Exploration of Harmony as a Quality of Happiness: Findings from South Africa and Ghana

Schutte, Lusilda; Wissing, Marié P.; Fadiji, Angelina Wilson; Mbowa, Sonia; Shoko, Placidia M.; Schutte, Willem D.

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-85924-4_14

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…Other research supports the notion that harmony or balance is associated with well-being (e.g. Delle-Fave et al, 2022;Di Fabio & Tsuda, 2018;Lomas, 2021;Lomas et al, 2022;Schutte et al, 2022;Sirgy, 2019). Although most cultures seem to value harmony as an important aspect of life and well-being, the construct may have different nuances and manifestations in different cultural groups.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 75%

Psychometric properties of the Harmony in Life Scale in South African and Ghanaian samples

Cromhout

Schutte²,

Wissing³

et al. 2023

AJOPA

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Harmony is regarded as important for well-being in many cultures. However, (cultural) differences in the meanings and manifestations of harmony may impact the equivalence of measures of harmony in life, as well as the associations between harmony and other well-being constructs. This study aimed to investigate the factorial, convergent and divergent validity, and measurement invariance of the Harmony in Life Scale (HILS) in South African and Ghanaian samples. Confirmatory factor analysis was applied to data from three South African samples (two multicultural samples completed the HILS in English; and a Setswana-speaking sample completed the HILS in Setswana) and one Ghanaian sample (completed the HILS in English). Sample sizes ranged between n = 400 and n = 427. Good fit indices were obtained for all samples, except for the Setswana-speaking sample from South Africa. In all instances the HILS showed good internal consistency reliability and convergent and divergent validity. Full scalar invariance was supported for the two multicultural South African samples, but only partial scalar invariance when data from the Ghanaian sample were added to the analysis. The HILS shows potential for future use in all samples, except the Setswana-speaking sample. Findings emphasise the importance of considering cultural and/or contextual and linguistic differences and how these may influence the measurement of psychological constructs. Future research should qualitatively explore the meanings and manifestations of harmony in various African and other global contexts in local languages.Contribution: This study is the first to investigate the psychometric properties of the original English version of the HILS in South African and Ghanaian samples, as well as a Setswana translation of the scale. The study contributes to the understanding of harmony in life and the measurement thereof in diverse contexts, in this case specifically focused on African samples, and may, in turn, inform interventions and evaluation of interventions.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 75%

Psychometric properties of the Harmony in Life Scale in South African and Ghanaian samples

Cromhout

Schutte²,

Wissing³

et al. 2023

AJOPA

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“…These ideas relate to the "poor but happy", or "happy farmer" (Markussen et al, 2018) identities. These concepts suggest poorer rural communities achieve higher SWB through collective conceptualisations of wellbeing (Leviston et al, 2018), greater togetherness (Dussaillant & Guzmán, 2014;Schutte et al, 2022), and higher place/community attachment (Bunkus et al, 2020;Ma et al, 2022;Quinn & Halfacre, 2014). Nevertheless, happiness is not a substitute for OWB; therefore, sustainability policy should not be discouraged from providing tangible support to these vulnerable locations (Kay & Jost, 2003).…”

Section: Objective and Subjective Wellbeing: Opposing Relationshipmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is the fulfilment of objective wellbeing reflected in subjective wellbeing? A case study of vulnerable communities in Volta Delta, Ghana

Cannings,

Hutton,

Sorichetta

et al. 2024

Intnl. J. Wellbeing

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There is growing interest in the measurement and conceptualisation of wellbeing due to its increasing importance within policy outcomes; however, the understanding of how different wellbeing outcomes associate within sustainability research is limited. This paper uses household survey data from the vulnerable Volta Delta, South Ghana, as a case study to illustrate the different philosophical approaches and measures of wellbeing, and the potential impact upon policy interventions. The frequent use of objective wellbeing measures, such as monetary poverty, within development policy is challenged as to whether it sufficiently reflects overall wellbeing. For example, objective monetary measures may not incorporate the intangible components of wellbeing, which can alternatively be captured within individuals’ self-evaluated, subjective wellbeing. This study first outlines the conceptual and methodological choices required when measuring wellbeing, before drawing on ideas of objective and subjective wellbeing to examine whether these concepts from different disciplines align or oppose one another. Contrasting theories within the literature justify this focus. By testing for associations between objective and subjective wellbeing outcomes, this study highlights how the methodological and conceptual choices made when measuring wellbeing can result in differing conclusions. Despite statistically significant associations being found amongst some wellbeing measures, results which show opposing outcomes highlight how subjective and objective wellbeing are not entirely interchangeable. Our study concludes there is a benefit to incorporating both objective and subjective measures in research and development targets across multiple scales to more-comprehensibly capture, and improve our understanding of, human wellbeing in vulnerable locations.

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“…Only in recent times harmony and associated constructs and processes such as balance, peace, serenity, harmonization and more, came into focus in scientific psychological studies on wellbeing referring to qualities on intrapersonal, interpersonal, social, ecological and spiritual levels. Literature reviews (e.g., Wallace and Shapiro, 2006;Lomas, 2021;Delle Fave et al, in press), the conceptualization of models (e.g., Di Fabio and Tsuda, 2018;Gruman et al, 2018;Sirgy, 2019), and empirical studies (e.g., Chuang, 2005;Sirgy and Wu, 2009;Lam et al, 2012;Kjell et al, 2016;Schutte et al, 2021) attest to the link between harmony and many facets of well-being, with some placing harmony and balance at the core of functioning well. For example, in a multi-country study, Delle Fave et al ( 2016) found that inner-harmony and relational connectedness are core components of what laypeople see as happiness.…”

Section: Focimentioning

confidence: 99%

Future Perspectives on Positive Psychology: A Research Agenda

Zyl

Salanova

2022

Frontiers Research Topics

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Exploration of Harmony as a Quality of Happiness: Findings from South Africa and Ghana

Cited by 7 publications

References 66 publications

Psychometric properties of the Harmony in Life Scale in South African and Ghanaian samples

Psychometric properties of the Harmony in Life Scale in South African and Ghanaian samples

Is the fulfilment of objective wellbeing reflected in subjective wellbeing? A case study of vulnerable communities in Volta Delta, Ghana

Future Perspectives on Positive Psychology: A Research Agenda

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