Fadiji Angelina Wilson, Khumalo Itumeleng P, Wissing Marié Philipina, Appiah Richard
Department of Psychology, De Montfort University, Leicester, United Kingdom.
Africa Unit for Transdisciplinary Health Research, North West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa.
Front Psychol. 2024 Jun 21;15:1384362. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1384362. eCollection 2024.
Positive Psychology rapidly developed into an influential field of study and intervention, initially situated in Psychology, and later becoming multidisciplinary. Research interest in the study of (psychological) well-being has gained global popularity, with increasing salience in Africa. Although the global trends of these developments are relatively well-known, a bibliometric analysis of positive psychology research in Africa was necessary to shed light on the present hotspots and trends and future trajectories in this region of the world. The data source of the present bibliometric analysis study was Scopus, from which Positive Psychology and well-being research literature from Africa between 1983 and 2023 were searched. Using biblioshiny and VOSviewer, the 622 extracted articles were analysed, from which findings about the current condition, research hotspots, and thematic developmental patterns could be made. Africa experienced an initial slow growth period from 1983 until 2005, after which a rapid growth in research productivity, relevance and impact was experienced. In this regard, the results show that the focal point of scientific productivity is South Africa, with the dominance of South African institutions, particularly the North-West University, from where most positive psychology research is produced and cited. Even with potential access to international journal, African researchers seem to prefer to place their publications in the regional journals such as Journal of Psychology in Africa and South African Journal of Psychology. The research reviewed tends to be characterised by more dominant thematic clusters of positive psychology, psychological well-being, and subjective well-being, with a focus on human individuals. An increasing concern for contextual factors and potential antecedents and dynamics of well-being is also observed. The findings provide a good map from which identification of future research priorities can be deduced. As such, we speculate that future positive psychology research in Africa ought to be concerned with the following: greater distribution and intercountry collaborations across the continent, questions of conceptual clarity of terms, better understanding of contextual factors which influence well-being, and well-being research embracing the complexity of bio-psycho-social-ecological well-being, and science concerned with health-promotion interventions.
积极心理学迅速发展成为一个具有影响力的研究和干预领域，最初位于心理学领域，后来发展为多学科领域。对（心理）幸福感研究的兴趣在全球范围内日益普及，在非洲的重要性也日益凸显。尽管这些发展的全球趋势相对广为人知，但有必要对非洲的积极心理学研究进行文献计量分析，以揭示该地区目前的热点、趋势以及未来的发展轨迹。本文献计量分析研究的数据来源是Scopus，从中搜索了1983年至2023年期间来自非洲的积极心理学和幸福感研究文献。使用biblioshiny和VOSviewer对提取的622篇文章进行了分析，从中可以得出关于当前状况、研究热点和主题发展模式的结论。非洲在1983年至2005年经历了最初的缓慢增长期，之后研究生产力、相关性和影响力迅速增长。在这方面，结果表明科学生产力的焦点是南非，南非机构占主导地位，特别是西北大学，大部分积极心理学研究都出自该校并被引用。即使有可能接触国际期刊，非洲研究人员似乎更倾向于将他们的出版物发表在《非洲心理学杂志》和《南非心理学杂志》等地区性期刊上。所审查的研究往往以积极心理学、心理幸福感和主观幸福感等更为主导的主题集群为特征，重点关注人类个体。还观察到对背景因素以及幸福感的潜在前因和动态的关注度日益增加。这些发现提供了一张很好的地图，从中可以推断出未来研究重点的确定。因此，我们推测非洲未来的积极心理学研究应该关注以下方面：在整个非洲大陆实现更大范围的分布和跨国合作、术语概念清晰度的问题、对影响幸福感的背景因素的更好理解、涵盖生物 - 心理 - 社会 - 生态幸福感复杂性的幸福感研究，以及与健康促进干预相关的科学研究。
