Measuring social well-being in Africa: An exploratory structural equation modelling study

Abstract

The study investigated the factor structure of the 15-item social well-being scale in an African context. Social well-being is categorised into five dimensions: social integration, social contribution, social coherence, social actualisation and social acceptance. Data were collected from 402 participants in South Africa (50% male, average age of 21 years). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and exploratory structural equation modelling (ESEM) were conducted in Mplus (version 8.1), on the 15-item measure. Results showed advantages of ESEM’s flexibility, through which an unstable emic four factor solution emerged. For such complex multidimensional psychological constructs measured in novel contexts, ESEM is best suited for exploring factorial validity. Although the present study’s findings should have implication for theory, future studies should further explore social well-being measurement using the long- and short-form instruments in diverse African samples.

Factor structure of the Dispositional Hope Scale amongst South Africans: An exploratory structural equation modelling study

“…As hope is malleable (Weis & Speridakos, 2011) and associated with several positive mental health outcomes for students (Berg et al, 2011;Griggs, 2017), the DHS could be used in evaluating the effect of interventions to enhance hope amongst South African students. The fact that our ESEM results did not support the previous theoretically and empirically supported Snyder's model of hope is a possible illustration of either measurement instability (as seen in Khumalo, Ejoke, Asante, & Rugira, 2021) and or poor contextually embedded support (perhaps based on cultural interpretation) of a cross culturally transported theoretical construct (see Cherrington, 2018).…”

Employees’ experiences of change management in the implementation of a performance management system

“…For example, Kirrane et al (2017) caution that an organisation should develop a change management plan, prior to the introduction of a performance http://www.sajip.co.za Open Access management system. Performance management systems play a significant role in the introduction of strategic change, by ensuring alignment of employees' behaviour with set organisational objectives (Khumalo, Ejoke, Oppong Asante, & Rugira, 2021;Sachane, Bezuidenhout, & Botha, 2018). Introducing a performance management system has an impact on the vision, mission and strategy of an organisation, and it is pivotal for change management to be considered prior to the actual implementation process (Ochurub et al, 2012).…”

Confirmatory factor analysis of latent constructs for measuring social well-being in African migrant samples

“…Psychology, however, neglected the role of worldwide culture and context in understanding wellness and well-being for a long time, accepting that Western perspectives and findings apply globally and across contexts. The skewness of these assumptions is changing in recent times, with voices not only suggesting cultural fair models and indigenous studies [ [12] , [13] , [14] ] but the acknowledgment that well-being is situated in an individual micro-space and human lives are shaped by their ecology [ 15 ]. These understandings were derived from observable opinions across different regions including the West, East Asia, and Africa [ 16 ].…”

“…Although there is a growing interest in valid and reliable social well-being measurement instruments in Africa [ 13 , 14 ] and a call for a social well-being scale that is theoretically and contextually driven [ 22 ], limited studies on the factorial exploration of the social well-being model for minority populations exist. In line with this need for a contribution, the present study focused on a relatively unexplored topic: investigating the five dimensions of Keyes's [ 4 ] social well-being scale (social contribution, social acceptance, social coherence, social actualisation, and social integration) in African migrant samples.…”