Abstract
This experimental study extends the geographical focus of empirical investigations of what makes life good to Ghana, West Africa. Data were collected from a sample of 189 Ghanaian college students (19–49 years old). A 2 (income: high vs. low) × 2 (happiness: high vs. low) × 2 (meaning: high vs. low) experimental design was used to investigate factors related to judgements about the good life. Multivariate analysis of variance was used to test the study’s hypotheses. The results highlighted that similar to previous research, concepts of happiness and meaning are central to the conceptualization of the good life in Ghana. Unlike previous studies however, quality of life, desirability, and perception of the good life were not significantly intercorrelated. The findings suggest that while some factors may consistently predict the good life across diverse cultural settings, complementary consideration of culturally constructed meaning systems may be warranted.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
Purpose was assessed in the context of liking what one did every day, and social well-being was operationally defined as the presence in one’s life of love and supportive relationships. The survey defined Financial well-being as economic security (not being worried about money in the last seven days, and having enough money to meet one’s financial goals); community security as liking, having pride in, and feeling safe in one’s residential community, and physical well-being as a self-reported assessment of one’s physical health and energy levels).
References
Addai, I., Opoku-Agyemang, C., & Amanfu, S. K. (2014). Exploring predictors of subjective well-being in Ghana: A micro-level study. Journal of Happiness Studies, 15(4), 869–890. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-013-9454-7.
Appiah, P., & Appiah, K. A. (2000). Some Akan proverbs. New England Review, 21(1), 119–127.
Appiah, P., Appiah, A., & Agyeman-Duah, I. (2007). Bu me be: Proverbs of the Akans (2nd ed.). Oxfordshire: Ayebia Clarke.
Assimeng, M. (2007). Social structure of modern Ghana: A study of persistence and change. Accra: Ghana Publishing Cooperation Assembly Press.
Biswas-Diener, R., & Diener, E. (2001). Making the best of a bad situation: Satisfaction in the slums of Calcutta. Social Indicators Research, 55(3), 329–352.
Bull, T., Duah-Owusu, M., & Andvik, C. A. (2010). ‘My happiest moment is when I have food in stock’: Poor women in northern Ghana talking about their happiness. International Journal of Mental Health Promotion, 12(2), 24–31.
Camfield, L., Choudhury, K., & Devine, J. (2009). Well-being, happiness and why relationships matter: Evidence from Bangladesh. Journal of Happiness Studies, 10(1), 71–91.
Christensen, J. B. (1958). The role of proverbs in Fante culture. Journal of the International African Institute, 28(3), 232–243.
Dabaghi, A., Pishbin, E., & Niknasab, L. (2010). Proverbs from the viewpoint of translation. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 1(6), 807–814.
De Witte, M. (2003). Money and death: Funeral business in Asante, Ghana. Journal of the International African Institute, 73(4), 531–559.
Diener, E., Scollon, C. N., Oishi, S., Dzokoto, V., & Suh, E. M. (2009). Positivity and the construction of life satisfaction judgments: Global happiness is not the sum of its parts. In E. Diener (Ed.), Culture and well-being: The collected works of Ed Diener (pp. 229–243). Social Indicators Research Series (38). Dordrecht: Springer.
Diener, E., & Tay, L. (2015). Subjective well-being and human welfare around the world as reflected in the Gallup world poll. International Journal of Psychology, 50(2), 135–149.
Dzokoto, V. (2012). Ghanaian happiness: Global, cultural, and phenomenological perspectives. In H. Selin & G. Davey (Eds.), Happiness across cultures: Views of happiness and quality of life in non-western cultures (pp. 311–327). Dordrecht: Springer.
Dzokoto, V. A., Osei-Tutu, A., Kyei, J. J., Twum-Asante, M., Attah, D. A., & Ahorsu, D. K. (2018). Emotion norms, display rules, and regulation in the Akan Society of Ghana: An exploration using proverbs. Frontiers in Cultural Psychology, 9, 1916. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01916.
Fallon, K. M. (1999). Education and perceptions of social status and power among women in Larteh, Ghana. Africa Today, 46(2), 67–91.
Gallup. (2014a). Gallup healthways state of global well-being 2014 country rankings. http://info.healthways.com/hubfs/Well-Being_Index/2014_Data/Gallup-Healthways_State_of_Global_Well-Being_2014_Country_Rankings.pdf. Accessed 21 December 2016.
Gallup. (2014b). Gallup healthways state of global well-being 2014 final report. http://info.healthways.com/hs-fs/hub/162029/file-1634508606-pdf/WBI2013/Gallup-Healthways_State_of_Global_Well-Being_vFINAL.pdf?t=1482178544503. Accessed 21 December 2016.
Guillen-Royo, M. (2008). Consumption and subjective wellbeing: Exploring basic needs, social comparison, social integration and hedonism in Peru. Social Indicators Research, 89(3), 535–555.
Gyekye, K. (1996). An essay of African philosophical thought: The Akan conceptual scheme (Revised ed.). Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
King, L. A., & Napa, C. K. (1998). What makes a life good? Personality and Social Psychology, 75(1), 156–165.
Kitayama, S., & Markus, H. R. (2000). The pursuit of happiness and the realization of sympathy: Cultural patterns of self, social relations, and well-being. In E. Diener & E. Suh (Eds.), Culture and subjective well-being (pp. 113–161). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
McCaskie, T. C. (1983). Rank and wealth among the Akan: Accumulation, wealth and belief in Asante history. I. To the close of the nineteenth century. Africa, 53(01), 23–43.
Myers, D., & Diener, E. (1995). Who is happy? Psychological Science, 6(1), 10–19.
Owusu, F. (2001). Urban impoverishment and multiple modes of livelihood in Ghana. The Canadian Geographer, 45(3), 387–403. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1541-0064.2001.tb01189.x.
Person, K., May, M. S., & Mayer, C. (2016). The meaning of work for South African women: A phenomenological study. Journal of Psychology in Africa, 26(2), 134–140. https://doi.org/10.1080/14330237.2016.1163897.
Scollon, C. N., & King, L. A. (2004). Is the good life the easy life? Social Indicators Research, 68(2), 127–162.
Simmons, D. C., & Akesson, L. F. (1965). Fifteen Nzima proverbs. Folklore, 76(4), 262–265.
Van der Geest, S. (1997). Money and respect: The changing value of old age in rural Ghana. Africa, 67(4), 534–559.
Van der Geest, S. (1998). ‘Yebisa wo fie’: Growing old and building a house in the Akan culture of Ghana. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, 13(4), 333–359.
Van der Geest, S. (1999). Opanyin: The ideal of elder in the Akan culture of Ghana. Canadian Journal of African Studies, 32(3), 449–493.
Wirtz, D., & Scollon, C. N. (2012). Culture, visual perspective, and the effect of material success on perceived life. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 43(3), 367–372.
Yankah, K. (2000). Proverb. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology, 9(1–2), 205–207.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dzokoto, V.A., Osei-Tutu, A., Scollon, C.N. et al. Meaning and Perceptions of the Good Life in Ghana. Psychol Stud 64, 11–20 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12646-018-0475-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12646-018-0475-5