Understanding well-being in the Ghanaian context: linkages between lay conceptions of well-being and measures of hedonic and eudaimonic well-being

Abstract

The aim of this study was to explore the measurement and conceptualisation of well-being within the Ghanaian socio-cultural setting. In addition to testing the structural validity of two commonly used well-being scales, the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) and the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ) among Ghanaian adults, we explored Ghanaian people’s lay conceptualisations of well-being. We also established to what extent the integration of quantitative and qualitative findings will support the distinction of hedonic and eudaimonic dimensions in the Ghanaian context. A concurrent mixed-method design was implemented involving 420 employed individuals living in urban areas (mean age = 41.32; SD = 9.59; 230 men and 178 women). Data was analysed using structural equation modelling, thematic analysis, and descriptive statistics. Our findings demonstrated that the SWLS and MLQ had good psychometric properties. The lay understanding of well-being referred to emotional stability, sustenance and relational well-being and thus comprised of psychological, material, subjective and relational dimensions. Lay conceptualisations of well-being in the Ghanaian context reflect the understanding of well-being as multidimensional and as a relatively holistic phenomenon with overlapping categories where the simultaneous fulfilments of needs of the individual and others are intertwined with hedonic and eudaimonic notions. The interface of quantitative and qualitative data also portrays that hedonic and eudaimonic dimensions of well-being could not be clearly distinguished in the Ghanaian context. Our findings indicate that there is a continuous need to test and refine prevailing theoretically assumptions of well-being against prevailing contextual needs