Osei-Tutu Annabella, Dzokoto Vivian Afi, Adams Glenn, Hanke Katja, Kwakye-Nuako Charlotte, Adu-Mensa Francis, Appiah-Danquah Rita
Department of Psychology, University of Ghana, Legon. P. O. Box LG84, Accra, Ghana.
Department of African American Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University, 816 W Franklin Street, PO Box 842509, Richmond, VA 23284-2509, USA.
Heliyon. 2018 Jul 23;4(7):e00696. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2018.e00696. eCollection 2018 Jul.
The purpose of the study was to explore the extent to which contemporary social, economic, and religious developments inform social constructions of success in Ghana. Participants, consisting of 21 females and 39 males, aged between 20 and 70, from different educational and occupational backgrounds were interviewed about what they consider as success. Participants belonged to either Traditionally Western Mission Churches or Charismatic Christian denominations and were selected from three regions of Ghana. Thematic analysis revealed four dimensions of success: (1) Social (including marriage, children, social recognition, and social contribution to society); (2) Material (comprising meeting basic needs; economic independence; material wealth); (3) Educational; and (4) Religious (e.g., God's work, relationship with God). Three pathways to success were also observed in the data: (a) Divine blessings; (b) Adaptability; and (c) Striving. Discussion focuses on social, policy, counselling, and research implications.
该研究的目的是探讨当代社会、经济和宗教发展在多大程度上影响了加纳社会对成功的建构。研究对年龄在20至70岁之间、来自不同教育和职业背景的21名女性和39名男性参与者进行了访谈,询问他们对成功的看法。参与者隶属于传统西方教会或灵恩派基督教教派,且均来自加纳的三个地区。主题分析揭示了成功的四个维度:(1)社会维度(包括婚姻、子女、社会认可和对社会的贡献);(2)物质维度(包括满足基本需求、经济独立、物质财富);(3)教育维度;(4)宗教维度(如上帝的工作、与上帝的关系)。数据中还观察到三条通往成功的途径:(a)神的祝福;(b)适应能力;(c)努力奋斗。讨论聚焦于社会、政策、咨询和研究方面的影响。