adult’s context. This highlights a pressing need for more attention to
thesocio-ecologicalenvironmentsofemergingadults.
Charles Magoba Muwonge, Annet Kembabazi, Gladys Nakalema, Margaret
Ekatushabe, Diana Kwarikunda, Henry Kibedi, and Joseph Ssenyonga focus on
thepsychologicalwell-beingofyoungpeopleinUgandalivingwithHIVinChap.8.
Theyfirstlyexaminetheassociationsbetweenpsychologicalwell-beinganddemo-
graphic variables in their sample, and secondly to what extent the association
between social support and psychological well-being is mediated by self-esteem.
Theirfindingsshowthatstrengtheningthesocialsupportnetworksofyoungpeople
living with HIV in Uganda (and wider) can improve their self-esteem and psycho-
logicalwell-being.
HajaraBaba,JoanaSalifuYendork,andSamuelAtindanbilaexploreinChap.9
protectiveresourcesthatmarriedgirlsintheNorthernregionofGhanausetobuffer
against the negative impact of child marriage and that can facilitate positive out-
comes. From qualitative interview data, they find that intrinsic resources, such as
resilienceattitudes,help-seekingandactivecopingstrategies,andavoidancecoping,
aswellasextrinsicresourcessuchasinterpersonalsupportnetworks,wereusedby
participants. However, participants reported lack of access to community support
systemsandnon-governmentalorganisations.Asocialjusticeapproachwhenwork-
ingwiththesegirlsandincreasingaccesstoexternalsupportsystemsareprovidedas
recommendations.
Introducing a series of chapters focusing on student well-being, Irma Eloff,
Sumari O’Neil, and Herbert Kanengoni explore the factors that students from a
largeSouthAfricanresidentialuniversityidentifyascontributingtotheirwell-being
inChap.10.Thelearningenvironment(physicalenvironmentandfacilitiesonand
viii Preface
aroundcampus)andsupportstructures(e.g.peers,family,lecturers andtutors,and
medicalfacilitiesoncampus)emergedasmainthemes.Securityandsafetyemerged
as a particularly important contextual factor from students’ responses. Findings
emphasise the responsibility that lies with higher education institutions to support
thewell-beingoftheirstudents.
Next, in Chap. 11, Itumeleng P. Khumalo, Werner de Klerk, and Angelina
Wilson explore the nature and role of meaning and hope in the goal setting of
participants from a university of technology in South Africa. Two latent hope-
meaning classes were identified: the majority of participants were assigned to the
high hope, high meaning class and a small proportion to the low hope, search for
meaning class. Goal themes included tertiary education, employment and career,
mobility,secureaccommodation,andsupportforfamily.Thefirsttwogoalthemes
were driven by students’ need for a better financial future and to support their
families. Perceived obstacles to reach the goals included lack of resources, poor
self-regulation, employment problems, fear of failure, and health problems. No
distinction was detected between the content of goals and meaning for the two
hope-meaninglatentclasses.Theauthorssuggestthatuniversitiesshouldnotfocus
onlyondevelopingacademicskillsbutalsoonprovidingsocialandmaterialsupport
asfaraspossible.
Inanotherstudyamonguniversitystudents,thistimefromAngola,Rutnilsonda
Silva,AnaMariaRocha,andDilsonFranciscoinvestigatetherelationshipsbetween
virtues and character strengths, subjective well-being, and academic achievement
(Chap. 12). Psychological well-being displayed higher levels of correlation with
character strengths than emotional and social well-being. Love oflearning was the
onlycharacterstrengththatexhibitedasignificantpositivecorrelationwithacademic
achievement.
The final study among university students focuses on medical students from a
Nigerian university, where Ephraim Chima Maduakor, JohnBosco Chika
Chukwuorji,PeaceN.Amanambu,andChukaMikeIfeagwaziexaminetheassoci-
ationsbetweenattachmentandpsychologicalwell-being,andwhetherself-efficacy
mediated such relationships (Chap. 13). Their findings show that attachment style
was associated with psychological well-being and that self-efficacy, which was
negativelycorrelatedwithattachmentavoidance,mediatedthenegativeassociation
betweenattachmentavoidanceandpsychologicalwell-being.Theauthorsconclude
thatinterventionsareneededtopromotestudents’self-efficacy.
In Chap. 14, Lusilda Schutte, Marié P. Wissing, Angelina Wilson Fadiji, Sonia
Mbowa, Placidia Shoko, and Willem D. Schutte explore harmony as a quality of
happinessinadultsamplesfromSouthAfricaandGhana.EchoingAfricanandother
philosophicaltraditions,resultsrevealedthatharmonyasaqualityofhappinesswas
experienced within and across levels of functioning (intrapersonal, interpersonal,
transcendental, universal) and expressed as an intricate sense of wholeness, inter-
connectedness, and synergy. The authors conclude that harmony as a quality of
happiness should be understood and promoted using context-sensitive, holistic,
interdisciplinaryapproaches.
Preface ix
InthefinalchapterofPartIII,Chap.15,ChristelleLiversage,MariéWissing,and
Lusilda Schutte evaluate the self-concordance model with reference to the wider
interpersonalrelationshiplifedomaininamulticulturalSouthAfricanadultsample.
Specifically,theyinvestigatewhetheralignmentbetweenpeople’sgoalsandmean-
ingwithreferencetowiderinterpersonalrelationshipsisassociatedwithhigherwell-
beinglevels.Theself-concordancemodelwasnotsupportedinthisstudy,pointing
tothe need for furtherexploration ofthe self-concordance model with referenceto
widerinterpersonalrelationships.
The last section of this volume, Part IV, considers well-being promotion inter-
ventions in Africa in two chapters. In Chap. 16, Tharina Guse presents a scoping
reviewofpositivepsychologicalinterventionsinAfricancontexts.Whileshefinds
that the most studies were done on a group level among South African adults,
intervention evaluation studies also started emerging in other African countries.
Most previous studies employed quantitative research designs. She highlights a
gap in intervention research on children, adolescents, older adults, and clinical
populationsandrecommendsthatfutureresearchshouldfocusonadaptingpositive
psychologicalinterventionstofittheculturalcontextwhereitwillbeapplied.
Finally, Izanette van Schalkwyk provides an overview of experiences and out-
comes of a multidisciplinary well-being promotion programme in Chap. 17, based
on positive psychology, which has been implemented in a high-risk South African
community over the course of ten years. While the adverse effects of poverty and
otherstructuralproblemsremainapparent,theneedforcontext-relevantwell-being
promotionactivitiesisstressed.
Insum,importantthemesemergeinthisvolume.First,thecontextualandcultural
embeddedness of well-being is clear, and the need for building context-relevant,
African-centred well-being science and evidence-based practices is highlighted.
Linking to this, and as a second theme here, several contributions highlight the
importance of social and ecological structures to the well-being of particularly
vulnerable population groups. This implies that well-being promotion should not
only beapsychologicalendeavourfocusedontheindividual,butalso asocial and
political one, impelling social systems, institutions, and governments to recognise
their role and responsibility in well-being promotion. Third, the centrality of relat-
ednessandinterconnectednessinAfricanconceptions,expressions,andexperiences
ofwell-being isevident,suggesting that well-being researchand practice inAfrica
(and beyond) should take a holistic approach and involve multi-, inter-, and trans-
disciplinary team efforts. Overall, this volume not only contributes to a discussion
andgrowingbodyofevidenceonwell-beingscienceandpracticeinAfrica,butalso
contributes to global discourses and debates, where it calls for recognition and
appreciationofandsensitivitytodiversityandnuance.
Potchefstroom,SouthAfrica L.Schutte
Pretoria,SouthAfrica T.Guse
Potchefstroom,SouthAfrica M.P.Wissing