Osei-Tutu, A., Adams, G., Dzokoto, V. A., Affram, A. A., Kenin, A., Vural, N., & Omar, S. M. (2022).
Conception and experience of well-being in two Ghanaian samples: Implications for Positive
Psychology. International Journal of Wellbeing, 12(4), 51-64. https://doi.org/10.5502/ijw.v12i4.2123
Annabella Osei-Tutu
University of Ghana, Legon, Accra
aopare-henaku@ug.edu.gh
Copyright belongs to the author(s)
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ARTICLE
Conception and experience of well-being in two
Ghanaian samples: Implications for Positive Psychology
Annabella Osei-Tutu · Glenn Adams · Vivian A. Dzokoto · Adjeiwa A. Affram
Abraham Kenin · Nilay Vural · Syed M. Omar
Abstract: We conducted two studies to explore Ghanaian understandings of well-being
through a situation sampling method in which participants described situations that increased
and decreased their well-being. Participants in Study 1 were 80 community members (Mean
Age = 41.962; SD=13.900; 40 women, 40 men) who responded in the context of interviews
through the medium of local languages. Coding analyses revealed that these situation
descriptions emphasized sustainability-oriented themes of materiality (tangible support,
economic hardship) and peace of mind (presence or absence of worry or strife) with greater
frequency than growth-oriented themes of psychologization (growth, meaning, achievement)
and affect (happiness, sadness). Participants in Study 2 were 125 students (Mean Age = 21.592;
SD=2.759; 68 women, 57 men) at three universities in Ghana who responded via questionnaire
in the medium of English. In contrast to the community sample, coding analyses revealed that
the students’ situations emphasized growth-oriented themes of affect and psychologization with
greater frequency than sustainability-oriented themes of materiality and peace of mind. We
interpret these results within a theoretical framework that emphasizes the cultural-
psychological foundations of well-being, and we consider implications for hegemonic
perspectives of positive psychology.
Keywords: Well-being, peace of mind, materiality, sustainability, collective well-being
1. Introduction
Wellbeing has been a focus of study in the social sciences for decades (Diener & Tay, 2015; Suh
& Choi, 2018). It has become increasingly important in recent years for its role as an economic
indicator (Diener & Seligman, 2004; Schyns, 1998; Sirgy, 2021). Critics (e.g., Krys et al., 2020) have
argued that standard conceptions and measures of well-being—which tend to valorize self-
acceptance, personal growth, and happiness—have their foundation in modern individualist
lifeways of the Western, educated, industrial, rich, and (purportedly) democratic (in a word,
WEIRD; Henrich et al., 2010) settings that disproportionately inform hegemonic forms of
psychological science. Such conceptions and measures can be problematic if researchers impose
them as a context-general standard and interpret variation in ways that misrepresent or
pathologize experience of well-being outside WEIRD settings (see Teo, 2010 on epistemological
violence). For example, researchers have suggested that the imposition of an individualism-biased
measure of life satisfaction—rather than something pathological about East Asian ways of being
(e.g., pressure for academic success)—may explain why students in East Asian countries scored
the lowest in life satisfaction in the most recent wave of the Programme for International Student
Assessment survey (Rappleye et al., 2020). More generally, such individualism-biased
about:blank
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conceptions of well-being can cause harm if they orient people toward personal growth and high-
arousal happiness at the expense of broader solidarities and ways of (well-)being oriented
toward sustainable existence (Osei-Tutu et al., 2021).
As one alternative, researchers in Japanese settings have developed a conceptual model and
corresponding measure of interdependent happiness oriented toward the experience of
embeddedness and interdependence (Hitokoto & Uchida, 2015). Such settings, which afford an
experience of self as inextricably linked with others (Markus & Kitayama, 2010), foster
understandings of happiness that center on qualities such as interpersonal harmony, low
psychological arousal (quiescence), and ordinariness (Hitokoto & Uchida, 2018). Consistent with
the argument about variations in conceptions of well-being, a recent investigation of happiness
across 63-countries observed that a standard measure of independent happiness (Lyubomirsky
& Lepper, 1999) performed better—that is, was more reliable and showed stronger relationships
with hypothesized correlates—in WEIRDer settings, but the measure of interdependent
happiness (Hitokoto & Uchida, 2015) performed better in East Asian countries (Gardiner et al.,
2020). At the same time, the researchers observed that measures of both independent and
interdependent happiness were least reliable in the African and Southwest Asian countries in the
sample. This observation suggests that these two measures might not provide a globally
comprehensive operationalization of happiness or well-being.
With specific reference to the West African settings that inform the current work, researchers
have placed a similar emphasis on affordances for embeddedness and interdependence in
experience of self and well-being (e.g., Adams & Dzokoto, 2003; Adjei, 2019). However, rather
than values of harmony, this work understands the core of interdependent self as an experience
of fundamental embeddedness—for better or worse—in networks of ontologically prior
relationship that come with corresponding duties and obligations for material support (see
Adams & Plaut, 2003; Adams, 2005).
What implications do these constructions of the self have for the experience of well-being?
Initial evidence comes from a study of cultural models of well-being implicit in four Ghanaian
languages (Osei-Tutu et al., 2021). Members of our research team conducted interviews with 34
leaders from three religious groups. Responses indicated some features of local models,
including good health and positive affective states, that resemble the standard conception of
well-being in mainstream psychological science. At the same time, they provided evidence for
what we refer to as a sustainability orientation to well-being. In contrast to the mainstream
emphasis on personal psychological growth, this orientation emphasizes material sustenance,
acute sensitivity to interpersonal embeddedness, and corresponding attention to social
obligations (Coe, 2011; Esiaka & Adams, 2020; Wilson Fadiji et al., 2021). In contrast to an
emphasis on high-arousal happiness, this orientation emphasizes the low-arousal positive affect
that people refer to in English as “peace of mind” (Tsai, 2007). The literal translations of these
words refer to a sensation of coolness—associated with body, heart, and especially ears—that
suggests an experience of relief that one has met social expectations.
1.1 The present work
To grow our understanding of well-being in Ghanaian settings, we adopted a novel
methodological approach in the current study. Rather than ask local cultural experts about words
for well-being or analyzing responses to Likert scale items, we assessed understandings of well-
being indirectly by asking ordinary people—community members who responded to interview
questions in local Ghanaian languages (Study 1) and students at three universities in Ghana who
responded to a questionnaire in English—to generate situations that increase or decrease well-
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being. Our original purpose was to sample these situations to use as stimuli in a subsequent
study (e.g., situation sampling technique; see Kitayama et al., 19997). For the present article, we
analyzed responses to assess the relative importance (gauged by frequency) of sustainability-
oriented themes, versus the mainstream standard emphasis on growth- and promotion-oriented
themes, as a function of valence (increase/decrease) and sample.
1.2 Hypotheses
The primary hypothesis (H1) concerns the distribution of themes within participants.
Specifically, it suggests that the sustainability-oriented themes we observed in research on
Ghanaian cultural models would emerge more prominently in situation descriptions than would
the promotion-oriented themes that inform standard conceptions of well-being in mainstream
psychological science. A second hypothesis (H2) concerns the distribution of themes across
samples. Given the association of university settings with modern individualist lifeways that
afford an emphasis on personal growth and high arousal happiness (e.g., Adams, et al., 2018),
this hypothesis suggests that the pattern associated with H1 would be less evident among the
student sample than the community sample. A final interest, more of a research question than a
hypothesis, concerns distribution of themes as a function of situation valence. That is, we
considered whether the distribution of sustainability themes versus growth themes would be
different for situations describing decrease than increase in well-being.
2. Study 1: Community sample
2.1 Participants
Participants were 40 men and 40 women, aged between 22 and 75 years (M= 41.962; SD=13.900),
with a mix of education levels: no formal education (n = 3), basic (n=35), secondary (n=16), and
tertiary/college (n=12), plus 10 participants who did not indicate education level. The majority of
the participants were married (n=45); 25 were single; 2 were cohabiting, 3 were divorced; and 5
were widowed. There were equal numbers of participants (i.e., 10 men and 10 women) in each
of the ethno-linguistic regions.
2.2 Procedure
One of the authors (AO-T) supervised interviews between August 2019 and February 2020 in
four regions of Ghana—Ashanti, Greater Accra, Northern and Volta—using respective local
languages of Akan, Ga, Dagbani, and Ewe. In each region, the researcher identified a native local
language speaker who could assist with recruitment and conduct interviews in the local
language. We approached prospective participants in their homes or public spaces (shops, bus
stations) and invited them to take part in a study on well-being. Those who agreed to participate
provided verbal consent. A research assistant conducted individual interviews using a guide
developed by the research team. Using local language well-being terms, we asked participants
to explain their personal understanding of well-being, to describe two situations in which their
well-being increased, and two situations in which their well-being decreased.
2.3 Coding
Research assistants transcribed interviews into English. We reviewed transcripts and developed
a coding frame that included main themes (e.g., material, relational, peace of mind, affect), definitions
of each theme, and examples (Table 1). Next, one of us (AO-T) trained two undergraduate
students (one of Ghanaian ancestry, the other European American) to apply the coding frame to
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the situations. The coders worked independently to indicate presence (1) or absence (0) of a code,
using multiple codes if necessary. Inter-coder agreement was fair to very good (κ = .250-1.000).
All kappa values were significantly different from zero at the level of p < .001, except for the
theme peace of mind in situations of well-being decrease (κ =.250, p=.024). We resolved
disagreements via collective discussion.
Table 1. Themes, definitions, and sample well-being situations.
Theme Definition Community sample: Study 1 Student sample: Study 2
Material
(-)
Poor material condition
including unemployment, low
or reduced income, finances,
food supply, and other material
resources limitations.
Just this year I am not able to
cultivate the number of acres of
maize as I usually cultivate every
year because I don’t have enough
money (T14)
My well-being decreased once when I
used all my money to buy something I
really needed which meant the rest of
the month I didn't really have money
to rely on for my upkeep which
resulted in me borrowing a lot of
money from people. (#122)
(+) Materiality/good material
condition/Financial/business
improvements/
Material
abundance/excess/comfort
I stayed a long time without work
and food until I got a work here…
(H15)
When I am financially stable (#51)
Relational
(-) Presence of
bad/strained/conflictual
relations; absence of
relationships; loss/death/end of
a relationship; unfulfilled
relational expectations and
roles of others
I love people a lot, but people don’t
love me in return (H09)
Socializing with negative friends.
(#125)
(+) Good relationships/ peaceful
relations/absence of bad
relationships
I was single and searching for a
woman to marry. Then God gave
me a wife and children… (T19)
Being around people I'm
comfortable and close to, willing to
listen to me, converse with and
make me laugh increases my social
wellbeing. (#4)
Peace of mind
(-) Presence of high-arousal
negative affect; presence/active
disruption in the
social/physical environment
I was thinking of how to get money
and build my own house and leave
a rented house and take myself
from the quarrels and
misunderstanding in a compound
house. (H12)
When my roommates disturb me
with their noise when am trying to
sleep. (#103)
(+) Presence of low-arousal
positive affect of internalized
nature; absence of
worry/problems/without stress;
freedom from constraints
(obligations to family) and
external pressures/social
pressures/social demands
It was my brother that bought a
house for me and my children, so
now we don’t think of rent, we
have our own water, our own
electricity… (H02)
My wellbeing increased when I
started selling and making money
on my own as I didn't have to
worry about what to eat or wear
next. (#108)
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Theme Definition Community sample: Study 1 Student sample: Study 2
Affect
(-) Presence of low-arousal
negative affect
I had a police case for instance
which made me very sad (A01)
A few months ago, my emotional
and psychological state was
disrupted. Too much stress,
anxiety and loneliness. (#22)
(+) High-arousal positive affect I was happy when [I got] married
(AC13)
When I had admission to the
university. I was really happy
because nobody has been to the
university among my female
siblings. (#103)
Social
validation
(-) Diminished social
standing/social mattering/social
worth/social status/social
concern/social credibility
Someone lied against me that I
impregnated a woman […] I was
so ashamed that I couldn’t even
walk on the street (H01)
When I was disrespected by a
female friend I was correcting
about her attitude towards me.
[…]. Trying to correct her, she
ended up disrespecting me …
(+) Improved social standing/social
mattering/social worth/social
status/social concern/social
credibility. Social worth
measured against an
internalized social standard.
I lost my grandparent I was asked
to talk on behalf of the
grandchildren since I was the
eldest. […]at the end of the day
everyone called me for suggestions
because they didn’t understand
how I was able to handle the
situation. That particular thing
made me very happy because they
gave a lot of respect to me because I
gave them some instances and they
all complied with it. So now they
call me for everything. (AC11)
My well being increased when I
went for a social gathering when I
was well dressed and felt good
among my peers. (#40)
Physical health
(-) Presence of poor physical
health (for self or others in
one’s social circle); negative
health behavior (for self or
others in one’s social circle)
My husband’s sudden sickness,
++++ I never expected something
like that in my marriage. [...] I had
to struggle to take care of my sick
husband and the entire
family...(A03)
My well-being decreased when I
got so ill. (#120)
(+)
Good physical health (for self
or others in one’s social
circle)/recovery of lost health;
Positive health behavior (for
self or others in one’s social
circle)
I had a job as a waitress […] I
bought good body products and
went for check up at the hospital.
You could see I was healthy
(AC18)
This is when I'm healthy. I was
able to perform all necessary
activities that will bring about
healthy living. (#75)
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Theme Definition Community sample: Study 1 Student sample: Study 2
Psychologizing
(-) Challenges/Obstacles to past or
current work/career;
Hindrances to future
work/career aspirations; failure
to achieve life goals/being short
of personal standards
Since I didn’t have money, I
couldn’t further my education and
it was difficult for me. I bought
university forms went for
interview and had been called but
no money to pay for the tuition
fee...(H17)
I couldn't achieve all my goals.
(#69)
(+) Academic/work/career-related
achievements; freedom to be
who one want’s to be/have own
opinions/do whatever one
wants without regard for what
others think/seek one’s own
values not social ideals. Seeking
new experiences/ discovery of
self/self-development/search
for personal identity
I will say that when we were born
our father didn’t look after us; it
was our stepfather who sponsored
us to go to school and so I can also
write my name today. (H14)
…My first month in university
when my dad actually decided on
giving me money to cater for
myself. Now, I get to buy whatever
I want, and I get to do anything. I
like due to the fact that I don't
have any relative monitoring my
movements in school. Freedom.
(#6)
Notes. (-) means decrease situation; (+) refers to increase situation. We use […] to indicate that portions of
the sentence have not been presented
2.4 Results
Reflecting the psychological character of well-being, relatively few participants (f = 10, 12.5%)
mentioned physical health. Consistent with the primary hypothesis (H1) and our earlier work on
local conceptions of well-being (Osei-Tutu et al., 2021), the most prominent themes to emerge
from analyses of situations were sustainability-oriented (Fig. 1; and Table 2, second and third
columns from the left).
Fig. 1. Relative frequency of themes.
0
20
40
60
80
100
Community Sample
Increase Situation Decrease Situation
0
20
40
60
80
100
Student Sample
Decrease Situation Increase Situation
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More than two-thirds of participants mentioned the sustainability-oriented themes of materiality
(f = 61, 76.3%) and peace of mind (f = 54, 67.5 %) in the context of either increase or decrease
situations. Indeed, coders noted these with significantly greater frequency than all other all
themes except the sustainability-oriented theme of relationality (f = 49, 61.3%), McNemar ꭓ2s(1,
N = 80) > 5.11, ps <.025. In contrast, fewer than half of participants mentioned growth- or
promotion-oriented themes of affect (f = 38, 47.5%) or psychologization (f = 38, 47.5%) in either
increase or decrease situations. The prevention-oriented theme of social validation was
somewhat less frequent, but still common, present in responses of more than one-quarter of
participants (f = 22, 27.5%) in either increase or decrease situations.
Table 2. Relative Frequency of themes within samples and valance dimensions.
Rank Community
increase
(N=80)
Community
decrease
(N=80)
Student increase
(N=125)
Student decrease
(N=125)
1 Matl (61.3%) PM (45.0%) Psych (44.4%) Affect (40.0%)
2 Rel (42.5%) Matl (43.4%) Matl (33.6%) Psych (31.2%)
3 PM (33.8%) Rel (38.8%) Affect (30.4%) Matl (23.2%)
4 Affect (21.3%) Affect (36.3%) Rel (18.4%) Rel (23.2%)
5 Psych (21.3%) Psych (32.5%) PH /PM (14.4%) PM (22.4%)
6 SV (17.5%) SV (13.8%) PH/PM (14.4%) PH (10.4%)
7 PH (7.5%) PH (7.5%) SV (4.8%) SV (10.4%)
Note. Matl = Material; Rel =Relational; PM= Peace of Mind; SV= Social Validation; PH=Physical Health.
Shades of blue and green indicate sustainability-oriented themes. Shades of orange indicate growth- or
promotion-oriented themes.
An analysis of the distribution of themes as a function of situation valence revealed statistically
significant differences in proportions for two out of seven themes. Participants mentioned the
sustainability-oriented theme of materiality more frequently in situations that increased (f = 41,
61.3%) versus decreased (f = 35, 43.8%) well-being, McNemar ꭓ2(1, N = 80) = 4.45, p = .035.
Conversely, participants mentioned the promotion-oriented theme of affect more frequently in
situations that decreased (f = 29, 36.3%) versus increased (f = 17, 21.3%) well-being, McNemar
ꭓ2(1, N = 80) = 4.03, p = .045.
3. Study 2: Student sample
3.1 Participants
A total of 125 undergraduate students (57 men and 68 women, Mean Age=21.592; SD=2.759) at
three universities in southern Ghana participated in the study.
3.2 Procedure
Two of the authors (NV and AAA) approached undergraduate students on the three campuses
between January and February 2020. They invited students to complete a paper questionnaire
about well-being. Students who gave verbal consent to participate completed the questionnaire
on the spot. After providing demographic information and responding to a question about the
meaning of well-being, participants responded to prompts instructing them to describe one
situation where their well-being increased and another where their well-being decreased. We
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excluded psychology students from the study because of concern that they may be familiar with
concepts of well-being in mainstream psychology.
3.3 Coding
Sample responses appear in Table 1. One of us (AO-T) trained a new pair of coders (a Ghanaian
woman and an African American woman) who applied the same coding frame and followed a
similar coding process as described in Study 1. Inter-coder agreement was again fair to very good
(κ =.292 and 1.000), except for the theme for social validation for situations of well-being decrease
(κ = -.015). We resolved disagreements using the same strategy described in Study 1.
3.4 Results
Results for the student sample deviated in hypothesized (H2) fashion from the pattern of results
for the community sample. In particular, the most prominent theme across either increase or
decrease situations was the growth-/promotion-oriented theme of affect (f = 73, 58.4%), which
coders noted with significantly greater frequency than all themes except the other growth-
/promotion-oriented theme of psychologization (f = 59, 47.2%), McNemar ꭓ2s(1, N = 125) > 6.49,
ps <.012 (Table 1, two right-most columns). A minority of participants mentioned the
sustainability-oriented themes of materiality (f = 51, 40.8%), relationality (f = 44, 35.2%), peace of
mind (f = 39, 31.2 %), or social validation (f = 17, 13.6%) for either increase or decrease situations.
Nearly one-quarter of participants mentioned physical health (f = 27, 21.6 %) for either increase
or decrease situations.
The analysis of the distribution of themes as a function of situation valence revealed a
statistically significant difference in proportions for one of seven themes. As for the community
sample in Study 1, students in Study 2 mentioned the theme of materiality more frequently in
situations that increased (f = 42, 33.6%) versus decreased (f = 29, 23.2%) well-being, McNemar
ꭓ2(1, N = 125) = 4.65, p = .031.
4. Comparative analysis of Study 1 and 2
Our original purpose in conducting both studies was to produce material for a situation-
sampling paradigm, whereby we randomly select responses of participants to use as stimuli in
future studies (cf. Kitayama et al., 1997). As one might infer from the differences in procedure
across study—oral responses in Ghanaian languages for Study 1, written responses in English
language for Study 2, and different coders within each study—we did not embark on this
research with the intention of comparing across studies. Rather than equate procedures across
studies with the intention of direct comparison, we selected the procedure that worked best
within each sample, separately. Still, a comparison of results across studies is useful as a test of
hypothesis (H2) about variation in experience of well-being as a function of variation in
engagement with Eurocentric global modernity. To the extent that engagement with Eurocentric
global modernity is greater among (A) university students who respond to a written survey in
the medium of English than among (B) community members who respond in an oral interview
via the medium of a local Ghanaian language, our theoretical framework would suggest that the
former (compared to the latter) would show more evidence of growth-oriented conceptions of
well-being characteristic of WEIRD settings and less evidence of the sustainability-oriented
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conceptions of well-being that emerged from our early research on local Ghanian conceptions.
Accordingly, we proceed with comparisons across samples mindful of caveats about potential
confounds from differences in procedure, which we consider again at length in the General
Discussion.
First, an informal comparison of rank order in relative frequency of themes within each
sample provides some evidence of hypothesized variation in priority of themes across samples
(Table 2). Among participants in the student sample, growth-oriented emphases on affect and
psychologization were the most frequent themes, with affect significantly more frequent than
sustainability-oriented themes of responsibility and peace of mind. Among participants in the
community sample, sustainability-oriented themes of materiality, peace of mind, and
relationality were the most frequent, and—at least for materiality and peace of mind—were
significantly more frequent than growth-oriented themes of affect and psychologization.
A more formal, direct comparison of relative frequency provides additional evidence of
hypothesized variation in priority of themes across samples. In particular, we used log-linear
modeling to simultaneously assess two-way partial associations for each theme (absent, present)
with sample (community, student) and valence (decrease, increase).1
The analysis revealed several significant differences as a function of valence. Consistent with
results that we observed in analyses within each study separately, coders noted the theme of
materiality more frequently in situations that increased (44.4%) versus decreased (31.2%) well-
being, ꭓ2(1, N = 410) = 8.07, p = .004. In contrast, coders noted the themes of affect and peace of
mind more frequently in situations that decreased (38.5% and 31.2%) versus increased (26.8%
and 22.0%) well-being, ꭓ2s(1, N = 410) = 6.44 and 4.77, ps = .011 and .029.
More relevant to the current interest, results also revealed several differences as a function of
sample. Consistent with the hypothesis (H2), coders noted sustainability-oriented themes of
materiality (76.3% and 40.8%), peace of mind (67.5% and 31.2%), and relationality (61.3% and
35.2%) more frequently among responses of participants in the community sample than in the
student sample, ꭓ2s(1, N = 410) > 18.52, ps < .001. Similarly, results revealed a somewhat weaker
difference whereby coders noted the sustainability-oriented theme of social validation more
frequently among responses of participants in the community sample (27.5%) than in the student
sample (13.6%), ꭓ2(1, N = 410) = 6.39, p = .011. There was no evidence of differences across settings
in the frequency with which participants noted growth-oriented themes of affect or
psychologization.
As one might expect, participants were older in the community sample (M = 42.0 years, SD=
13.90) than the university student sample (M = 21.6 years, SD = 2.76), t(202) = 15.92, p < .001. This
raises a plausible alternative explanation for observed differences in frequency of well-being
themes across samples. Specifically, differences may be due to age-related variation in well-being
rather than cultural ecologies associated with university and off-campus realities. Two sources
of evidence argue against this alternative explanation. First, correlation analyses within each
sample revealed no significant relationships between age and frequency of any theme. Second,
logistic regression analyses with sample and age as simultaneous predictors of the presence or
absence of each theme revealed the same pattern of differences across samples in frequency of
1 The three-way partial association, corresponding to the two-way, sample X valence interaction in ANOVA, was not
statistically significant for any of the themes.
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sustainability-oriented themes (materiality, peace of mind, relationality, and social validation) as
did loglinear analyses. In no case did age emerge as a significant predictor of theme frequency.2
5. General discussion
Theory and previous research in many Ghanaian and other West African settings have described
a sustainability orientation to well-being that contrasts with the growth- or promotion-oriented
conception that prevails in hegemonic psychological science (Osei-Tutu et al., 2020; Wilson Fadiji,
2021). The current research replicates and extends the conclusion of earlier research with
evidence from a situation sampling procedure. Mainstream themes of personal growth and high
arousal happiness were not completely absent from responses of Ghanaian participants in the
community sample. However, consistent with the primary hypothesis (H1), these themes were
much less prominent than sustainability-oriented themes of materiality, relationality, and peace
of mind. In contrast, and consistent with hypothesis (H2), mainstream themes of personal growth
and high arousal happiness were relatively more prominent than sustainability-oriented themes
in responses of participants in the university sample. This is consistent with theory and research
in modernization theory (e.g., Inkeles, 1969), which holds that engagement with formal
education, the cultural milieu of university settings, and other affordances for modern
individualist subjectivity will be associated with an experience of freedom from material
constraint and a corresponding experience of well-being in terms of personal growth and
fulfillment (Adams et al., 2018). In turn, one can understand the emphasis on personal growth
and fulfillment as part of a larger process of psychologization by which people experience well-
being, love, and care in terms in an affective or psychological support rather than tangible,
material support (Coe, 2011; Esiaka & Adams, 2020; Osei-Tutu et al., 2021).
The theme of materiality was prominent in both samples (although significantly more so in
the community sample versus student sample). Our respondents noted a variety of financial
constraint situations as a source of well-being decrease, and they noted income-augmenting
situations and financial stability as a source of well-being increase. The prominence of materiality
is consistent with previous work (Wilson-Fadiji et al., 2021) and suggests that increased access to
material security might contribute to improved subjective well-being. At the same time, an
influential body of research (e.g., Brickman et al., 1978) suggests that people easily habituate to
material improvements in life conditions, especially beyond a level of basic comfort. It is likely
that people would require fulfilment of additional needs, beyond material sustenance, to
maintain a sense of subjective well-being. Even so, results of the current work resonate with other
research that emphasizes the importance of meeting basic needs and living conditions as the
primary site of government policy to increase well-being.
Besides the procedural innovation of inferring conception and experience of well-being from
descriptions of relevant situations, another novel feature of the study was the comparison of
themes in situations that increased versus decreased well-being. In this case, the relevant
differences were not in terms of the distinction between sustainability and growth/promotion
orientations, but instead reflected a distinction between more and less material determinants of
well-being. Specifically, the theme of materiality was more frequent in situations that increased
2 We also conducted exploratory analyses of loglinear models including gender and sample as predictors of theme
frequency. These analyses indicated gender differences in frequency of two categories. Coders noted the theme of
relationality more frequently among responses of women (f = 56, 59.1%) than men (f = 37, 38.1%), ꭓ2(1, N = 410) = 4.88,
p = .027. In contrast, coders noted the theme of social validation more frequently among responses of men (f = 25,
25.8%) than women (f = 14, 13.0%), ꭓ2(1, N = 410) = 5.15, p = .023. In no case did gender moderate or otherwise qualify
differences across sample that we report in the main text.
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(versus decreased) well-being, but the themes of affect and peace of mind were more prominent
in situations that decreased (versus increased) well-being. The robustness of this pattern—and
potential explanations for it—constitute interesting directions for future research.
6. Implications for positive psychology
This current work provides a foundation for denaturalizing the psychologization of well-being
in both hegemonic psychological science and the WEIRD settings that disproportionately
constitute its knowledge archive. Results suggest that a conception of well-being in terms of
psychological growth, personal meaning, and high arousal positive affect is not the just-natural
expression of some inborn program. Instead, this experience of well-being reflects a history of
engagement with modern individualist lifeways and cultural ecologies of material affluence that
enable them. Similarly, if this mainstream model of well-being might sometimes be conducive to
optimal experience, its optimality is not necessarily a general truth of human psychology.
Instead, the mainstream model is optimal to the extent that it is adaptive for flourishing within
the WEIRD cultural ecologies of the Eurocentric modern order.
The move to locate mainstream models of well-being in cultural and historical processes of
Eurocentric modernity provides a standpoint from which to contemplate their relationship to the
coloniality that decolonial scholars associate with Eurocentric modernity (e.g., Adams et al., 2020
Maldonado-Torres, 2007; Mignolo, 2011). Psychological approaches tend to consider questions
about the optimality of well-being with respect to individual actors abstracted from social and
historical context (Bulhan, 1985). That is, a practice or way of being is good to the extent that it
affords a target person optimal outcome. Psychological approaches rarely consider the broader
social implications of those supposedly optimal ways of being, other than to assume an
aggregation of individual effects would result in greater collective well-being. In contrast,
epistemic perspectives of African and other Global South settings direct attention to the
conditions of possibility for those supposedly optimal ways of being. What if the self-expansive
personal growth and high arousal affect associated with modern individualist ways of being are
dependent on baseline levels of affluence acquired and sustained through (neo)colonial
extractions (Bulhan, 1985; Mignolo, 2011; Rodney, 1973)? What if these ways of being are
necessarily available to only a privileged few, unsustainable if “scaled up” to the marginalized
global majority, and dependent on heavily policed borders—at municipal, national, and even
continental levels (Besteman, 2019; Gordon, 2022)—to maintain modern individualist standards
of living within gated-community enclaves? If the answer to these questions is yes, then some
re-thinking of standard models is in order. By raising such questions, epistemic perspectives
from the Global South prompt consideration of possible downsides of prevailing models of well-
being that often pass without reflection.
7. Conclusion
Besides revealing the cultural and historical foundations of the growth-oriented models of well-
being that inform hegemonic positive psychology, the shift in epistemic perspective to an African
or Global South standpoint makes it easier to appreciate the adaptive value of an emphasis on
materiality, relationality, and the peace of mind or relief that comes from satisfaction of
obligations and expectations. Although such an emphasis may not be conducive to high-arousal
positive affect and personal fulfillment, its benefits lie in the broad assurance of support and
possibility for a viable existence sustainable at the level of humanity in general. As the existential
threat of anthropogenic climate change makes clear, we do not inhabit a world of unlimited
possibility; instead, we share (unequally, to be sure) interdependent fates on our solitary planet.
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The sustainability-oriented models of being and well-being that we consider in this and other
work, may provide optimal pathways for viable existence in recognition of our global reality of
embedded interdependence (Adams et al., 2020; Keller, 2019). This may explain patterns
observed in recent research indicating that people across a variety of settings (but perhaps
especially various African, Asian, and Latin American settings relative to European or White
settler societies) express a preference for low-arousal calmness over high-arousal excitement
(Crabtree & Lai, 2021). Rather than suboptimal forms that require intervention, sustainability-
oriented models reflect important insights about the human condition that are worthy of
emulation in hegemonic psychology.
Conflict of interest statement
The authors report no conflicts of interest.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Volkswagen Foundation, Germany (Reference Grant Number: 94667).
Authors
Annabella Osei-Tutu
Department of Psychology, University of Ghana
aopare-henaku@ug.edu.gh
Glenn Adams
University of Kansas, USA
Vivian A. Dzokoto
Virginia Commonwealth University, USA
Adjeiwa Akosua Affram
University of Ghana
Abraham Kenin
University of Ghana
Nilay Vural
University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Syed Muhammad Omar
University of Kansas, USA
Publishing Timeline
Received 1 December 2021
Revised version received 31 December 2021
Accepted 5 January 2022
Published 1 November 2022
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