The Cross-Cultural Relevance of Indigenous Measures: The South African Personality Inventory (SAPI), Family Orientation, and Well-Being in New Zealand

Indigenous personality research often remains limited to its cultural context of origin. Previous cross-cultural examinations of indigenous models have typically focused on East–West comparisons and have paid scant attention to the predictive validity of indigenous models in new contexts. The present study addresses the replicability of the South African Personality Inventory (SAPI) and its predictive validity for family orientation and well-being in New Zealand European ( n = 428) and Māori students ( n = 226). The structure of the SAPI in New Zealand was equivalent to the structure identified in South Africa and had metric invariance between the two New Zealand groups. The SAPI social-relational scales explained additional variance above neuroticism, extraversion, conscientiousness, and openness in family orientation, but not in well-being. Mediation path analyses suggested that personality played a similar role for family orientation and well-being in the two groups when assessed by the SAPI, although group differences were suggested when using the Big Five Inventory. Our findings indicate that indigenously derived models, developed with the aim to represent culturally salient concepts, can be relevant well beyond their culture of origin and offer an enriched understanding of personality’s role for important outcomes across cultures.

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Development of the South African Personality Inventory: A Cross-Cultural Design in a Non-Western Society ‒ Lessons Learned and Generalizability to Other Parts of the World

Methods and Assessment in Culture and Psychology ◽

10.1017/9781108675475.011 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 198-227

Author(s):

Deon Meiring ◽

J. Alewyn Nel ◽

Velichko H. Fetvadjiev ◽

Carin Hill

Keyword(s):

South African ◽

Personality Inventory ◽

Cross Cultural ◽

Lessons Learned ◽

Western Society ◽

The South ◽

Cultural Design ◽

The World

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Assessing the Nomological Network of the South African Personality Inventory With Psychological Traits

Frontiers in Psychology ◽

10.3389/fpsyg.2021.727848 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Carin Hill ◽

Jan Alewyn Nel ◽

Leon T. de Beer ◽

Velichko H. Fetvadjiev ◽

Lyle I Stevens ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Locus Of Control ◽

South African ◽

Trait Anxiety ◽

Cultural Intelligence ◽

Well Being ◽

Psychological Outcomes ◽

Personality Inventory ◽

The South ◽

Psychological Well Being ◽

Work Locus Of Control

The purpose of this study was to expand internal construct validity and equivalence research of the South African Personality Inventory (SAPI), as well as to investigate the nomological validity of the SAPI by examining its relationship with specific and relevant psychological outcomes. The internal and external validity of the SAPI was assessed within three separate samples (N = 936). Using the combined data from all three samples, Exploratory Structural Equation Modelling (ESEM) indicated that the six-factor SAPI model fit proved to be excellent. Measurement invariance analyses showed that the SAPI dimensions in the ESEM model were invariant across gender and race groups. Next, two separate studies explored the associations of the SAPI factors with relevant psychological outcomes. An ESEM-within-CFA (set ESEM) method was used to add the factors into a new input file to correlate them with variables that were not part of the initial ESEM model. Both models generated excellent fit. In Study 1, psychological well-being and cultural intelligence were correlated with the SAPI factors within a sample of students and working adults. All of the psychological well-being dimensions significantly correlated with the SAPI factors, while for cultural intelligence, the highest correlations were between Meta-cognition and Openness and Meta-cognition and Positive Social-Relational Disposition. In Study 2, work locus of control and trait anxiety was correlated with the SAPI factors within a sample of adults from the general South African workforce. Work Locus of Control correlated with most factors of the SAPI, but more prominently with Positive Social-Relational Disposition, while Neuroticism correlated strongly with trait anxiety. Finding an appropriate internal structure that measures personality without bias in a culturally diverse context is difficult. This study provided strong evidence that the SAPI meets the demanding requirements of personality measurement in this context and generated promising results to support the relevance of the SAPI factors.

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Investigating the factor structure of the South African Personality Inventory – English version

SA Journal of Industrial Psychology ◽

10.4102/sajip.v45i0.1556 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 45 ◽

Author(s):

Nadia Morton ◽

Carin Hill ◽

Deon Meiring ◽

Leon T. De Beer

Keyword(s):

South African ◽

Personality Assessment ◽

Cultural Context ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Personality Inventory ◽

Measuring Instruments ◽

English Version ◽

The South ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Managerial Implication

Orientation: Most psychological measuring instruments developed in Western, educated, industrial, rich, democratic (W.E.I.R.D.) countries have been found to inadequately capture and represent personality outside the borders of these countries. Consequently, culturally informed or indigenous measuring instruments need to be developed.Research purpose: This study aimed to inspect whether an overlap exists between the empirical data obtained and the theoretical six-factor SAPI framework, providing evidence for an indigenous personality structure in a multi-cultural context.Motivation for the study: Psychological professionals in South Africa have been criticised for using culturally biased instruments that do not display an accurate representation of the 11 official cultural groups. The South African Personality Inventory (SAPI) aims to address these criticisms, highlighting the importance of establishing the cultural applicability of the model through model-fit analyses.Research approach/design and method: A quantitative, cross-sectional design was used to administer the SAPI-English version to a sample of employed, unemployed and employment-seeking South Africans (N = 3912). Exploratory Structural Equation Modelling (ESEM) was used to model the data.Main findings: The results revealed that the model was a good fit to the data and that the SAPI factors accurately represent personality in a multi-cultural context.Practical/managerial implication: Using a well-researched indigenous personality assessment like the SAPI can assist South African organisations to fairly and reliably assess people across the 11 official cultural groups.Contribution/value-add: This study advances the processes surrounding indigenous test development through the establishment of a personality model and measure that encapsulates personality traits exhibited in a multi-cultural context.

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Ethnic Factors in the Evolution of the South African Military

Issue A Journal of Opinion ◽

10.1017/s0047160700500468 ◽

1975 ◽

Vol 5 (4) ◽

pp. 21-28

Author(s):

Cynthia H. Enloe

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

South African ◽

Political Institution ◽

The Political ◽

The South ◽

Scant Attention ◽

Ethnic Factors ◽

The Military

Virtually all of the literature concerning the politics of South Africa analyzes the dynamics of that system within the frameworks of racism, authoritarianism, and repression. Yet, strangely, the political institution which is necessarily the bulwark of such a system—the military—has attracted scant attention except in terms of strategy and armaments.

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Adult ADHD in the South African workplace: the usefulness of a self-report screening measure and preliminary prevalence estimates

South African Journal of Psychology ◽

10.1177/0081246319870780 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 50 (2) ◽

pp. 262-273

Author(s):

Charles H Van Wijk

Keyword(s):

At Risk ◽

South African ◽

Predictive Validity ◽

Attention Deficit ◽

Adult Adhd ◽

Self Report ◽

The South ◽

Dsm 5 ◽

Prevalence Estimates ◽

Interpretation Systems

In the South African context, resource constraints often preclude the comprehensive assessment of large numbers of people for the likelihood of Adult Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Primary screening through a self-report measure may be useful to stream at-risk individuals towards diagnostic assessment services, as well as being useful in population and workplace based research. The present study set out, first, to investigate the usefulness of a self-report ADHD scale to identify at-risk individuals, and, second, to provide preliminary prevalence estimates for Adult ADHD, guided by Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.; DSM-5) criteria, in a South African workplace sample. Workers in full-time skilled employment ( N = 1,917), aged 18–44, completed a self-report Adult ADHD scale, and participated in an interview with a psychologist. Their scale data, using three different scoring and interpretation systems, were subjected to statistical analysis. Favourable internal reliability and positive predictive validity were found. Different interpretation systems provided different prevalence estimations: using DSM-5 criteria, a total prevalence estimate of 3.3 % was calculated (attention deficit subtype = 0.9%, hyperactivity-impulsivity subtype = 1.0%, and combined subtype = 1.4%). The positive predictive validity found with this sample suggests that this scale can be used constructively in research or screening contexts to identify at-risk individuals. Furthermore, preliminary prevalence estimates for Adult ADHD, guided by DSM-5 criteria, are now available for a South African workplace sample.

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Reflections on a field across time and space: the emergent medical and health humanities in South Africa

Medical Humanities ◽

10.1136/medhum-2018-011475 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 44 (4) ◽

pp. 263-269 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Victoria Jane Hume ◽

Megan Wainwright

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

South African ◽

Cross Cultural ◽

The South ◽

Health Humanities ◽

Cultural Experience ◽

The North ◽

Qualitative Evidence ◽

The Uk ◽

Personal Reflections

In this paper, we draw on our own cross-cultural experience of engaging with different incarnations of the medical and health humanities (MHH) in the UK and South Africa to reflect on what is distinct and the same about MHH in these locations. MHH spaces, whether departments, programmes or networks, have espoused a common critique of biomedical dualism and reductionism, a celebration of qualitative evidence and the value of visual and performative arts for their research, therapeutic and transformative social potential. However, there have also been differences, and importantly a different ‘identity’ among some leading South African scholars and practitioners, who have felt that if MHH were to speak from the South as opposed to the North, they would say something quite different. We seek to contextualise our personal reflections on the development of the field in South Africa over recent years within wider debates about MHH in the context of South African academia and practice, drawing in part on interviews conducted by one of the authors with South African researchers and practitioners and our own reflections as ‘Northerners’ in the ‘South’.

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Exploring Guanxi in a Cross-Cultural Context

Journal of Chinese Overseas ◽

10.1163/17932548-12341357 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

pp. 263-286 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

_ _

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

South African ◽

Cultural Context ◽

Cross Cultural ◽

Economic Activities ◽

Employment Decisions ◽

Employment Relationships

Abstract Using a case study of recently arrived Cantonese-speaking migrants, this article examines the role of guanxi in shaping Chinese newcomers’ economic activities and opportunities in South Africa. In Johannesburg, Cantonese-speaking migrants tend to be employed in restaurant and fahfee (gambling) sectors, which are partially inherited from the early generations of South African Chinese. Through narratives and stories, this article reveals that Cantonese newcomers often strengthen personal and employment relationships through the practice of guanxi, but that doing so can also constrain their employment decisions. Moreover, the ambiguous boundary between the act of bribery and the practice of guanxi may facilitate Chinese participation but can also result in the victimization of the newcomers.

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Cross-cultural indigenous training: The South African experience

Culture & Psychology ◽

10.1177/1354067x20908529 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 26 (3) ◽

pp. 605-621

Author(s):

Zana Marovic

Keyword(s):

Indigenous Knowledge ◽

South African ◽

Traditional Healers ◽

Cultural Knowledge ◽

Cross Cultural ◽

Cultural Perspective ◽

The South ◽

Cultural Aspects ◽

Western Psychology ◽

Indigenous Paradigm

In this paper, the author explores the relevance of indigenous training from a cross-cultural perspective. We start by examining the broader context of traditional Western psychology and its relevance in a multicultural society. A brief description of the indigenous paradigm is followed by a discussion of differences between Western and indigenous psychology, and a proposal of cultural eclecticism as a potential frame for their integration. Next, we discuss the South African context in relation to comparative-cultural aspects of medical and psychological services. The author’s clinical experience informs her increased awareness of culturally inadequate service at the state hospital, developing curiosity about African indigenous healing, and subsequent encounters and collaboration with African traditional healers. Ultimately, the author develops culturally sensitive training that explores cultural biases and generates cross-cultural knowledge and competence. In conclusion, the author advocates that in the area of globalisation and multicultural societies, psychological training and clinical practice, should include dialogue and facilitate collaboration between Western and indigenous knowledge, hopefully leading to a more holistic and culturally inclusive service to a population of different backgrounds. Such collaboration and integration of Western and indigenous knowledge may be a source of professional stimulation as well as a benefit to health-care consumers.

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Pathways through homelessness: the perceptions of homeless children in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa

Journal of Children s Services ◽

10.1108/jcs-01-2018-0002 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 15 (3) ◽

pp. 141-160

Author(s):

Anna Wilshire Jones Bornman ◽

Carol Jean Mitchell

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

South African ◽

Well Being ◽

South African Context ◽

Homeless Children ◽

The South ◽

Research Attention ◽

Content Type ◽

Factors Influencing ◽

African Context

Purpose The purpose of this study was to explore children’s pathways through homelessness within the South African context, with particular attention paid to pathways out of homelessness. This study focusses on factors influencing children’s successful transitions out of homelessness. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative exploratory design was used, using interviews with nine children who had exited or were in the process of exiting homelessness. Interviews were conducted at a children’s shelter in Pietermaritzburg or in the children’s home environments. Interviews were analysed thematically. Findings An ecological framework was used to frame the factors influencing children’s pathways in, through and out of homelessness in the children’s narratives. These included institutions, relationships and intrapersonal strengths and resources. The study suggested that constructive relationships with shelter staff and parental figures, as well as intrapersonal strengths, were the most prominent factors in children successfully negotiating their way through their homelessness. The importance of a relationship with the paternal family within some African cultures was also a point of leverage. Research limitations/implications Implications for policy and practise include the need for systemic change, as well as greater support for shelters and shelter staff. The issue of rivalry in the shelter context and the role of the paternal family in the reintegration process require more research attention. The research is limited to homeless children in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Practical implications This study provided feedback to the shelter regarding their strategies for assisting homeless children off the streets. It further provided evidence for the importance of the work of the shelter, to strengthen advocacy efforts. This may be useful to others in similar circumstances. Social implications This study highlights the importance of macrosystemic interventions in the efforts to assist homeless children, while at the same time not ignoring the inter and intra, personal elements to enhancing their well-being. Originality/value This paper is singular in its exploration of factors influencing children’s successful transitions out of homelessness within the South African context.

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