Abstract
This contribution to the collection of articles on “African Cultural Models” considers the topic of well-being. Reflecting modern individualist selfways of North American and European worlds, normative conceptions of well-being in hegemonic psychological science tend to valorize self-acceptance, personal growth, and autonomy. In contrast, given the embedded interdependence of everyday life in many West African worlds, one can hypothesize that cultural models of well-being in many Ghanaian settings will place greater emphasis on sustainability-oriented themes of material sufficiency and successful navigation of normative obligations. To explore this hypothesis, we interviewed local cultural experts who function as custodians of religion and an important source of support for well-being in many Ghanaian settings. We asked participants to identify and explain models of well-being implicit in four Ghanaian languages (Akan, Dagbani, Ewe, and Ga). Participants were 19 men and 15 women (age range 32–92 years; Mean = 59.83; SD: 14.01). Results reveal some features of local models, including good health and positive affective states, that appear to resonate with standard understandings of well-being in hegemonic psychological science. However, results also provide evidence for other features of local models – specifically, good living (including moral living, material success, and proper relationality) and peace of mind – associated with a sustainability or maintenance orientation to well-being.
Highlights
Well-being is a quintessentially psychological topic, evident in enduring concerns with adjustment and optimal functioning
Researchers have proposed that standard conceptions and measures of well-being in hegemonic psychological science have their foundation in modern individualistic constructions of person and society associated with settings that are WEIRD – that is, Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic
Results suggest that well-being in these languages involves good living, good health, positive affective states, and peace of mind
Summary
Well-being is a quintessentially psychological topic, evident in enduring concerns with adjustment and optimal functioning. Religion is an important source of cultural knowledge about appropriate aspirations, values, and ways of being for living a good life (Tsai, 2007; Joshanloo, 2019) This is perhaps especially true in West African settings like Ghana, where religion tends to permeate everyday life (Heaton et al, 2009), and over 95 percent of the population practice at least one of the three dominant religious traditions: Christianity, Islam, and African Traditional Religion (Ghana Statistical Service, 2012). Theory and research suggest the hypothesis (H2) that local conceptions of well-being implicit in the Ghanaian languages will emphasize themes – namely, social responsibility, fulfillment of interpersonal obligations, and a normative-contextual focus on material conditions rather than subjective judgments of emotional states (Suh and Oishi, 2002; Riemer et al, 2014) – associated with sustainability-oriented conceptions of well-being in cultural ecologies of embeddedness and interdependence. Research on somatization of affect and the prominence of body referents in Ghanaian-language emotion terms (Ameka, 2002; Dzokoto and Okazaki, 2006; Dzokoto, 2010; Dzokoto et al, 2016; Agyekum, 2019), as well as a normativecontextual focus on material conditions rather than emotional c c states, suggests the hypothesis (H4) that local language terms will emphasize physical health manifestations of well-being
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