AFRICAN CULTURAL VALUES AND PERSONALITY FACTORS …

AFRICAN CULTURAL VALUES AND PERSONALITY FACTORS

AMONG RURAL AND URBAN DWELLERS IN GHANA

THIS THESIS IS SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF GHANA,

LEGON

BY

ELIZABETH ANOKYEWAA SARFO

(10227695)

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE

AWARD OF MPHIL PSYCHOLOGY DEGREE

JULY 2015

University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh

i

DECLARATION

This is to certify that this thesis is the result of research carried out by ELIZABETH

ANOKYEWAA SARFO towards the award of the MPhil Clinical Psychology in the

Department of Psychology, University of Ghana.

………………………………

Elizabeth Anokyewaa Sarfo

(Student)

Date…………………………

……………………………………

Professor C. Charles Mate-Kole

(Principal Supervisor)

Date………………………………

...…………………………………….

Dr Kingsley Nyarko

(Co-Supervisor)

Date.....................................................


African personality factors among Akans in Ghana

ii

DEDICATION

This thesis is dedicated to our African fathers and mothers who have fought tirelessly for all

Africans.



iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I owe every singular honour first to the Almighty God for his protection and guidance

throughout this study. I wish to sincerely express my profound gratitude to my supervisor Prof.

C. Charles Mate-Kole for his guidance, mentorship and advice and the supervision of my thesis.

I say God richly bless you. I also express sincere gratitude to Dr. Kingsley Nyarko, my second

supervisor for his patience and careful guidance from the commencement through to the

completion of this work.

I am also grateful to all the lecturers of Department of Psychology, University of Ghana for the

knowledge they have impacted into me during my study at the department.

I also owe a depth of gratitude to Dr Joana Salifu Yendork for her assistance and

encouragement. I owe a depth of gratitude to you. I also am grateful to Stella Dzifa Monu

Awudi, and Daniel Fordjour for the pressure, and encouragement you gave me.

My special thanks go to all my participants for both the qualitative and quantitative study.

My unreserved appreciation goes to my parents Mr. K. A. Sarfo and Miss Veronica Boadi as

well as my siblings who have supported me both financially and in prayers.

Finally but not the least, I am grateful to all my friends and loved ones for their assistance in the

course of my Programme.



iv

ABSTRACT

The present study investigated factors and values that influence the development of personality

in the Akan concept, the extent to which the Akan theory of day name determines personality

of an individual. In addition, it sought to determine the relationship between the Big Five

personality factors, the Africentric worldview and the Akan personality factors. The study is a

mixed methods design. The first part is a qualitative study that involves an in-depth interview

with eight participants with age range between 40 and 100 years. The second part, is a

quantitative study where questionnaires were administered to one hundred conveniently

sampled participants from two Akan communities comprising 60 rural and 40 urban dwellers.

Thematic analysis was used to analyse qualitative data which revealed that personality among

the Akan is defined by the cognitive (‘nusu1’) and behavioural (‘banb4’) aspect of the

individual. Factors believed to affect personality include social, biological and supernatural

factors. Results from the qualitative data was used to develop a questionnaire used to test the

personality of participants from rural and urban areas. The Ten Item Personality Inventory

adapted from the Big-Five was administered was used to test the Big Five personality index

among participants. Africentric Worldview Scale was used to test the Africentric worldview of

participants. Overall, there was significant difference on the emotional stability subscale of the

Ten Item Personality Inventory. A principal component analysis of the Africentric Worldview

Scale confirmed the spiritual subscale. Further, other factors emerged in contrast to previous

findings. Implications of the findings was discussed.



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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CONTENT PAGE

DECLARATION ........................................................................................................................ i

ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................. iv

DEDICATION ........................................................................................................................... ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ....................................................................................................... iii

CHAPTER ONE ........................................................................................................................ 1

INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Background of Study ........................................................................................................... 1

1.1.1 The Eurocentric Concept of the Person......................................................................... 5

1.1.2The African Concept of the person and personality ....................................................... 7

1.1.3 African Concept of Personality based on Day Name .................................................... 8

1.1.4 The Big Five Personality ............................................................................................... 9

1.2 Problem Statement ............................................................................................................. 10

1.3 The Aims and Objectives of the Study .............................................................................. 11

1.4 Relevance of the Study ...................................................................................................... 12

CHAPTER TWO ..................................................................................................................... 14

LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................................................ 14

2.1 Theoretical Framework ...................................................................................................... 14

2.1.1 The Africentric Worldview ......................................................................................... 15

2.2 Review of Related Literature ............................................................................................. 20

2.3 Rationale for Current Study ............................................................................................... 32



vi

2.4 Research Questions for Qualitative Part of the Study ....................................................... 33

2.5 Statement of Hypotheses for the Quantitative Part of the Study ....................................... 33

2.6 Operational Definition of Terms ........................................................................................ 35

CHAPTER THREE ................................................................................................................. 37

METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................................. 37

3.1 Research Design................................................................................................................. 37

3.2 Research Settings ............................................................................................................... 39

3.3 Population and Participants................................................................................................ 41

3.4 Instruments ......................................................................................................................... 45

3.5 Pilot study .......................................................................................................................... 47

3.6 Role as Researcher ............................................................................................................. 48

3.7 Validity and Reliability of Qualitative Results .................................................................. 49

3.8 Ethical Issues ..................................................................................................................... 51

3.9 Procedure ........................................................................................................................... 52

3.10 Data Analyses .................................................................................................................. 53

CHAPTER 4 ............................................................................................................................ 55

RESULTS ................................................................................................................................ 55

4.1 QUALITATIVE RESULTS .............................................................................................. 55

4.1.1 Qualitative Findings .................................................................................................... 55

4.1.2 Demographic Characteristics for Qualitative Study.................................................... 56

4.1.3 Meaning and Concept of Personality (“suban”) .......................................................... 56



vii

4.1.4 Factors Affecting the Development of ‘Suban’ or Personality ................................... 59

4.1.5 Social Factors .............................................................................................................. 60

4.1.6 Biological Factors ....................................................................................................... 65

4.1.7 Supernatural Factors .................................................................................................... 66

4.2 Summary of Qualitative Results ........................................................................................ 76

4.3 QUANTITATIVE RESULTS ........................................................................................... 77

4.4 Preliminary Analysis .......................................................................................................... 77

4.5 Hypotheses Testing ............................................................................................................ 82

4.6 Summary of Qualitative and Quantitative Findings .......................................................... 92

CHAPTER FIVE ..................................................................................................................... 95

DISCUSSION .......................................................................................................................... 95

5.1 Discussion of Findings ....................................................................................................... 95

5.2 Limitations ....................................................................................................................... 105

5.3 Recommendations ............................................................................................................ 105

5.4 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 107

REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................... 109

APPENDICES ....................................................................................................................... 121

APPENDIX A .......................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

APPENDIX B ........................................................................................................................ 121

APPENDIX C ........................................................................................................................ 125

APPENDIX D ........................................................................................................................ 126



viii

APPENDIX E ........................................................................................................................ 128

APPENDIX F......................................................................................................................... 134

APENDIX G .......................................................................................................................... 135



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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1 Hypothesised Model……………………………………………………….36

Figure 4.1 Observed Conceptual Model……………………………………………….95



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LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1 Akan day names, appellations and personalities associated with them…………...26

Table 3.1 Demographic characteristics of participants in qualitative

part of the study……………………………………………………………………...43

Table 3.2 Demographic characteristics of participants in quantitative

part of the study…………………………………………………………………..….45

Table 4.1 Summary of Akan day names, their totems and personality

associated with them………………………………………………………....73

Table 4.2 Descriptive statistics and test for normality……………………………………….78

Table 4.3 Factor loading on the questionnaire designed by researcher………………………80

Table 4.4 Items loading on Spirituality subscale of Africentric Worldview

Scale………………………………………………………………………………….80

Table 4.5 Items loading on Factor 2 of Africentric Worldview Scale……………………….81





Table 4.10 Items loading on Factor 7 of Africentric Worldview Scale.…………………….82

Table 4.11 Summary of One-Way ANOVA results for association between

TIPI measuring Big Five personality and gender of participants…………………….83

Table 4.12 Summary of One-Way ANOVA results for association between the Africentric

Worldview Scale, Akan Personality Factor and gender….............................……......84

Table 4.13 Summary of One-Way ANOVA results for association between

the Ten Item Personality Inventory and Rural/Urban………......................................85



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Table 4.14 Summary of One-Way ANOVA results for the association between Africentric

Worldview Scale, Akan Personality Factor and Rural/Urban settlement...................86

Table 4.15 Summary of One-Way ANOVA results for the association between

day of birth and Akan Personality Factor ....................................................................87


the Big Five and the day of birth.................................................................................89


the Africentric Worldview Scale and the day of birth..................................................90

Table 4.18 Pearson’s correlation table of Akan Personality Factor with the

Ten Item Personality and the Africentric Worldview Scale.........................................92


1

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of Study

The concept of personality has been a topic of discussion in psychology since the study of

human behaviour began. It is therefore not surprising that several scholars have defined the

term “personality”. For example, Plato, Aristotle, Descartes and other philosophers and

writers tried to define personality even before psychology emerged as a field of study in the

19th century. After the emergence of psychology, scholars such as Sigmund Freud and J. B.

Watson worked tirelessly to understand and define the underpinnings of personality. Allport

(1961, p. 28) stated, “Personality is the dynamic organisation, inside the person, of those

psychophysical systems that create the person’s characteristic patterns of behaviour, thoughts

and feelings.” These patterns of behaviour are, to a large degree, adaptations to the internal

demands of instinctual drives, genetic predispositions and tensions as well as to the external

demands for conformity and socialization. In recent times, personality has been defined as

“the reasonably stable patterns of emotions, motives and behaviour that distinguish one

person from the other” (Rathus, 2014, p. 244). Additionally, Nairne (2014, p. 373) defined

personality as “the distinguishing pattern of psychological characteristics –thinking, feeling

and behaving that differentiates us from others and leads us to act consistently across

situations.”

Several theories have been proposed to explain the concept of personality. For example, the

psychodynamic theory proposed that personality is shaped by unconscious conflict between

external and internal forces at any given moment (Rathus, 2014). The behaviourist also

hypothesized that personality is shaped by situational or environmental influences and not

internal as proposed by the scholars of the psychodynamic perspective (Nairne, 2014).



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Proponents of the learning theory placed emphasis on individual variables, which they

believed, are key shapers of personality (Rathus, 2014). Although these theories provide

some explanation to personality, Hergenhahn (2009) opined that these theories are too vague

to be measured scientifically, could not be used to predict behaviour and much of the data

was garnered from middle and high-class society members.

Heine and Buchtel (2009) suggested that cultural psychological research conducted over the

past two decades have revealed cultural differences in many psychological processes such as

personality traits, emotion, preferences for choice among others that were perceived to be

universal (Church, 2000; Diener, Oishi, & Lucas, 2003; Markus & Kitayama, 1998; Triandis

& Suh, 2002; Iyengar & Lepper 1999). It is important to note that the study of personality

and psychology as a whole has largely been guided by European and American research.

Heine and Butchel (2009) reported that majority of publications in the Journal of Personality

and Social Psychology were from authors in Europe and North America. The skewed sample

used in most of these personality researches conducted has raised important questions about

the generalizability of these studies (Arnett 2008, Henrich et al. 2008) since cultural

differences exist even in a particular country.

Schultz (2003) pointed out that even Erich Fromm and Karen Horney recognized the cultural

differences among their neurotic patients and the inability to extend their cultural beliefs to a

different population. Exporting theories of personality from an European or American

cultural setting to an African population (Schultz, 2003) may not be commendable. In recent

years, researchers have tried to define personality bringing to light the importance of cultural

influences on personality for example Benet-Martínez and Oishi (2006) defined personality

as being shaped by genetic and environmental factors with cultural influences being most

important. The relevance of culture was highlighted by Heine (2008) who proposed an



3

assumption that “personality and culture are mutually constituted”. This assumption

highlights the fact that one cannot study personality without studying the role of culture.

Although early personality theorists were concerned with the important role of culture on

personality (e.g., Allport, 1954; McClelland, 1961), they did not include cultural influences in

the generation of personality theories until the early 1990s (Benet-Martínez, 2006).

In recent times, most personality researchers have emphasized the similarities and

universality between different personalities across the different cultures of the world (Trandis

& Suh, 2002). MaCrae and Costa (1997) proposed that the basic construct of personality is

universal. Their reason was based on the assumption that personality traits appear in the

same pattern among adults, that traits are biological, and that acculturation effects are the

same across the world (MaCrae et al, 1998b; MaCrae et al, 1999).

Some researchers have tried to establish the universality of some personality theories like the

Five–Factor personality model that was proposed by Tupes and Christal (1961). MaCrae,

Terraciano et al. (2005) reported that personality traits are common to all human groups after

collecting data from European, Americas, Asia and some African cultures. Other researchers

such as Kohnstamm, Halverson, Mervielde, and Havill (1998) recorded similar findings when

they conducted their research in seven countries.

The aforementioned studies suggested that personality can be said to be universal. However,

Akbar (1996) and Azibo (2006) have a different concept of the universality of personality

when it comes to the definition of the African personality and psychology in general. Akbar

(1996; p. 31) defined personality to mean “the way an individual perceived his or her

environment, how he thinks, feels and acts in accordance with the laws in his or her

environment as dictated by God, the gods and the ancestors who lived before them.” This



4

personality definition by Akbar (1996) sums up the definition of the personality in an African

perspective. It is in sharp contrast to the western definitions of personality, which have been

said to be mechanistic in nature (Azibo, 2003).

The definition of personality by Allport (1961, pg.59) as “the dynamic organisation, inside

the person, of psychophysical systems that create the person’s characteristic patterns of

behaviour, thoughts and feelings” is an attempt to give a more common definition of

personality since it placed emphasis on psychophysical systems such as cultural values.

Azibo (2003) believed that though both African and European scholars agree that personality

and culture are interrelated, different races in this world have their own distinct set of

psychological and behavioural traits or disposition.

Although personality traits are said to be universal, (MacCrae et al., 2005; Kohnstamm et al.,

1998; Heine & Buchtel, 2009) other researchers have reported that there are some key

variations when the data is drawn from indigenous cultures in the world. They further state

that people from collectivist cultures place less emphasis on traits when defining their

personality as compared to those from individualistic cultures. This assertion posited by

Heine and Buchtel (2009) had already been emphasized by Azibo (2003) who reiterated the

theory that Alfred B. Pasteur and Ivory L. Toldson held in the Roots of Soul that the African

and European minds perceive and interpret universal phenomenon differently and have a

sharp contrast in their expressive behaviour and value system.

It is therefore important that African psychology will have to develop new methodologies,

theoretical and scientific guidelines that respond to the psychological needs of Africans

(Azibo, 2003). Might be attributed to the fact that most of the theories are individualistic and



5

do not reflect the psychological worldview of the African who would include both

community and family in defining psychological constructs (Mpofu, 2002).

1.1.1 The Eurocentric Concept of the Person

To understand the African concept of the person and personality, it is essential to examine the

concept of the person in other cultures, which have penetrated the worldview of the nature of

personality to the extent that it has displaced the African view of the person for some

Africans. Such Africans have been alienated from their own healthy psychological orientation

(Azibo, 2006).

Attempts at understanding the nature of the person can be seen in the Darwinian theory of the

evolution of man. Darwin (1859) defined the nature of man by postulating that aggression

and conflict are locked in the natural instincts of the human being. His theory on the “survival

of the fittest” greatly suggested that the human society had survived through competition,

elimination of the weak and the peaceful; thereby describing humans as evil, insensitive,

destructive and selfish (Dzobo, 1992). This quest for survival is stated by Dzobo (1992) as

the motivating factor for the human being in all his endeavours. He further stated that growth

and progress for the people of this culture is embedded in the belief that each person must

strive for himself thereby competing for individual interests. Thus the human is described as

being motivated by the will to survive.

In attempting to understand the nature of the human being, Freud propounded the sexual

instinct (Libido) as primary force that drives the individual to act. He later propounded the

life (Eros) and the death (Thanatos) principles to explain the main drives that shape the

personality of an individual (Rathus, 2014). The principle of the sexual instinct emphasized

that an individual is primarily driven by his or her sexual energy; the satisfaction of this



6

sexual energy is what drives an individual’s personality thereby shaping the development of

his or her society (Rathus, 2014). According to Nairne (2014), life and death principles later

became the driving force behind the personality of an individual. The life principle was said

to be the instinct that strives to preserve the life of an individual while the death principles

solely feeds on destruction of life aggression and eventually death. According to Freud, these

two unconscious instincts are constantly fighting within the individual to gain control of the

individual’s personality (Kalat, 2011). The death principle however eventually wins over the

life principle thereby causing the death of the individual (Nairne, 2014). This conflict

between the life and death principles, are seen in the conflict between the id and superego

with the ego striving to maintain a balance between the two. These unconscious conflicts

shape the development of individuals’ personality and to a larger extent their culture as a

whole (Kalat, 2011).

Erich Fromm, viewed destructiveness to be a secondary potentiality in human which is

revealed only when an individual fails to appreciate his or her primary potentialities (Dzobo,

1992). Fromm, held the view that humans are constantly evolving away from our instinctual

nature to a rational being. He also proposed two conflicting natures of human psyche, one

rational and the other instinctual which forms that basis of human existence. These

conflicting natures form the basis of human behaviour not towards destruction but creativity

(Dzobo, 1992).

Carl Jung, Freud’s student, developed a theory to explain the nature of the human psyche. He

saw the psyche of an individual to be embedded in the substance of the world. His theory

stated that the psyche of the human being is divided into three, the ego, which is the

conscious mind, the personal unconscious which is not conscious but can be; the collective

unconscious or psychic inheritance (Boeree, 2006). The collective unconscious is inherited,



7

universal characters which run through all human life. Jung viewed it as a repository of whole

history of the human race, back to the most primitive times, lives on in us. Jung also viewed

human beings as being inwardly whole even though most people have lost touch with the

important aspects of our lives. He emphasises on the uniqueness of each individual (Boeree,

2006).

It appears from the Eurocentric concept of the person that the individual is a mechanistic and

physical entity ruled by the instinctual drives, aggression and inborn conflicts. However, the

African concept of the person presents the person as someone who embraces both the

physical and spiritual influences in nature and not the conflict ridden person presented in the

Eurocentric perspective.

1.1.2 The African Concept of the person and personality

To understand the concept of the nature of the human being from the African perspective, one

needs to understand the African view of the world and reality. The African worldview is one

that can be viewed from the foundation of the African community in the form of myths,

personal names, symbols and proverbs (Dzobo, 1992). Dzobo (1992) presented an African

notion of the person based on the opinion that the African views the individual as a being

created by God with a creative nature and not destructive as propounded by some Western

scholars. As a creative being, Africans view humans as spiritual beings who exude the

creative nature of God through the soul that He gives to the individual.

The concept of the person among the various African cultures emphasized a basic

metaphysical nature of the human being which stated that an individual is a spirit, a soul and

a physical being. According to Ozumba (2004), the African sees the spirit as operating

independently of the soul though both are immaterial. He further mentioned that the spirit

was seen to act as an intermediary between the soul and the creator meaning that the spirit



8

communicates directly with the creator and transmits the information to the soul which in

turn affects the body (Ozumba, 2004).

In contrast, the physical body was viewed to affect higher life which inhabits the body like

mental component, the soul and then the spirit (Akbar, 1996). This reverse influence of the

physical nature of an individual on the spirit and the soul is seen in the influence of the

parents through biological inheritance and the impact of the community on the individual

which in turn affects the soul and spirit. This view clearly objectifies the African’s basis for

interpreting an individual’s personality. Thus, African conception of personality is

multidimensional and yet streamlined into a simplified dualistic view of human personality

(Dzobo, 1992). The African conception of personality embraces and transcends the western

conception of the person. These concepts are believed to be the basis of the person as

proposed by our African scholars (Gyekye, 1996; Gyasi, 1997). This study concentrates on

the African, but more specifically, the Akan concept of man and the views and factors that

affect the personality of the individual.

1.1.3 African Concept of Personality based on Day Name

The name an individual holds is sometimes believed to have an impact on the life of that

individual. Efeshani (2011) proposed the notion that the name an individual has always

represented an important aspect of the self. Likewise, Lawson (1971) believed that, an

individual’s name can become a part of his or her self-concept. Harari and McDavid (1973)

further postulated that people tend to be judged by their names.

Similar to other cultures, most ethnic groups in Ghana, are guided by these basic beliefs.

Parents of a new born tend to carefully choose the name to be given to their child. Based on

everyday experiences as a Ghanaian, Ewes in Ghana give names like ‘Dzib4di’ meaning



9

patience, Akorfa meaning consoler, Emefa meaning calmness among others to illustrate the

kind of life and personality they want their child to live. Among the Akans, before a child is

named, the parents and relatives of the family investigate and select the name of an ancestor

or an elder who is believed to have exhibited a high social morals and very good personality

to name their child after (Gyekye, 1996). It is believed that as the child grows, he or she is

expected to emulate the person he or she has been named after and also behave properly so as

not to induce derogatory remarks from others that will denigrate the name one has acquired

(Agyekum, 2006).

Another belief held among the Akan of Ghana is that the day on which an individual is born

has an influence on his or her personality. Every Akan child is usually given a name based on

the day the individual is born (‘krada’), which is called the ‘akradin’ or ‘kradin’ (Akhan,

2008). The Akan believe that the day on which one is born is the day the individual’s ‘4kra’

(soul) choose to enter into the world. The soul is therefore given the name variant of the day

it entered the world. This day name given to the child is believed to affect the individual’s

personality through the deities (‘akradinbosom’) that govern the particular day that

individual was born (Sarfo & Mate-Kole, 2014; Akhan, 2008; Gyasi, 1997). Therefore when

one is born on a Monday for instance, the child is expected to be peaceful, humble and calm

because the deity that governs that particular day is believed to have these personality traits

and should transmits his/her personality to the individual through the ‘4kra’ (Agyekum, 2006;

Sarfo, 2010). This concept will further be explained in the review of literature.

1.1.4 The Big Five Personality

Having explained the African perspectives of personality, one has to juxtapose it to an

European or American model that has been widely accepted and recognized to determine

whether there are any similarities or differences between them. The choice of the Five Factor



10

Model (FFM) for the purpose of this study meets the criteria since it has been proposed to be

universal and most widely researched personality construct (MaCrea et al, 2005). Its five

dimensions, extraversion, openness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and agreeableness

(Weisberg, DeYoung & Hirsh, 2011) have been widely researched (McCrae et al, 2005;

Gurven, von Rueden, Massenkoff, Kaplan, & Lero Vie, 2012). A number of research

gathered in recent years supports the universality of five basic dimensions of the five factor

model and agreed that they underlie and encompass most of the significant differences seen

in personality across cultures (McCrae, et al, 2005; Schmitt et al., 2007).

The universality of the five basic dimensions proposed by McCrae, et al, (2005) and Schmitt

et al (2007) suggested a uniform variety of personality traits among humans despite different

cultural background, history, economy, social life, ideology, and every other form of cultural

and behavioural influences that exists. Thus, the five factor model of personality will be

compared to the themes derived from the qualitative study which measures personality

constructs specifically the Akan concept of personality based on the Akan theory of the

influence of day names on personality.

1.2 Problem Statement

Although the Big 5 personality traits is said to be culturally universal (MaCrae. et al 2005,

Schmitt et al, 2007 etc), Heine and Buchel(2009) do not agree with this assertion since the

Big 5 personality traits are seen to vary among collectivist and individualistic cultures. They

found that the Big 5 does not remain the same among indigenous peoples of the world. By

testing the Big 5 personality on the Akan population and comparing it to the Akan personality

concept, the study will be able to establish the reliability and validity of the Big 5 personality

traits among the Akan population. It will also help tease the different personality traits that

are indigenous to the Akan which can be compared to that of people from other cultures.



11

Over the years there has been a lot of work on the personality of the African, especially,

among Africans in the diaspora as seen in works done by Akbar (1996), Azibo, (1996; 2006),

Baldwin (1985) among others. However, research conducted among continental Africans, by

scholars such as Gyekye (1996), Wiredu (1983) among others, are quite few. Further,

majority of these studies employed Eurocentric definitions of personality and factors

affecting personality making it difficult to generalize their findings. With respect to studies

on Akan concepts of personality, there is very little psychological research. It is worthy to

note that an attempt was made by Jahoda (1954) when he conducted a study among Ashanti

boys to determine if the day on which one is born affects the personality of the individual.

Jahoda (1954) compared the day names of delinquent Ashanti boys from the Juvenile court

records of the Ashanti region. He found a large number of boys born on Wednesday

committed offences which corresponds to the meaning of their day appellation which means

aggressor, evil and trouble maker while boys born on Monday were calm, peaceful and cool

were few on the offense list. This led him conclude that as believed by the Ashanti, the day

on which one is born may affect the personality traits of that individual.

Given the scarcity of research on the Akan concept of personality, this research seeks to

investigate the relationship between Akan traditional concept of day of birth and personality.

It also seeks to explore the Akan cultural values and factors that are believed to influence the

personality of an individual and to examine environmental factors that affect personality

through the comparison of rural and urban settling on personality.

1.3 The Aims and Objectives of the Study

The main purpose of the study is to identify and describe the nature of the African personality

in the Akan context as well as examine the factors that influence African personality concept

specifically the Akan concept of personality, which will aid in the development of an African



12

personality scale. African personality will be based on the Akan theory of day names (kradin)

and will be compared with the Big Five personality factors to determine whether any

relationship exists between these two constructs. Finally, the purpose of the study will also be

to ascertain whether the Akan theory of day name is relevant in determining personality of an

individual. Specifically, this study seeks to

1. Investigate the factors and values that influence the development of personality in the

Akan concept.

2. Investigate the extent to which the Akan theory of day name determines personality of

the Ghanaian.

3. Determine the relationship between the Big Five personality factors and the Akan

personality factors.

4. To bring out the set of variables or constructs that affects the African personality.

1.4 Relevance of the Study

The Akan concept of personality brings afore a rich concept of personality that has hardly

been tapped into by psychologists in Africa. The concepts of the ‘sunsum,’ ‘4kra’ ‘akradin’

and other concepts of Akan personality presents a different worldview of personality that will

add to the discourse of personality in psychology. It will also provide the Akan traditional

concepts of personality that can form the basis for future research.

Results from this study will help inform clinical psychologist on the factors that help form the

personality of an individual from the Akan cultural perspective. This information will throw

more light on the African personality in general and how it deviates from the Eurocentric

personality which may then aid in the understanding and diagnosis of personality disorders

among the Akan population.



13

Results from the study will inform parents and guardians of Akan children on the basic

elements that affect the personality development of their children, which in turn will help

them choose correct procedures, and measure that will help their children develop a good

personality.



14

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter explores literature and studies on the theory of the African but more specifically

the Akan traditional concept of personality, the various factors that affect personality in the

Akan perspective and the theoretical underpinnings that define personality in the Akan

context. At the end of this chapter, questions like what in African traditional thought is the

nature of a person? Who is a person, and what are the make-up or constituent parts, character,

conduct and personal idiosyncrasies of the person in an African culture? Other definitions of

African concepts of the person and personality will also be discussed. Also, the research

questions will be presented here.

2.1 Theoretical Framework

The concept of a person held by a group of people forms the basis in understanding how a

person views himself (Imafidon, 2012). It also explains how concepts such as the idea of

being, morality, knowledge and truth that are essential for the ordering of the society are

viewed (Imafidon, 2012). This is emphasised by the fact that such a concept encapsulates the

role the society expects the individual to play for the attainment of an orderly society. The

Africentric worldview concept and the African personality concept are discussed as the two

main theories that express the African perspective on his or her universe and the influence of

this universe on the African life as well as his or her personality. These concept are discussed

below.



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2.1.1 The Africentric Worldview

A worldview is a way of thinking that organizes one’s life through the individual’s beliefs,

values, attitudes and expectations as well as the individual’s interactions with his or her

society (Vidal, 2008). The Africentric worldview or model has been described as a

philosophical worldview, which has its foundations on traditional African philosophical

assumptions (Asante, 1987, 1988; Baldwin & Hopkins, 1990, Schiele, 1994). A basic

assumption of the Africentric conceptual framework is that all Africans have a cultural

orientation, which is specific to the African in which they operate (Asante, 1987; Azibo,

2005; Baldwin, 1981; Nobles, 1980). It therefore, emphasizes the view that to understand the

African, one must draw from the relationships and experiences which includes values and

principles of the African worldview.

The Africentric model emphasizes that to the African, there is an interconnectedness between

all elements of the universe, humanity and nature. It also emphasizes that the universe and

everything in it is spiritual, and that they are created from a similar spiritual substance. For

the African, there is a link between the creator, humanity and the universe as a whole, which

depicts the interdependency of the African cosmology (Akbar, 1984; Baldwin, 1981; Nobles,

1980). Epistemologically, the Africentric perspective places considerable emphasis on an

affective way of obtaining and demonstrating knowledge (Akbar, 1984, Asante, 1988;

Schiele, 1994). The Africentric worldview proposes that knowledge acquisition not be

limited but inclusive of both rational and affective methods and finds emotions and feelings

as a valid and critical form of acquiring knowledge (Alfred, 2001). The axiological

perspective places emphasis on the value of maintaining a harmonious interpersonal

relationship with the society (Alfred, 2001; Schiele, 1994).



16

Bell, Bouie, and Baldwin (1990) noted that the African worldview is deeply rooted in the

historical, cultural, and philosophical tradition of African people. They further noted that the

Africentric worldview is a combination of African behaviours and psychological functioning

that place emphasis on the African value system that affirms African life.

It is important to note that the Africentric worldview based on a set of cosmological,

ontological, epistemological, and axiological attributes (Alfred, 2001; Schiele, 1994). It

presents the basic assumptions of the African personality as seen above. In the African

context, personality is believed to be shaped by the elements of the universe, humanity and

nature that are interconnected (Akbar, 1996). The emphasis on spirituality, communality,

interdependency makes its adoption for this study feasible since the study examines these

structures in the development of an African personality.

Building on the Africentric worldview, Akbar (1996) proposed a concept of African

personality that encompasses all elements of the Africentric worldview.

The African personality concept as reported by Sarfo and Mate-Kole (2014) suggested that

the role of the individual in the society as well as the influence of supernatural forces in the

environment and life of an African. Akbar (1996) defined the African personality as

“purposeful in its emergence, harmonious with its ecology and consistent with the laws of

life” (p. 30). It may be argued that the African personality is infused in the core elements of

the universe that include the communal and spiritual laws governing the universe. Akbar

(1996, p. 30) further explained that to understand the African personality, one must consider

the nature as an important element in the construction of the African personality since the

African “sees a continuity and harmony between nature and himself.” He further stated that



17

the African draws his or her personality from the laws governing his living and natural

environment, the predictability of life cycles and time and the continuity of life.

To understand the concept of African personality, one first should understand the African

concept of the person. According to Ozumba (2004), in Africa, a person is perceived to be

made up of three principal substances, which include the physical, mental and the spiritual.

The African concepts of a person are seen to be diverse but have similar theoretical

foundations as seen in traditions of the Akan, Yoruba, Igbo, Bini, Luo, Ewe, among others

(Imafidon, 2012).

The physical component of man known as ‘nipadua’ or ‘honam’ among the Akans, and ‘ara’

among the Yoruba for example, is translated to mean body. The body is seen to be the vessel

that holds the human organs; it breathes, talks, walks and does all activities it needs to survive

on earth. Akbar (1996) mentioned that the prominent characteristic of the physical aspect of

man is its orientation to survive or to self-preserve. It is this orientation to survive that

includes the quest to satisfy human basic needs such as hunger, thirst, breathe, shelter,

affection and preservation of life. In trying to satisfy these basic needs, the activities one

engages are what is believed to shape the individual’s personality. It is however important to

note that for the African, the instinct to preserve the body though basic, is a way of

preserving a higher spiritual life that lives in the body (Akbar, 1996; Sarfo & Mate–Kole

2014).

The mental component of the person is what is called the ‘adwene’ (mind/brain) in Akan and

is viewed as a physical component and is influenced by the ‘sunsum’ (spirit). The mental

component consists of the thoughts processes, intelligence and personality disposition of the

individual (Opoku, 1973; Sarfo & Mate–Kole 2014). The Yoruba view the mental component



18

of man as being divided into the ’Opolo’ (the brain), ‘Okan’ (the heart) and ‘Ifun’ (the

intestine) (Oladupo, 1992). The ‘Opolo’ and ‘Okan’ are regarded by the Yoruba as the main

force that influence human conscious activities such as thinking, feeling, etc. ‘Opolo’ for

example is regarded by them as having connections with sanity and intelligence while the

‘Okan’, (physical heart) is closely connected with blood, and seen as the seat of emotion and

psychic energy. A courageous person is usually described as ‘having a heart’ (‘oni okan’)

(Oladupo, 1992).

The Yoruba regard ‘Ifun,’ as the source of strength and resourcefulness and can describe an

individual who is not strong as someone who ‘has no intestine’ which means that the person

is not strong or has no resilience.

The spiritual component of man is derived from the view that man is intimately tied to a

spiritual force in the universe (Akbar, 1996). The African finds a connection between the

supernatural forces in the environment and the Supreme Being. The substance of the

Supreme Being according to the African concept of man are spiritual entities such as the

‘4kra,’ ‘sunsum’ ‘okan’ ‘emi’ ‘nommo’ among others.

Some scholars suggested that among the Akan of Ghana, ‘sunsum’ is translated to mean the

spirit in an individual and is considered the bearer of one’s personality (Appiah, 2004;

Gyekye 1995). The ‘4kra’ (soul), on the other hand is a sort of life force that departs from the

body only at the person’s last breath; and is often said to be sent to a person at birth, as the

bearer of ones ‘nkrabea,’ or destiny, from Nyame (the Supreme Being in Akan). The

‘sunsum,’ unlike the ‘4kra,’ may leave the body during life and does so, for example, in sleep,

dreams being thought to be the perceptions of a person’s ‘sunsum’ on its nightly

peregrinations. This Akan concept of man can be seen among the Yoruba which propose that



19

the individual is tripartite in nature (Imafidon, 2012). The ‘emi’ (vital principle) and ‘ori’

(destiny) are seen as the main components of the spiritual aspect of a person. Among the

Yoruba, ‘ori’ is seen as the entity that rules, controls, and guides the life and activities of the

person. It is derived from the Supreme Being thereby establishing a bound between man and

his creator. There is a strong belief that without the Supreme Being, the human being cannot

exist (Oyeshile, 2006).

According to Imafidon (2012), ‘emi’ is the force or energy without which a person cannot

live and is associated to the breathing mechanism. It is regarded by the Yoruba as the basis of

human existence. “It is the entity which gives life to a person; its presence or absence means

life or death. It is a divine element in man which links man directly to God when He breaths

into the human body and makes the body a living being” (Imafidon, 2012, p. 6). In the event

of death, it returns to the Supreme Being to give an account of a person’s activities on earth.

‘Emi’, then, is considered by the Yoruba as immortal and is analogous to the Akan concept of

‘4kra.’

From the studies reviewed, it appears that the various African thoughts on the concept of a

person as seen among the Akan, the Yoruba and the Ibos describe a person as being made up

of a physical body, a vital force and destiny. Thus, the individual is made up of both material,

quasi-material and immaterial parts all forming a unified whole to account for the

individual’s personality, predispositions and life experiences.

It is important to note that in the African culture, the concept of a person goes beyond the

constituent parts of the person to include communal or societal aspect of a person. It is seen

as a social entity with societal factors such as family, taboos and cultural values influencing



20

his or her personality. These societal factors are believed to shape and help manifest his

potentialities that was given to the individual by the Supreme Being.

2.2 Review of Related Literature

The Akan concept of the “sunsum” and personality

‘Sunsum’ is another of the constituent element of the person in Akan philosophical thought

and can be translated to mean spirit in English. Gyekye (1995) posited that ‘sunsum’ denotes

all unperceivable supernatural forces and mystical beings in Akan ontology and also to

denote the activating principle in an individual. Busia (1954) refered to personality as the

element that moulds an individual’s personality and determines the character of an individual.

Danquah (1944) also states that the ‘sunsum’ determines the personality and character of an

individual. Wiredu (1987) also argued that the ‘sunsum’ is seen as that which is responsible

for the total effect communicated by an individual’s personality.

Opoku (1978) pointed out that the ‘sunsum’ accounts for the ‘suban’ or the personality

disposition and intelligence of the individual. He again argued that the ‘sunsum’ is clearly

reflected in the appearance and in the qualities peculiar to the person’s individuality

especially moral qualities. It is with regards to this view that the Akan makes statements in

which the sunsum refers to personality traits of the individual thus for a strong personality,

the Akan makes statements like “ne sunsum y1 duru” he has a strong personality, “4w4

sunsum pa” to denote a generous person and “4w4 sunsum” for a person with a commanding

presence (Gyekye, 1995). The ‘sunsum’ is described as not only unconscious but also as an

element of the person that experiences desires.



21

The Akan concept of the ‘4kra’ and personality

Among the Akan, the soul plays a critical and important role in the determination of the

personality of an individual. To understand the role of the ‘4kra’, one has to understand the

nature and basic tenets that define the ‘4kra’ in the Akan traditional concept. Gyekye (1995,

p. 85) explained the ‘4kra’ as “that which constitutes the innermost self, the essence of the

individual person.” In this sense, it is viewed as the nucleus of an individual’s existence and

can be said to be the life of the individual and is usually referred to as the ‘4krateasefo4’ the

living soul (Gyekye, 1996). Gyekye (1995) agreed with Akesson’s (1965) view of the ‘4kra’

by stating that it is a life force, which animates the body, and makes the individual a living

person. He added that though the ‘4kra’ is invisible, it is known through the activities of the

living person.

Akesson (1965) believes that the ‘4kra’ is used by only humans; he further explained that the

‘4kra’ of a man which exists before birth and may be the soul of a relation or other person

already dead. It is seen as the spark of the Supreme Being in man (Gyekye, 1995). The ‘4kra’

is also described as the epitome and bearer of an individual’s destiny (“nkrabea”) (Wiredu,

1983).

The ‘4kra’ is also viewed as the sole advisor and protector of the individual. Opoku (1978)

explained that the ‘4kra’ is the guardian spirit or protector of the individual which gives him

good or bad advice in the running of his or her daily activities. Rattary (1927) argued that the

‘4kra’ protects the individual and gives one good or bad advice and causes his undertakings

to either prosper or neglects him when the individual refuses to take the advice of the ‘4kra’.

In relation to this Meyerowitz (1951), Gyekye (1995) and Sarfo and Mate–Kole (2014)



22

mentioned that the ‘4kra’ is analogous to the id because the ‘4kra’ advices the individual on

what to do whether it is right or wrong despite societal rules and regulations.

This concept of the ‘4kra’ is seen in other African cultures like the Igbo, Yoruba, and Bini of

Nigeria. According to Offor (2013), the Yoruba, Igbo and Bini also believe that ‘Ori’ in

Yoruba, ‘Chi’ in Igbo and ‘Ehi’ in Bini which are analogous to the ‘4kra’ as they all view

these entities as responsible for the destiny of an individual and is described as the

personality soul which one derives from the Supreme Being. Oladipo (1992), for example,

juxtaposed the ‘emi’ to the ‘4kra’ of the Akans because they both are regarded as immortal

given directly by the creator before man is born into the world. Like the ‘4kra,’ ‘emi’ can

advise a man on what to do and what not to do. He however mentioned that they are not

identical since the Akans view the ‘4kra’ as the carrier of human destiny whiles the Youruba

see the carrier of human destiny in the ‘ori.’ Gbadegesin (2004) described the ‘ori’ as the

inner head, bearer of a person’s destiny and the determinant of personality.

Day names (‘akradin’) and personality

Among the Akan days are not only a measure of time, but also serve as the gateways or

entrances through which the soul of an individual enters the land of the living (Akesson,

1965). As explained in the earlier chapter, the Akan of Ghana believe that the day on which

one is born (‘krada’) influences the personality of the individual. The individual is thus given

the ‘akradin’ the soul’s name which Akesson (1965) explains as the label by which the

Supreme Being knows the living Akan. He mentioned that in some communities, the soul’s

name is a secret name an Akan would, in the past, not mention to anyone. He further stated

that the Akan believe that the soul of the living Akan exists with the Supreme Being long

before it became incarnated. It is therefore seen as the child of the Supreme Being as seen in



23

the Akan proverb, “Nipa nyinaa y1 Nyame mma obi ny1 asaase ba” which means everyone is

God’s child no one is the child of the earth. Thus, the Akan believe that the Supreme Being

gave each person a substance that contains an aspect of God. This substance is seen as a

person’s ‘4kra’. The ‘4kra’ is given a name when God being the father of all humans decides

that the child (‘4kra’) should enter the world on a particular day of the week, which inevitably

becomes the name of the child.

According to Gyasi (1997) among the Akans, there is relationship between the day on which

an individual is born (‘krada’) and his or her personality. Akhan (2008) suggested that the

Akans of Ghana, the Supreme Being gave each particular day of the week a supernatural

being to govern that particular day of the week. These celestial bodies according to him are

‘Owia,’ ‘Bosom,’ ‘Bena,’ ‘Awuku,’ ‘Yao’ (‘Abrew’), ‘Afi’ and ‘Amen.’ He further explained

that there are deities under the celestial bodies, ‘Awusi’ who governs Sunday, ‘Adwo’

(Monday), ‘Bena’ (Tuesday), ‘Awuku’ (Wednesday), ‘Yao’ (Thursday), ‘Afi’ (Friday), and

‘Amen’ (Saturday) who in turn become the ‘akradin bosom’ or soul name deities. Akhan

(2008) further stated that the Supreme bodies give every individual a divine organ through

which the ‘abosom’ functions as children of God or a part of God in the individual. In the

execution of one’s destiny (“nkrabea”) the individual is compelled to exhibit the personality

traits of the ‘bosom’ or deity which governs the individual’s ‘4kra’.

Agyekum (2006) also supported this view; when he wrote that the Akan has an appellation

for each day name that gives a hint about the behaviour of the people born on that such days.

An example is a day name Yao or Yaa which is the name for individuals in Akan culture who

are born on ‘Yawda’ or Thursday. This name has different variations including: Yaw, Awuo,

Kwaw for males, Yaaba, Aba for females depending on the Akan group one belongs to.



24

Apellations such as ‘Preko’ meaning at ‘at once’ or ‘likes to fight,’ ‘Opereba’ meaning

aggressive or active among others that suggests the personality of individuals born on

Thursday. Another factor that influences personality is the god associated with the particular

day of the for example on ‘Yawda’ (Thursday) the ‘obosom’ (god) which is prominent is

‘Aberaw’ or ‘Yaw.’ Those who are born on that day in Akan culture are influenced by the

Spirit of the day. Their souls are impacted greatly by the spiritual force governing that day.

Those born on ‘Yawda’ (Thursday) are said to have a spiritual disposition, which makes

them: courageous, aggressive, warlike and confrontational, by confronting disorder that may

be eliminated for the good of society. They are also people with great insight. Those who

would give their lives for the preservation of the social order.

Another example of the day and its influence on personality is the popular Akan folklore

character ‘Kwaku Ananse,’ the spider born on Wednesday, who is depicted as cunning,

deceptive, selfish and is generally viewed as having a bad character. Table 2.1 below explains

the personality characteristics of each day of the week. Personality refers to the traits which

are based on the day an individual is born or the ‘kradin’ or soul’s day. Table 2.1 illustrates

the Akan day names and the various personalities associated with them as proposed by

Agyekum (2006), Akesson (1965) and Sarfo (2014).


25

Table 2.1 Akan day names, appellations and personalities associated with them

Day Name

( Male and Female)

Appellation

( Male and Female)

Personality Trait

Sunday Kwesi/ Akos Bodua/Obueakwan/Dampo Agility, protector

Monday Kwadwo/ Adwoa Okoto/Asera/Badwo/ Akoto Peaceful, humble, suppliant,

calm

Tuesday Kwabena/Abena Ogyam/Ebo/Kosia/Nimo Friendly, compassionate

Wednesday Kweku/Akua Bonsam/Atobi/Daaku/Odaakuo/ Obisi/Obirisuo Evil, vicarious hero

Thursday Yaw/Yaa Preko/Opereba/Bosuo/ Seandze Brave, courageous,

aggressive, warlike

Friday Kofi/Afua Babone/Okyini/Baafi/Nkoso Wanderer, traveler,

discoverer

Saturday Kwame/Ama Atoapoma/Oteanankaduro/Adoma/Nyamewaa Creative, grace, great,

problem solver


26

Jahoda (1954) found a relationship between the day on which one is born (“kradin”) and the

likelihood to commit an offence among Ashanti boys in Ghana. He reported that most boys

born on Wednesday were more likely to commit offences, which corresponds to the meaning

of their day appellation “aggressor”, “evil” and “trouble maker”. Boys born on Monday were

calm, peaceful and cool were few on a delinquency list from the Juvenile Court records for

the Ashanti region. This led him to conclude that as believed by the Ashanti, the day on

which one is born may affect the personality traits of that individual.

The concept of destiny and personality

According to Airoboman (2012), the concept destiny is a metaphysical phenomenon that

permeates into most cultures in Africa and beyond. He explained that whatever has happened

to an individual, whatever is happening to him/her now, and whatever will become of him in

future is believed to have been designed to happen that way. Airoboman (2012) quoted Jeffo

and Roux’s (1998) statement that “A person’s destiny determines his or her success or

failure, personality, luck or ill luck.” (pg. 219) to explain the concept of destiny among

Africans.

In Africa, destiny is the belief that a person's path through life has been predetermined by the

Supreme Being. This concept of destiny can be found among the Akan, Esan and Yoruba

people in West Africa. As explained earlier the ‘4kra’ is believed to be the bearer of the

individual’s destiny. Gyekye (1995) mentioned that Akan philosophers and elders hold the

notion that every human being has a destiny that was fixed by the Supreme Being. It is

believed that before the soul sets out to enter this world, it takes leave of or bids farewell

(‘kra’) to the Supreme Being. The Supreme Being then gives a message (‘nkra’) to the soul

that will determine the course of life of the individual. It is important to note that an

individual’s destiny is not perceived to be bad or evil, it is therefore expected of every



27

individual to work each day to work out the destiny that was designed before birth by the

Supreme Being (Asante, 2009). To the Akan, destiny is seen in the patterns of the

individual’s lives, the persistent habits, actions, behaviour and personality traits of the

persons, the fortunes, misfortunes, success and failures, that occur in the individual’s life, the

individual’s tendencies, dispositions, capacities and talents that the individual exhibits.

It is however important to note that it is only when all human physical explanations for events

and actions are exhausted that one resorts to an individual’s destiny for explanation.

According to Gyekye (1995) and Opoku (1978), destiny cannot be changed. Another concept

of ‘nkrabea’ is raised by Boaduo (2011) who stated that among the Asante ‘hy1br1’ and

‘nkrabea’ are two important concepts that are used in the explanation of the behaviour of

children born into families. The ‘hy1br1’ is said to be self-imposed while ‘nkrabea’ is

divinely imposed by the Supreme Being (Sarpong, 1974). Boaduo (2011) postulated that the

‘hy1br1’ is taken to mean the acquired habits of man, which has nothing to do with ‘nkrabea.’

Any time one is confronted by series of problems these are blamed on ‘hy1br1’ and God the

Creator is not made responsible of what is happening. The concept of “nkrabea” is however

explained by firm belief that the Supreme Being knows why He created human beings and

for that, matter has a specific duty for everybody to perform. Unfortunately, once a human

being is born, he or she acquires different habits, which, in most cases sway him or her from

nkrabea (Baduo, 2011). Sarpong (1974) as cited by Gyekye (1995) stated that neither the

divinely imposed ‘nkrabea’ nor the self–determined ‘hy1br1’ is avoidable. Gyekye (1995)

however believes that the ‘nkrabea’ and ‘hy1br1’ mean the same concept and further states

that an individual cannot fix his or her destiny since the ‘4kra’ does not have any knowledge

of the world in which it is coming to live in.



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The role of Spirituality in African life

Spirituality generally refers to meaning and purpose in one’s life, a search for wholeness, and

a relationship with a transcendent being (Hage, 2006). Spirituality plays an important role in

the lives of Africans. According to Sarfo and Mate–Kole (2014), African spirituality is

defined as an individual’s connectedness to God, to one human roots, to all of nature and the

forces of nature, to one another and to our community. It is believed to provide the strength

to go on, because it is the assurance that the Supreme Being is in the struggle of life of an

African.

For Ross (2010), African morals and ethics are derived from and intimately interwoven in

African spirituality. Within sub-Saharan Africa and the African traditional religions, there is

the strong believe in the Supreme Creator who can be contacted through intermediaries in the

form of ancestral spirits. There is the belief that the spirits of nature are found in certain

mountains, hills, rivers, lakes, stones, trees, plants, animals and birds that are part of the

community of life (Ross, 2010). Mbiti (1969) mentioned that the spiritual universe is

believed to be a unit with the physical and continues to say that the two are believed to be

fused and merge with each other to the point that it is not easy or even necessary to separate

them.

Ross (2010) mentioned that from birth, many Africans are socialised to be part of a family

and community, with rituals, songs, proverbs, fables and religious ceremonies playing a

major role. These activities are passed on to succeeding generations, which are done through

as spiritual events such as naming ceremony, puberty rites and other rites of passage (Ross,

2010). To help a person move successfully through the various stages of life, rites of passage

are maintained that centre primarily on life-cycle stages such as birth, puberty and initiation,

marriage and death, when the ancestors are revered and their blessings and benevolence are



29

requested. Death is not seen as the end of life, rather as a way of moving on to join the

ancestors. Among the Akans, the spiritual forces and beings are referred to as “sunsum” just

as “sunsum” also denotes the activating principle in man (Geyke, 1995). Spirituality of the

African implies a recognition of the drawbacks and shortfalls of humankind, which creates

the awareness of the limitations of man and leads to humility Gyekye, 1996).

The role of Supernatural beings on personality

In this section, sunsum as spiritual forces will be discussed in relation to their effect on the

personality of an individual. Spiritual beings or “sunsum” which includes ancestors,

divinities, ghosts, nymphs, dwarfs and other foreign beings that are perceived to be in the

spiritual realm. Mbiti (1969) noted that for the African, spiritual beings are in the natural

environment and can be seen to inhabit rivers, mountains, lakes, sea, trees, rocks and other

natural objects. According to Mbiti (1969), these are believed to have the potential of

possessing an individual and are blamed for illness like madness, epilepsy or may even cause

the individual to lose his or her own personality and may act in the personality context of the

spirit possessing him.

Communality and Personality

The African community is made up of the traditional institutions, customs and values, which

define the heritage of the community, and gives the individual a sense of belonging. The

African identifies himself as part of the community in which they are brought in and to

uphold the communal values they are taught. Mbiti (1969; 1992), asserted that the individual

feels a connection and some form of unity between himself and the community in which he

lives in. He writes:



30

"Whatever happens to the individual happens to the whole group, and whatever happens to

the whole group happens to the individual. The individual can only say: 'I am, because we

are; and since we are, therefore I am.' This is a cardinal point in the understanding of the

African view of man" (1969:109).

Gyekye (1988), however believed that even though the individual feels a sense of

communality, he/she has a clear sense of himself and feels the need to take socially

enhancing decisions and responsibilities. It would therefore be most prudent to describe the

African social thought as being of both communality and individuality

Gyekye (1988) agrees with Senghor (1966) and reiterated that the traditional African society

regards both the community and the individual, because it was founded on dialogue and

reciprocity, and allows the individual to blossom as a person.

Shutte (1993), explains the Xhosa proverb umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu (a person is a person

through persons), to signify that the African finds a connection and interdependence of the

community on the individual and vice versa. He further explained that in EuroWestern

philosophy, the self is seen as something "inside" a person, whiles in African thought it is

seen as "outside," that is, the self exists in the individual’s relationship with the community.

Identifying oneself as an African, upholding ones cultural heritage and communal values

affects the development of personality in the African perspective. With the introduction and

indoctrination of westernized cultures on the African continent by Europeans, the

identification of oneself with one’s African community and heritage has become increasingly

difficult for the African. The African was forced to replace old African cultural values with

new ones that were introduced by Europeans through colonization (Nyasani, 1997). Igboin

(2011), also asserts that with increasing globalization and media influence, traditional African



31

values are gradually being eroded from the minds of contemporary Africans and being

replaced by Eurocentric ones.

The African personality therefore is linked to the community and society in which the

individual is attached to. In relation to this, Akbar (1996) defines personality as harmonious

with its ecology and consistent with the laws of life, which includes the interconnection of

supernatural forces and the individual’s environment or community (Akbar, 1996).

The question then is, does one’s personality continue to be shaped by the concepts of African

personality despite the influence and acculturation of the EuroAmerican cultures? Does the

belief and identification with one’s African values or heritage depict the influence of the

African personality on the individual? These are some of the questions that the present study

seeks to answer.

The Impact of Westernization on the African personality

With the introduction of western culture into the African continent through colonization,

globalization and technology, the African personality is likely to be threatened. Mugambi

(1998) mentioned that the western culture has brought a permanent and irreversible change in

Africa. Nyasani (1997) stated that through force, Western education and evangelization

methods of missionaries, the colonial masters reduced traditional African cultural values and

norms of African communalism from the minds of Africans. This form of acculturation,

Nyasani (1997) argued remains deeply imbedded in the minds of contemporary Africans to

the point that it has resulted in “self–dehumanization and self–subversion in both dignity and

self–esteem”. This time, for Africans living on the African continent, the influence of

colonization and westernization has brought Africans, a social reality that is alien to Africans

through the gradual removal of traditional African values and acceptance of Euro–Western



32

cultures. This social reality which is alien to the African according to Azibo (2006) may lead

to psychological misorientattion or the development of a disordered personality.

2.3 Rationale for Current Study

Although Akan personality theories have been proposed by African scholars (Opoku, 1978;

Gyekye, 1987; Akhan, 2008; & Agyekum, 2006) very little has been done to empirically

examine them. The reason could be that the scholars who propounded these theories rather

examined them based on their field and expertise. For example, Gyekye (1987), a

philosopher, examined these Akan theories on philosophical basis while Agyekum (2006) a

linguistic, proposed these theories from the linguistic point of view.

The study conducted by Jahoda (1954) cannot be generalized to the present Ghanaian

population considering a lot has changed among the population. His methodology is also

questionable, in the sense that he only examined juvenile court records to determine the

frequency of sentences and types of crimes committed by boys in Kumasi a city in Ghana. He

then categorized them into their birth days depending on the names of the boys and the

crimes that they committed. One cannot generalize Johada’s findings to the general

population at the time of his research because he only examined delinquent boys. There may

have been other people in the general population born on days other than Wednesday who

may have committed crimes and have not been arrested for those crimes they committed. He

also was only interested in males and did not examine this same tendency among females.

Continental Africans may be experiencing these theories propounded by African American

personality scholars but from a different perspective. The influx of western culture in present

day societies and other forms of acculturation may have diverse effects on the continental

Africans, which African Americans may not be experiencing.



33

Most of African personality theories and scales were developed by African Americans as

well as validated and tested on that same population. An observation made by Constatine,

Richardson, Benjamin and Wilson (1998) for instance stated that most of these theories on

African personality have the tendency to generalize their findings to the African population.

These generalizations can be faulty as a result of the different social factors and constructs

that continental Africans may be experiencing.

There is a need for continental African scholars to develop theories and measures that reflects

the nature of cultural factors and experiences of continental Africans. An attempt can also be

made to validate the theories and measures developed by their African American counterparts

on the African population.

2.4 Research Questions for Qualitative Part of the Study

• What is the concept of personality within Akan metaphysical context?

• What Akan personality traits are evident on an individual based on the day in which

one is born?

• How does the day on which one is born affect the individual’s personality?

• What are the most important factors that affect personality in the Akan context?

2.5 Statement of Hypotheses for the Quantitative Part of the Study

1. There will be a significant difference between males and females on the Ten Item

Personality Inventory, the Afircentric Worldview and the Indifferent Personality

factor (Akan Personality).

2. The settlement of participants will have a significant difference on their score on the

Ten Item Personality Inventory, the Africentric Worldview Scale and the Indifferent

Personality Factor (Akan Personality).



34

3. There will be an association between the day of the week on which a participant is

born and their Indifferent Personality (Akan Personality).

4. There will a significant difference between the week day of birth and the Ten Item

Personality Inventory

5. There will be a significant difference between the day of the week on which a

participant is born and their Africentric Worldview.

6. There will be a significant positive relationship between the Africentric Worldview of

participants and their Akan personality scores.

7. There will be a significant positive relationship between the Ten Item Personality

Inventory and the Akan Personality Scale.



35

Figure 2.1 Hypothesized Model for quantitative part of the study

Akan

Personality

Africentric

Worldview

Week day of

birth Settlement

(Rural/Urban)

TIPI (Big Five

Personality)



36

2.6 Operational Definition of Terms

1. Akan Personality: The Akan traditional personality traits associated with the day of

the week on which an individual is born.

2. Africentric Worldview: The individual’s perception and acceptance of traditional

African values and philosophical assumptions.

3. Big-Five Personality: The five factor personality dimensions: Extraversion, Openness,

Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and Agreeableness.

4. Week day of birth: The day of the week on which an individual is born.

5. Rural settlement: Participants living in Akwakwaa.

6. Urban settlement: Participants living in Kasoa.



37

CHAPTER THREE

METHODOLOGY

This section discusses the research design, setting, population, sample and sampling

technique, instruments and materials as well as procedures used in collecting data for this

study.

3.1 Research Design

The present study used the sequential mixed methods approach as proposed by Crewswell

(2003). Johnson, Onwuegbuzie, and Turner (2007) defined mixed methods research as the

type of research in which a researcher combines both qualitative and quantitative research

approaches (e.g., use of qualitative and quantitative viewpoints, data collection, analysis,

inference techniques) for the broad purposes of breadth and depth of understanding and

corroboration. The mixed-method approach was selected because it has the advantages of

qualitative or quantitative research since the disadvantage of one research method

(qualitative) is reduced by the use of another research method (quantitative). The mixed–

method research approach also provides a full understanding of the phenomenon understudy

through the utility of both qualitative and quantitative methods (Johnson & Onwuegbuzie,

2004; Bryman, 2006). It is seen as a good way to develop and standardize a questionnaire

since it gives the researcher the room to use qualitative methods to explore and develop better

wording and quantitative data to validate and establish reliability (Bryman, 2006).

In this study, the researcher began with a qualitative exploration followed by a quantitative

data collection and analysis. Following the approach outlined by Creswell and Plano Clark

(2011), the researcher explored concepts and constructs with qualitative data, which was then

followed by the use of the resulting qualitative findings to design a quantitative instrument.

Qualitative data on Akan traditional concept of personality was garnered through by



38

interviewing 7 elders, and 1 chief priestess in two Akan Communities. They were asked

about 19 questions among which include questions like “can you please explain the concept

of ‘suban’ or personality?”, “what are the most important factors that affect suban in the

Akan traditional context,” “does the 4kra of an individual play a role in the development of

suban?” among others.

The quantitative instrument, which measured the Akan concept of personality, was then

administered to two groups of participants, that is, the rural group and the urban group. The

African Personality Scale was then developed from the themes that were established in the

qualitative study and administered to research participants. The Ten Item Personality

Inventory which measures the Big Five personality traits and the Aficentric Wordview Scale

which measures African cultural values and beliefs were also administered together with the

African Personality Scale. These tests were used to enable the researcher establish the

validity and reliability of the African Personality. Another reason for the choice of the Ten

Item Personality Inventory and the Africentric Worldview Scale was that they enabled the

researcher to compare the concepts of Big Five personality and the cultural values and beliefs

among with the Akan personality concept and traditional values and beliefs among research

participants.

It is noteworthy that the sequential mixed methods design was selected because the

researcher aimed to first explore the concept of personality in the Akan traditional setting and

then determine whether the concepts that influence personality in the Akan traditional setting

do affect personality through the quantitative data collection.



39

3.2 Research Settings

According to the 2010 Population census, Ghana has five Akan speaking regions; namely,

Central region, Western region, Eastern, Ashanti and Brong Ahafo regions of Ghana. Of

these five regions, the Ashanti and the Central region were targeted for this study. These

regions were chosen because of the researcher’s familiarity with them. The Ashanti region

presents a rich cultural and historical heritage which I have had first-hand experience as I am

an Ashanti. The Central region on the other hand was chosen because as a researcher I have

lived in the Central region and exposed to the culture of the Fantes. This experience gave me

an in–depth knowledge of this ethnic group. The cultural and historical heritage of these two

regions I believed as a researcher, the presents good grounds for the research questions that

the researcher sought to answer. Since the research was divided into two, that is the

qualitative and quantitative studies, two sets of participants were selected from this

population.

The research settings for the qualitative aspect of data collection were Bepoase and

Abamkwaa in Ghana. Bepoase can be found in the Ashanti region of Ghana. The Ashanti

region lies in the southern half of the country and occupies 24,389 sq. km. or 10.2 percent of

the total land area of Ghana. It is the third largest region in Ghana. As of 2012, the region

whose capital is the Kumasi Metropolis had 30 administrative districts. It has a population of

4,780,380 representing the highest proportion (19.4 percent) of the total population of

24,658,823 in the country as at 26 September, 2010 (Ghana Statistical Services, 2013).

Bepoase which is the main setting targeted for the research has a population of about 4000. It

is a town located in the Sekyere South District in the Ashanti region. The ethnic groups found

in Bepoase are predominantly Ashanti however, a few people from Baasare ethnic group can

be found there. Subsistence farming is the main occupation of the inhabitants of this town,

even though some of the inhabitants engage in kente weaving and small scale businesses.



40

Abamkwaa is a village located in the Central region of Ghana. The Central region occupies

an area of 9,826 square kilometres or 4.1 percent of Ghana’s land area, making it the third

smallest in Ghana. The region has Cape Coast as the administrative capital and consists of 17

districts and 19 constituencies as at the time of the 2010 Population and Housing Census.

Abamkwaa is a rural dwelling in the Agona East district of the Central region which has a

population of about 1000 inhabitants who are predominantly Fantes, however Bereku and

Ewe ethnic groups can also be found there. Most of the inhabitants are farmers with very few

engaging in small scale businesses.

Since the quantitative part of the study compared Akan personality concepts among rural and

urban dwellers, participants were selected from Akwakwaa a rural settlement and Kasoa a

thriving urban settlement both in the Central region of Ghana.

Kasoa is an urban settlement with a population of about 69384 and can be located in the

Effutu Municipality in the Central region of Ghana. It has a wide variety of ethnic groups for

example Ewes, Gas, Ashanti, Sisala among other ethnic groups found in Ghana. However the

most predominant ethnic group are the Fantes and Bereku. It is one of the major towns in the

Central region and has a lot of commercial businesses as well as a major market centre,

hospital and police station serving most of the small villages and towns surrounding Kasoa.

Kasoa was selected because it is an urban settlement, its proximity to Accra, and the wide

variety of people from diverse cultural and religious background.

Akwakwaa on the other hand is a village in the Agona East district of the Central region with

a population of 1500 inhabitants who are predominantly Fantes an Akan language. Ewe and

Bereku is another ethnic group that can be found in Akwakwaa. Most of the inhabitants are

farmers whiles a few number of hem engage in small scale businesses.



41

Kasoa and Akwakwaa were selected based on the rural/urban classification of the 2010

Ghana Statistical census survey. According to the 2010 Ghana Statistical Census survey, the

classification of localities into “urban” and “rural” was based on population size. Localities

with 5,000 or more persons were classified as urban while localities with less than 5,000

persons were classified as rural. From this, Kasoa is an urban and Akwakwaa a rural

settlement.

3.3 Population and Participants

Purposive sampling technique was used to select participants were from communities in two

Akan speaking regions in Ghana. This method was used because participants were selected

based on specific purposes associated with the answering of specific research question and is

also recommended for qualitative research (Teddlie & Yu, 2007). This sampling technique

was also used because the aim of the research was to find out the Akan traditional concept of

personality and to determine whether these concepts influence the personality of an

individual. With this in mind, the Akans were purposefully targeted for this research since the

research was on the Akan concept of personality but not on any other tribe in Ghana. Also,

participants who were willing and ready to take part in the research were targeted.

For the qualitative aspect of the research, five (5) participants were selected from Bepoase in

the Ashanti and three (3) from Abamkwaa in Central regions of Ghana using the purposive

sampling technique. Participants were included if they were Akan, aged 40 years or older,

this age range was selected because the researcher believed them to be the carriers of

historical and traditional information of a group of people. Participants who had lived in

Abamkwaa or Bepoase for at least 10 years, had in–depth knowledge of Akan traditional

customs and values, and were willing to participate in the study. Individuals were excluded

from the study if they were younger than 40 years, from other ethnic groups aside from Akan,



42

do not have any information on Akan traditional customs and values, and lived outside

Abamkwa or Bepoase.

The eight participants interviewed were elders between the ages of 40-100 years with a mean

age of 71.63 and a standard deviation of 21.172. They included an 4komfo (Akan name for

one who acts as a medium between the physical and spiritual worlds and uses divination for

healing), one retired soldier, an attendant to and 4komfo, a traditional birth attendant and four

farmers from Bepoase in the Ashanti region and Abamkwaa in the Central region which are

Akan speaking communities. These individuals were well versed in the culture and heritage

of the Akan people of Ghana. There were five (5) females and three (3) males with 4 being

Asante from Bepoase and 4 being Fante from Abamkwaa. Table 3.1 shows the demographic

distribution of participants in the qualitative study.

Table 3.1 Demographic Characteristics of Participants in qualitative part of

the study

Name* Gender Age Employment Town Region

Frema Female 84 Farmer Bepoase Ashanti

Nana Female 100 Farmer Bepoase Ashanti

Opanin Male 92 Farmer Bepoase Ashanti

Esi Female 40 $komfo** Abamkwaa Central

Kwame

Bawuah

Male 72 Retired Soldier Bepoase Ashanti

Ebo Male 45 Attendant to an

4komfo

Abamkwaa Central

Kwansima Female 75 Farmer Abamkwaa Central

Ataa Female 65 Traditional birth

attendant

Abamkwaa Central

*Pseudo names of participants

** Akan name for one who acts as a medium between the physical and spiritual worlds and

uses divination for healing.



43

In the quantitative part of the study, purposive sampling technique was also used to select 100

participants between the ages of 18 to 70 years from Kasoa an urban settlement of 69384 in

the Effutu Municipality and Akwakwaa a rural dwelling in the Agona East district, all in the

Central Region of Ghana. Individuals were selected for the study if they were aged 18 years

and above, lived in Kasoa for the urban city sample, or lived in Akwakwaa for the rural

sample. Individuals were excluded from the study they were aged below 18 years of age,

lived outside Kasoa, the city where the urban population is being gathered from, or lived

outside Akwakwaa where rural sample will be gathered from. The quantitative sample was

made up of 66 individuals living in Kasoa, an urban settling and 43 individuals living in

Akwakwaa, a rural settling. The demographic distribution of the research participants is

illustrated in Table 3.2 below.


44

Table 3.2 Demographic Characteristics of Participants in Quantitative part of the study

Characteristic Variable Frequency Percentage

Sex Male

Female

52

48

52

48

Religious Affiliation Christian

Muslim

Traditionalist

Other

74

21

5

0

74

21

5

0

Highest level of

education

None

Primary

JHS

SHS

Tertiary

12

21

18

16

33

12

21

18.0

16

33

Occupation Formal sector

Informal sector

Student

Unemployed

22

54

17

6

22

54

17

6

Settling Urban

Rural

60

40

60

40

Day of Birth Sunday 12 12

Monday 11 11

Tuesday 14 14

Wednesday 18 18

Thursday 17 17

Friday 11 11

Saturday 16 16

Participants were between the ages of 18 and 63 with a mean age of 36.33 and a standard

deviation of 13.498.



45

3.4 Instruments

For the qualitative research, the instruments used included a tape recorder which was used to

record the responses given by the participants and an interview guide which was designed by

the researcher to assist in the data collection process. For accuracy and validity of the

interview guide, the Brislin translation method was used for translation. Through this method,

the interview guide that was originally designed in English was translated to Twi, the

principal Akan language with the help of a graduate linguistics student who specialized in the

study of the Asante–Twi language from the Linguistics Department of the University of

Ghana. The questions were then back translated into the English language by employing

Language translator from the Bureau of National Languages. This was to ensure that the

meaning and understanding of the questions remained the same, which in turn ensured that

the questions were able to measure what it was supposed to measure.

For the quantitative part of the study, the following tests were used:

Demographic Questionnaire

The demographic questionnaire was used to assess the following variables: nationality, age,

gender, religion, highest education level, ethnic group, day of birth, place of residence, and

occupation of participant.

Questionnaire

A questionnaire was designed based on the Akan concept of personality that was gathered

from the qualitative part of this study. It is a 31 item questionnaire designed to test Akan

personality construct based on the personality associated with each day of the week. It also

measures spirituality and communalism among Africans. It is a five point likert scale ranging

from strongly disagree to strongly agree. This questionnaire was developed from the data that



46

was collected from the interview on Akan personality theories. Some of the questions on the

scale were “Respect for the elderly in the society is a good character every individual must

adopt,” “I find more satisfaction in attending to the needs of others than myself,” “I find

myself acting more aggressive about a situation than is required” among others. The

questionnaire was tested on a sample of 20 participants from the population to determine the

baseline test retest reliability and validity for the questionnaire. The Cronbach alpha of .70

was established when a pilot study was conducted to test its test retest reliability.

Africentric World view Scale

The Africentric Worldview scale (Belgrave et al., 1997) was used to measure participants’

cultural values and African beliefs. The scale measures cultural values and beliefs among

Africans (originally developed to measure the same construct among African Americans).

The scale is made up of six (6) subscales namely Spirituality (example, Attending churches,

mosques, or other places of worship are important to me, I meditate and engage in other acts

of faith.), Intuition (example, I listen to my inner voice), Sensitivity (example, I feel that

sometimes I do things 'Just because it feels right", I can tell when a close friend is in trouble

or feels bad.), Respect for Elders (example, It is expected that the elderly will be cared for by

younger generations), Communalism (example, The ultimate value of a person is in his/her

service to others) and Orality (example, I perform better on oral rather than written tasks). It

is five point likert scales ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. Higher score

indicate strong Africentric cultural values and lower scores indicate weak Africentric cultural

values. It is scored by adding up all items to indicate a high or low Africentric worldview. A

score between 22 and 55 indicates low Africentric worldview and score between 56 and 110

Africentric worldview. The Cronbach alphas for the subscales are Spirituality=.74

Intuition=.73 Sensitivity=.79 Respect=.77 Communalism=.70 Orality=.71 The Africentric



47

Worldview Scale yielded a Cronbach alpha of 0.71 following a pilot study conducted on 20

(twenty) participants in this research.

Ten Item Personality Inventory

Ten-Item Personality Inventory (TIPI), (Gosling, Rentfrow, and Swann, 2003) is a very brief

ten–item version of the Five–Factor Model. The TIPI (Gosling et al., 2003) contains two

items for each of the five dimensions of the Five Factor Model (FFM). It contains five

subscales which are Emotional Stability, Neuroticism, Conscientiousness, Extraversion and

Agreeableness. Items were measured on a 7-point scale ranging from 1 = Disagree Strongly

to 7 = Agree Strongly. Items are ‘‘extraverted, enthusiastic” and ‘‘reserved, quiet” (reversed)

for Extraversion, ‘‘sympathetic, warm” and ‘‘critical, for researchers who needed a very brief

measure due to limited time available. quarrelsome” (reversed) for Agreeableness,

‘‘dependable, self-disciplined” and ‘‘disorganized, careless” (reversed) for

Conscientiousness, ‘‘calm, emotionally stable” and ‘‘anxious, ‘‘easily upset” (reversed) for

Emotional Stability, and ‘‘open to new experiences, complex” and ‘‘conventional,

uncreative” (reversed) for Openness to Experience (hereafter, Openness). It is scored by

adding up the reversed item and the normal item and dividing by two for each subscales. The

test–retest reliabilities and correlations between the two items composing each TIPI scale

were as follows: Extraversion (r = .77), Agreeableness (r = .71), Conscientiousness (r = .76),

Emotional Stability (r = .70), and Openness (r = .62). The test–retest reliability of the TIPI

averaged .72 (Gosling et al, 2003).

3.5 Pilot study

For the quantitative study, a pilot study was conducted before the actual data collection to test

the reliability of the selected instruments before they were used. The pilot study was

conducted within the Accra metropolis using individual from different social background.



48

Twenty consenting participants consisting of 10 males and 10 females were selected for the

pilot study. All the three questionnaires; African Personality Questionnaire, Africentric

Worldview scale and the Ten Item Personality Inventory were administered to the

participants. The Africentric Worldview scale which measured cultural identity elicited a

cronbach alpha of 0.71. The Ten Item Personality Inventory yielded a Cronbach alpha of .70

and a Cronbach alpha of .70 for the African Personality Scale. These figures suggested that

the scales were reliable enough to be used for the study.

3.6 Role as Researcher

Being a young female researcher interviewing elders in the society, I had to be cautious of the

cultural beliefs and influence of the role of a young person in my case a child (since most of

the respondents could have easily been my parents). The culture of the Akan places emphasis

on politeness and mannerism in interacting with elders of the society as seen in the Akan

proverb “A child who knows how to wash his hands well eats with elders”. In view of this, as

a researcher, I had to be cautious of the way I asked questions in order not to sound offensive.

I therefore used words such as “please” “kindly” and other words that shows respect for

elders. In fact it is worthy to note that most of the respondents ended up advising me on life

issues. Also, I had to contact an elderly person who is well known in the society to pre-

inform them about two or three days before my arrival and also to introduce me to my

respondents since it is considered rude to just approach people without any prior knowledge

of your coming. It is however important to note that this role was quite easy for me as a

researcher since I was able to gain their trust and also maintain an amicable parent child

relationship with them.



49

3.7 Validity and Reliability of Qualitative Results

The issue of the importance validity and reliability in qualitative research has been raised

over time since it becomes quite difficult when determining these two factors in qualitative

research as compared to quantitative research (Golafshani, 2003; Patton, 2001). Several

researchers have asked the question that “How can a researcher persuade that the research

findings are true and replicable?” To ensure reliability and validity in qualitative research,

trustworthiness is very important and to ensure trustworthiness, triangulation is employed

(Golafshani, 2003). Triangulation therefore is the method employed by most researchers to

increase validity and reliability of their study. It is typically used to help reduce bias since it

employs (Golafshani, 2003) the use of both qualitative and quantitative research methods in

one particular study. This helps to reduce the limitations of one research method and also

increase validity and reliability.

In this research, one of the triangulation method employed by the researcher to ensure

trustworthiness is the use of mixed methods as a research approach. Patton (2001) and

Hussein (2009) suggested that triangulation strengthens a study by combining both

qualitative and quantitative research methods. In this study, the researcher used the sequential

mixed methods design in which qualitative data was first collected through the conducting of

interviews whose themes were developed into questionnaires to test a different sample. This

was so because the researcher wanted to increase the in depth and understanding of the Akan

traditional perspective of personality.

Even though the mixed methods design can be used to increase reliability and validity in a

research, it is important to note that other factors can influence the reliability and validity of a

study that cannot be controlled by the researcher as stated by Kumar (1999). Some of the

factors that could influence the reliability of a study could be the manner in which the



50

researcher interviews the respondents, the environment in which the interview is being

conducted, the mood of both the informant and researcher and the level of trust between

informant and researcher (Adu, 2011). If an informant is in a bad mood there is the likelihood

that the results of the research will not reflect the true nature of the phenomenon being

measured. It is therefore important for the researcher to ensure that informants are relaxed

and in a good mood before research is conducted even though this may not be always

possible. On the other hand, if the researcher is also in a bad mood it may influence the way

in which he or she asks the questions which could possibly make the environment for the

research quite hostile thereby affecting results. The researcher in this study kept the

respondents and herself in a relaxed mood and atmosphere by starting each interview session

with general conversations that was not related to the study but to make them comfortable.

Also, the researcher introduced herself to the respondents, explained the purpose the study

and informed respondents of their ability to withdraw from the research at any point in time.

Issues of confidentiality was also addressed to increase trust between the researcher and

respondents. All questions raised by the respondents were also addressed by the researcher to

her best of knowledge.

The research environment is also key in ensuring the collection of quality data thereby

increasing validity and reliability. If the study is conducted in a setting where there are a lot

of distractions, the answers given by respondents may be altered. Even though the

minimization of distractors was very difficult since the interviews were conducted in the

homes of respondents, the researcher made sure that distractors such and radio, television and

intrusion of others were minimized. This was done by asking respondents to put off

televisions and radios as well as draw back the attention of the respondents when other



51

people intruded in the interview process. Where it was possible, the researcher moved to a

more quite place with the respondent to conduct the interview.

The researcher also made sure to follow the interview guide that was used to increase

reliability and validity. Even though in some instances the researcher had to explain items for

a better understanding by respondents, this gave the researcher the chance to sway from the

interview guide to ask leading questions for clarification and also to help produce concrete

response from respondents.

3.8 Ethical Issues

The consideration of ethical issues are very important in conducting research. Ethics are

moral codes that must be observed by researchers while carrying out research. Researchers

are expected to follow these codes irrespective of the situation they may find themselves in.

In this study, ethical codes specified in the American Psychological Association (APA, 2010)

were strictly adhered to. These included informed consent, confidentiality and right of

withdrawal among others.

In conducting this research, the researcher paid attention to personal knowledge and

understanding of the ethical guidelines by the participants. The researcher considered the

soundness of the research design, methodology and the ethical acceptability of the study in

terms of ensuring that the benefits of conducting the research far outweighed the costs of not

as well as the possible harm that it may cause to the society. It is noteworthy that no amount

of coercion (subtle or otherwise) and no incentives offered for participation was involved in

the conduct of this research. The questionnaires outlined the purpose of study and assured

participants that there were no risks to them for participating in this study. Also, the

researcher made sure to explain the risks and purpose of the study as well as their ability to



52

withdraw at any time in the process of research. Participants were also assured of anonymity

and confidentiality. In this regard, participants were informed that the results of this study

will remain strictly confidential and purely academic and that at no point will their name be

required. To assure participants of the confidentiality that would be attached to the data that

they would provide, each of them was given the questionnaire individually in their work

place or home in an envelope. Consent was sort from participants before the data collection

process started. Any questions raised by the participants in connection to data collection

process, confidentiality, or other ethical issues were adequately explained to the satisfaction

of the research participants.

3.9 Procedure

Ethical clearance was sought from Ethics Committee for Humanities of the University of

Ghana, Legon. Elders aged forty (40) years and above of Bepoase a village in the Ashanti

region and Abamkwaa a village in the Central region of Ghana who met the inclusion criteria

for the qualitative aspect of the research were approached, the purpose of the study was

explained to them and their consent was sought before they were interviewed. Interviews for

each participant took between Forty–five (45) to one hour and the entire duration for the

collection of data was two (2) weeks from August 10, 2014 to August 23, 2014.

For the quantitative research, participants who met the inclusion criteria for the quantitative

research were approached. The purpose of the study was explained to them and their consent

was sought. They were assured of confidentiality by informing them that they were not

required to write their names on the questionnaires and also that any personal information

garnered from their response will not be published without their consent. They were also

assured of their ability to withdraw or decline from the study at any point in time even though

this was clearly spelt on the consent form attached to the questionnaires. When consent was



53

given, (by signing the consent form) the questionnaires were administered to them to answer

at their own pace. Each participant took an average of fifteen minutes to answer the

questionnaires and a duration of three (3) weeks was used to collect the entire quantitative

data. The data collected were then scored and analysed.

3.10 Data Analyses

The study which employed both qualitative and quantitative research had its data analysis

done in two sections. With the qualitative aspect, data which was gathered was analysed into

themes using thematic analysis proposed by Miles and Huberman (1994). The thematic

analysis was selected because the researcher wanted to group the qualitative data into themes.

Braun and Clarke (2006) proposed six (6) phases of thematic analyses, which included data

familiarisation, initial code generation, searching for themes that are based on initial codes,

review of themes, definition and naming of themes, and report writing which was adopted for

this study. All interviews were recorded and transcribed by the researcher. The next step was

to organize the data from the interviews, into codes and then to themes, such as ‘suban,’

‘akradin,’ reincarnation, respect for elders, inheritance of personality, among others. These

sub themes were later categorized into three broad themes. The information gathered was

checked against the themes of the interview guides for confirmation.

The themes derived from the qualitative part of the study were designed into a quantitative

instrument and then administered to a sample of 100 along with two other questionnaires

(Africentric Worldview Scale and the Ten Item Personality Inventory). The quantitative data

aspect of the study was analysed using the version 20 of the Statistical Package for Social

Sciences. The test for normality of the data for all variables and a descriptive statistics was

conducted. For skewedness, the values ranged from -.95 to .38 and kurtosis values ranged



54

from -.71 to .52. All values are between the acceptable range for skewedness and kurtosis

which is said to be ±1 (West, Finch & Curran, 1995). A table on skewedness and kurtosis has

been presented in table 4.2 at the results section of the quantitative part of this study.

A factor analysis was conducted to reduce the personality questionnaire designed by the

researcher and the Africentric worldview Scale into factors. As recommended by Tabachnick

and Fidell (2007), the researcher adopted the exploratory approach in factor analysis and

experimented with different factors until the most satisfactory factors was achieved. This

exploratory approach was adopted by conducting the Kaiser’s criterion and scree plot

analysis to help eliminate weak factors. The final table will be presented in the results section

of this study.

After the principal component analysis was conducted, hypotheses stated were tested.

Hypothesis 1,2,4 and 5 were tested using the Multiple Analysis of variance. The MANOVA

was selected because the researcher wanted to compare the means scores of Africentric

Worldview, Ten Item Personality Inventory (Big 5) and the Akan personality factor as

proposed by Tabanick and Fidell (2007). Hypothesis 3 was tested using the One Way

Analysis of Variance this was because wanted to compare the mean scores of the Akan

Personality Factor and the day of week on which an individual is born. Hypotheses 6 and 7

were analysed using Pearson’s correlation because the variables (Extraversion,

Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, Openness, Spirituality, Intuition,

Sensitivity, Respect, Communalism, Orality, Indifferent/Disorganized Personality) were

measured at least on an interval scale and assumed to be linearly related.



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CHAPTER 4

RESULTS

The study generally sought to explore the African (Akan) concept of personality. This study

is in two parts the first is qualitative study and the second part is quantitative study. The first

study sought to find out the basic concepts and constructs that affect personality in the Akan

traditional context. A one on one in-depth interview was conducted to search for these

constructs among Akan elders. The second part sought to compare the personality constructs

that was garnered in the qualitative study among rural and urban dwellers and the day of the

week on which an individual is born. This was done by testing hypotheses on the Akan

personality Scale, the Africentric Worldview Scale and the Ten Item Personality Inventory.

Hypotheses in this study were tested using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS)

version 20.0. The analysis was done in two main steps. The first involved the principal

component analysis while the second involved testing the hypotheses of the study.

4.1 QUALITATIVE RESULTS

4.1.1 Qualitative Findings

After the analyses of the data, the themes that emerged are believed by the researcher to

provide an adequate explanation of the data gathered which were presented by means of

excerpts from the interviews. Although themes presented were discussed separately, it is

important to note all the themes are interconnected and as they reflected participants views on

the factors affecting personality in the Akan traditional context. To ensure anonymity,

identifier such as number were given to each participant in the writing of this report.

From the analysis of the qualitative data, the meaning and concept of personality from the

Akan traditional context emerged. For this part the Akan meaning of personality which is

“suban” will be used to denote personality. Personality and ‘suban’ will be used



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interchangeably in this part of the study since they have the same meaning. The main themes

derived from the concept of personality are discussed below.

4.1.2 Demographic Characteristics for Qualitative Study

Eight elders of two Akan societies were approached and engaged in a one on one in-depth

interview on the concept and factors affecting personality in the Akan traditional context. The

age range of respondents was between ages forty and one hundred. Out of the eight

respondents, three were males whiles five were females with four being Ashanti from

Bepoase and four Fante from Abamkwaa. Occupation of respondents were one ‘$komfo’

(Akan name for one who acts as a medium between the physical and spiritual worlds and uses

divination for healing), one attendant to an ‘$komfo,’ one traditional birth attendant and one

retired soldier with the other four being farmers.

4.1.3 Meaning and Concept of Personality (“suban”)

‘Suban’ was described as the way and manner in which an individual behaves. ‘Suban was

explained to have generated from two Akan words which are ‘su’ and ‘ban.’ ‘Suban’ was

explained by respondents to mean the thought processes and mannerisms of an individual.

‘Su’ was explained to have come from the Akan word ‘nsusu1’ which means an individual’s

thought processes and ‘ban’ from the Akan word ‘banb4’ the way an individual protects

himself from harm and danger in the environment. The ‘su’ therefore means the thought

processes and perceptions that an individual has concerning himself and his environment

while the word ‘ban’ is the way and manner an individual protects himself from harm and

danger in the environment. One respondent summed up the meaning of ‘suban’ when he says

“suban comes from two Twi words ‘nsusu1’ and ‘banb4.’ ‘Nsusu1’ means the way an

individual thinks, and plans his or her life, and the way an individual sees (perceives) other



57

individuals in his or her society. ‘Banb4’ you see, means the manner in which an individual

protects himself from harm and danger for example the way an individual will protect herself

and her family and from disease and harm. You see, for example, my ‘nsusu1’ can be about

people can be good but the way I protect myself (‘banb4’) can be bad. I can have good

thoughts about others but not bath or keep my environment clean to protect myself.”

Another person also explained ‘suban’ as “…the ‘su’ that lives in you is suban. We can say

the person is disrespectful. The way you walk will show your suban. The way you talk, walk

and even respond to a question is your suban.”(Respondent 3, Male, 92years)

“’su’ is the thoughts of an individual, one can have bad thoughts about someone which can

cause the person to be disrespectful to that person, but when someone is lazy, it means that

person’s ban is not good, he doesn’t protect his environment well by cleaning, sweeping, or

engaging in communal labour” (Respondent 2, Female, 100years)

Suban was also explained to mean character or conduct as seen in the explanation by some

respondents. One respondent mentioned that

“Suban is what the white man call character or conduct, your way of life or the way you live

that when someone sees you that person can give you a name.”(Respondent 6, Male,

45years)

Another respondent also said “yes, suban means character.”(Respondent 5, Male, 72years)

‘Suban’ was categorized into two, the good suban and the bad suban. All respondents

explained that in in the Akan traditional concept of personality, there is the bad ‘suban’

(‘suban b4ne’) and the good suban (‘suban papa’). The good ‘suban’ is explained as being



58

respectful to parents, elders and peers, being reserved and calm, generous, sympathetic,

humble among other good traits. The bad ‘suban’ is seen as being quarrelsome, a thief, is

wicked and evil, disrespectful among others.

“in the Akan language, there is good suban and bad suban, if someone has a good suban, at

home, the person does not like fighting, does not like following friends and advices children

she or he lives with.” (Respondent 1, Female, 84years)

“If you are selfish, you do not have a good suban. The ‘su’ is a good person, someone who

has ‘suban’ is a good person and someone who doesn’t have ‘suban’ is a bad person and like

bad things or is evil.” (Respondent 7, Female, 75years)

The mind (‘adwene’) is believed to play a role in the way an individual behaves (suban).

‘Adwene’ comprises that thoughts and perception of an individual that influence his/her

behaviour. Most respondents believed it to play a major role in the determination of a good or

bad personality. The thought processes that are formed in the ‘adwene’ or mind were seen as

either good or bad. If an individual has bad thoughts, that individual is sure to exhibit a bad

personality whiles a person with good thoughts and perceptions about him/herself and

individuals in the society will have a good personality. The ‘adwene’ or mind is seen to direct

the individual’s personality.

“someone can be born and will not have a good ‘suban’ the person does not have a good

‘adwene,’ when we talk about ‘suban’ it the ‘adwene,’ you do not have a good ‘adwene’ so

we can say your ‘adwene’ is soft or your ‘adwene’ is thick, in Fante when we say your

‘adwene’ is thick, we mean that you grasp things very fast. Your ‘su’ is clever.” (Respondent

4, Female, 45years)



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“the ‘adwene’ usually tells the individual to do the right thing. If one’s suban is bad, it can

prompt the individual to do the bad thing but it is the ‘adwene’ that tells you to do the right

thing. When the ‘suban’ and the decisions of the ‘adwene’ become one for the good of others,

then we say one has a good suban. But when the inborn spirit (‘sunsum’) is a bad one and

does not listen to the advice of the ‘adwene’ then the ‘suban’ is a bad one.” (Respondent 8,

Female, 65years)

The above statement means that an individual can have evil thoughts which then affects the

‘suban.’ This is seen in the Akan concept of ‘adwene b4ne’ or evil mind, in this instance, the

individual is perceived to always have evil or bad thoughts towards his or her fellow human

being and acts negatively towards all individuals. One who has evil thoughts is perceived to

be evil by nature and will easily cheat, murder, steal, disrespect, quarrelsome and other vices

that the Akan traditional society views as bad. One the other hand, an individual can be seen

to have ‘adwene papa’ which is good thoughts and perception towards individuals in the

society. Such a person with good thoughts is kind, compassionate, generous, respectful,

reserved, and other behaviours that are perceived to be good by the society.

4.1.4 Factors Affecting the Development of ‘Suban’ or Personality

From the data collected, three main factors were seen to be the underlying factors affecting

the concept and development of ‘suban’ or personality. Factors that affect the development of

suban have been grouped into three sub themes. The sub themes for social factors include,

parenting, modelling, taking the advice of parents and elders, the kind of friends one has,

biological factors which include the ‘suban’ one inherits from parents and relatives and

supernatural factors which include the influence of ‘akradin,’ (day name), the ‘4kra’ (soul)

and other spiritual bodies in the environment.



60

4.1.5 Social Factors

The society plays a major role in the development and acquisition of an individual’s

personality in the Akan traditional context. The societal factors include following the advice

of one’s elders and parents, modelling an individual in the society and the influence of

friends.

The advice of elders play a very vital role in the shaping of one’s personality and cannot be

overlooked. It is very ordinary in an Akan community to see an elderly person who is not

related to you advice you on how the kind of behaviour one should adopt. It is important to

note that not just any elder’s advice will be adhered especially if that particular elder has a

bad personality. One respondent mentioned that

“if you are doing bad things, you can be advised by an elderly person which when you take

can change your suban”(Respondent 7, Female, 75years)

Another respondent also reiterates this view when she says

“if a child has a bad ‘suban,’ an elder in the society can call that child and talk to that child,

if the child has a good ‘su’, the child listens to the advice of that elder, he changes his or her

‘suban.”

Modelling as an influencing factor on personality

Modelling is also another factor that affects the development of personality. Modelling is

imitating the conducts and acts of someone. The Akan believe that when an individual is

named after a respected and good mannered elder in the society, the child tends to model the

behaviour of that particular individual. That is why the name of a child is carefully chosen so

that the child may grow to become a person with a personality that is upheld by society.



61

Participants seemed to share the view that the name one is given does affect the personality of

the individual. They mentioned that a child can model the behaviour of the person s/he is

named after. This personality becomes the individual’s personality for life that is why a child

cannot be named after just any person in the society. You must exhibit good behaviour,

wisdom and manners before a child can be named after you. The following participants

explained this assertion when they said:

“if a child is doing something bad, we can say that the child did not follow the good

character of the person she was named after. But if the one the person was named after does

not have a good ‘suban,’ we can say the child has copied that ‘suban.’ …..when a child is

named after a particular individual, the child is expected to model the individual she was

named after. If the child does not, the child then disgraces the name she acquired”

(Respondent 7, Female, 75years)

A typical example of modelling was given by respondent 1 when she reports:

“my grandchild who was named after an individual in the society, was very humble and quiet

as a child but when she started growing and realised she has been named after this

individual, her ‘suban’ changed. She has now modelled the suban of the person…….hmmm,

even last time she had a serious quarrel with the child of Maame A, as for me I am even now

afraid of her.” (Respondent 1, Female, 100years)

The role of friends in the development of personality

The influence of friends is also believed to affect the development of a good personality or a

bad personality. All participants believed that the friends influence the personality of the

individual in both good and bad ways. Participants presented a perception that having many

friends is frowned upon by society because it is believed to influence one to develop a bad



62

personality. They advised that every individual should keep very few friends or keep very

good friends in order to develop the personality that is accepted by society. Below are

quotations that illustrate the influence of friends on personality

“….do not follow bad friends, always follow the good friends who will help you develop a

good suban.” (Respondent 7, Female, 75)

“if a person travels from the village and goes to the big city to earn a living, the friends he

might make will be smoking ‘wee,’ or if you get money, we should go and chase women, this

person might not have a bad personality previously but might pick up such a way of life or

personality through the friends he has” (Respondent 6, Male, 45years)

The impact of parenting on personality.

Parents are believed to have a very important role in the development of a child’s personality.

Respondents mentioned that parents are supposed to advice, guide and groom the child so as

to develop a good personality. The parents of a child are mandated by society to correct the

when s/he is exhibiting a type of personality that is not good. However a parent with a bad

‘suban’ can encourage his/her child to engage in bad behaviour, in other instances, a child

with a bad inborn trait or even destiny which s/he brought from the spiritual world cannot be

corrected. The following quotations illustrate the role of the parent in shaping the personality

of an individual.

“as your parents have given birth to you, the advice they will give you is good advice not bad

advice. If you follow it, then you will have a good ‘suban.’ If the person does not listen to the

good advice,that can also be one’s ‘suban’ ” (Respondent 2, Female, 100years)



63

“the person who gave birth to you, if the person has a good ‘suban,’ that person trains you

well, you also develop a good suban….. if your father is good and raises children well, you

too can develop a good ‘suban.’” (Respondent 1, Female, 84years)

“sometimes we can shape an individual’s ‘suban’ by lashing a child so s/he can change from

his/her bad ways. You don’t have to lash severely about two lashes is okay, because if you

don’t change that bad ‘suban’ it will not be good for the child. For some children, whatever

you do, you cannot change the ‘suban’ of the child. That is the child’s ‘nkrabea’ so the

parents can leave such a child alone because the child will not heed to their advice.”


The influence of the clan on personality

The ‘nton’ or ‘ntoro’ in Akan is the clan that an individual inherits from matrilineal blood

relations. During data collection, ‘nton’ was explained to mean the clan belongs to.

Respondents outlined eight (8) clans in the Akan traditional setting. These clans are

‘Aduana’, ‘!ko4na,’ ‘Bretuo’ ‘Asene,’ ‘$y4ko4’ ‘Asakyiri’ ‘Asona’ and ‘Agona’ and are

believed to affect the personality of an individual. Specific clans are believed to have specific

personality traits that are inherited by an individual just by the virtue of belonging to such a

clan. The traits are believed to be inherited through the influence of gods associated with

these particular clans. When asked to state the personality traits of the different clans, most

respondents were not able to name the specific traits associated with each clan but were quick

to agree that there are personality traits associated with each clan. The quotations below

demonstrate the belief in the influence of the clan in the development of personality.



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“nton’ can determine one’s ‘suban.’ We can say, ei, this child where she is from, she is an

‘Aduana,’ you know ‘Aduanas’ are calm and they give birth to a lot of children” (Respondent

2, Female, 100years)

“‘Nton’ is like your clan for example ‘Aduana,’ I know they have totems some have dog as

their totem, others have parrot or an elderly woman carrying a pot of snakes… every clan

has its character. The ‘!ko4na’ men take good care of their wives but do not get good wives,

their women are pretty but also don’t get good husbands. The ‘Aduana’ men have witchcraft,

their women are very eloquent but their men are alcoholics. Their women also know how to

cater for men.”(Respondent 6, Male, 45years)

The impact of westernization

Westernization was also reported as having a profound influence on the development of the

personality of an individual. Individuals living in especially the big cities and towns were

reported to have developed personalities that conflict with the personality accepted by the

Akan traditional concept of a good personality. One respondent lamented the influence of

foreign cultures and acculturation on the development of personality when he says

“now most children don’t listen to the advice of their parents so what you want to teach the

child is not what the child does. We have also mixed our culture with foreign cultures so even

Akan greetings the child does not know all of this acculturation is what people want but with

the way things are going, you cannot help it. Children nowadays pick up bad suban from

modernization. In the olden days, it was because of the development of a good suban that is

why your parents used to investigate a family that their child wants to marry into however,

nowadays children go out meet someone and decide to marry the person. Whatever you say,

that is what they want” (Respondent 5, Male, 72years)



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4.1.6 Biological Factors

Aside from social factors affecting personality, participant point out biological factors which

are believed to affect the development of personality in the Akan traditional context. These

views reflect the concept of biological inheritance of traits outlined by western scholars. All

respondents agreed to the notion that the family one is born into determines the personality

one will have. One’s parents are believed to transmit their personality to an individual

through birth. Extended family members also can transmit their personality to individuals in

the family through the blood relations they have with the person. Though most respondents

agreed that personality is transmitted through biological relations, not all of them agreed that

all the children in one particular family will automatically acquire the shared family trait.

The quotations below illustrate the Akan concept of the acquisition and development of

personality through the inheritance of personality from relatives.

“suban is got through birth. The person who will give birth to you, if the person has a good

‘suban,’ you will have a good ‘suban.’ If your mother who gave birth to you is humble, you

also become humble…….the blood is what you inherit for example you look like your mother,

your mother’s blood is what you have. It is your mother’s blood that has been manifested.

You also look like your grandmother, the blood she transmitted to your mother has been

transmitted to you so your blood relation can determine your suban.” (Respondent 1,

Female, 84years)

“sometimes one may come from a house, maybe your father doesn’t have a good mind

(‘adwene papa’), he is a thief, so if he gives birth, whatever, maybe he gives birth to ten(10)

children two out of the ten (10) children will definitely inherit their father’s ‘suban’ or

personality.” (Respondent 3, Male, 92years)



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4.1.7 Supernatural Factors

Supernatural factors are the influence of the ‘4kra,’ destiny (‘nkrabea’/ ‘hy1br1’),

reincarnation, day name (‘akradin’), witchcraft and other spiritual entities that exists in the

environment. Respondents acknowledged that there are supernatural factors that influence the

development of personality in the Akan traditional context. This is because most of them

believed that they had had an experience one way or the other with some supernatural entities

that they believe affect the development of personality.

The ‘4kra’and personality

The Akan word ‘4kra’ translates into English ‘soul.’ Participants view about the ‘4kra’ was

that it is the living spirit in man. It was seen as synonymous to the Akan word ‘sunsum’

which means spirit. When asked to describe the soul, most participants used phrases such as

‘the living soul’, ‘breath of life’, ‘the blood,’ ‘the living being’ and the ‘living soul’ (‘4kra

teasefo4’). The word ‘4krateasefo4’ was used by most participants sums up the Akan nature

of the ‘4kra’ the life of the individual whose absence means death. The quotations below

illustrates the nature of the ‘4kra’

“the ‘4kra’ is the ‘sunsum’ (spirit) and blood. The blood that flows in man is the ‘4kra.’ It is

the breath that God breathed in man to make us ‘4krateasefo4’ (a living soul)” (Respondent

3, Male, 92years)

“the human being is made up of flesh, blood, veins and bones which gives it form, but what

makes the individual walk, talk, sit et cetera is the ‘4kra.’ I believe the human being is made

up of the body and ‘adwene’ (mind) which God created. But the‘4kra’ is the living being that

lives in the human being ……. to make it live” (Respondent 7, Female, 75years)



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Participants believed that the ‘4kra’ is acquired from God who is believed to be the creator of

everything as well as the ‘4kra.’ It is also important to note that participants also shared the

belief that the ‘4kra’ can also be acquired from deities and gods that exists in the

environment. Such ‘akra’ (plural for ‘4kra’) are mostly believed to be evil in nature and have

evil personality or ‘suban’ even though a few of them can be good. It is important to note that

participants believed the ‘4kra’ to be always good and only does what is right. It was seen as

very truthful in nature and will never lie thus when an individual does something wrong, the

‘4kra’ is called upon to reveal the truth about that individual’s behaviour. However when the

‘4kra’ is acquired from an evil deity, the personality of the individual is going to be evil. The

quotation below illustrates the good nature of the ‘4kra’ acquired from God and the evil one

acquired from an evil deity:

“The ‘4kra’ is not supposed to do bad things. It is there to do the will of God. It tells the truth

in the sense that if one steals, maybe the person may feel disgraced to tell the truth but when

the ‘4kra’ is it will tell the truth no matter what, which shows that the ‘4kra’ is only supposed

to do good things.” (Respondent 6, Male, 45years)

“people who were sought from rocks and from other ‘abosom’ (gods) also have ‘akra’ and

‘nkrabea’ destiny. For example a woman who cannot bear children may go and ask for a

child from an ‘4bosom’ or ‘komfo.’ This child may not look like any family member and may

be a bad spirit, it will therefore do the bidding of the spirit it came from and may not have a

good suban” (Respondent 8, Female, 65years)



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The ‘4kra’ is believed to play a role in the development of an individual’s personality. It is

the bearer of the individual’s personality and is believed to have full knowledge of the

individual’s life and personality.

“whatever you do, whether good or bad is in your ‘4kra.’ Your ‘su’ and your ‘ban,’

everything that you do, you see, is your ‘4kra.’” (Respondent 2, Female, 100years)

“the ‘4kra’ is the living being. The ‘4kra’ is a helper. The‘4kra’ is like an angel that takes

care of us” (Respondent 8, Female, 65years)

As a result of the knowledge it has, it helps the individual by advising the individual in

whatever s/he does. It was thus described by respondents as ‘sunsum boafo4’ meaning the

helping spirit as seen in the quote made by respondent 8. Since the ‘4kra’ is a helper, one is

supposed to treat the ‘4kra’ well. It reported to move out to stand by the individual when it is

not treated well. Treating the ‘4kra’ well means listening to the advice it gives which is

always good. Thus when one does not listen to its advices and continues to do what is wrong,

the ‘4kra’ leaves the body and causes the body to be light (weak both physically and

spiritually) and sad since the ‘4kra’ itself is sad. This assertion is illustrated in the quotations

below:

“when the individual does something bad that the ‘4kra’ does not like, the ‘4kra’ is sad and

moves away from the body, when this happens, people will start saying you are light (weak

both spiritually and physically). Someone who is spiritual when s/he sees you can tell that

your ‘4kra’ has moved away from the body instead of standing behind you or on your



69

shoulders. If the person keeps doing what the ‘4kra’ does not like, it can leave the person

resulting in death” (Respondent 6, 45, Male).

Now one may ask, through what means does the ‘4kra’ advice the individual on what to do,

most respondents mentioned it prompts the individual by making the individual have an

innate feeling about a decision s/he has taken or wants to embark on. At other times, it tells

the individual what to do through dreams as reported by respondent 4.

“yes, the life that the person is going to live and whatever the person is going to do on earth

is known by the ‘4kra.’ The ‘4kra’ shows this to the individual in the night, through a dream,

it will tell you what you will become in the future, the way you will lead your life. It moves

with you as you go and come every day. The ‘4kra’ is what guides us, it takes you around, it

is the one that makes you talk, walk and do everything.” (Respondent 4, Female, 40years)

The influence of day name (‘akradin’) on the development of personality.

‘Akradin’ was described by participants as the name an ‘4kra’ acquires based on the day of

the week one is born on earth (‘krada’). ‘Akradin’ literally means ‘soul name’ and the

‘akrada’ means ‘soul day.’ The ‘krada’ is the day on which an individual’s soul is born on

earth this day is thus named after the individual’s soul to indicate the day on which the soul

was born on earth. It is believed to have an influence on the personality of the individual and

is very important in the individual. Respondent 2 clearly makes this assertion known when

she says:

“Your ‘4kra’ and everything is in it, the day you were born, your ‘su’ and your ‘ban’ and

everything is in your ‘krada’ (week day of birth). That ‘akrada’ is an important day for you,



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everything, it will show your ‘suban.’ If you change the day name and pick another one, you

have changed your ‘suban’” (Respondent 2, Female, 100years).

The ‘krada’ also has an effect on the individual by shaping the personality of the individual

through the animal totem of that particular day or the ‘akradinbosom’ (the day god). The

‘krada’ holds the individual’s suban. The ‘akradin’ is believed to work together with the

sunsum to shape the personality of an individual as seen in the quotations below,

“The ‘akradin’ does show and individual’s ‘suban.’ The ‘akradinbosom’ blesses the

individual and shows the individual the kind of life it should life through the ‘4kra’. The

‘bosom’ (god) which gave the body an ‘4kra’ determine the kind of life and ‘suban’ the

individual should depict.” (Respondent 4, Female, 40years).

“There is a spirit in everyday of the week that affect personality. Every day has a spirit

associated with it that protects the individuals born on that day the spirits usually prompts

and individual when there is impending danger. The spirit also makes personality of

individuals born on their particular day resemble the personality for that day” (Respondent

3, Male, 92years)

Respondent 6 also outlines the personality traits of individuals born on the different days of

the week when he says:

“People born on Saturday are like rabbits, they are calm and look very innocent but can be

bad. They are also wise. If one is born on a Sunday, you are like cats, they are agile, they like

keeping their things to themselves but will go for that of others. They like protecting what is

theirs and so will not give it out to people. Individuals born on Monday are like bush rats, the

bush rat is the most humble and calm animal in the bush but are the most disruptive. As soon



71

as they realize they have been caught destroying something they raise their hands as if asking

for forgiveness. That is how people born on Monday are like. People born on Tuesday are

like parrots, very bright, friendly and generous, they always feel proud and will do their

things in a grand style. Individuals born on Wednesday are like the proverbial hen which

after eating will use its beak to rub the ground, they hardly recognize the good you have done

for them and will retaliate when you do something wrong to them. Individuals born on

Thursday are like the chameleon. They always want to do what they have set out to do and

will not ask for ideas from anyone. They are very brave and courageous. People born on

Friday are like a dove, they are very neat but they like moving around, they will follow you

anywhere and will travel with you when you ask them. They also like going for parties and

dance even when not invited, they are wanderers.” (Respondent 6, Male, 45years)

From the above statements made by respondents, one can see the Akan traditional views and

beliefs of the influence of ‘akradin’ (soul name) and the ‘akrada’ (‘soul day’) on personality.

The table below shows a summary of the personality traits and totems reported by

respondents in this study.



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Table 4.1 Summary of day names, their totems and personality associated with them.

Day

Name

( Male and Female)

Animal totem

Personality Trait

Sunday Kwesi/ Akos Cat Agility, protector

Monday Kwadwo/ Adwoa Bush rat Peaceful, humble, calm,

disruptive

Tuesday Kwabena/Abena Parrot Friendly, bright,

generous, proud

Wednesday Kweku/Akua Hen Ungrateful, revengeful

Thursday Yaw/Yaa Chameleon Brave, courageous

Friday Kofi/Afua Dove Neat, Wanderer,

traveler

Saturday Kwame/Ama Rabbit Calm, wise, appear

innocent

Role of destiny (‘nkrabea’/ ‘hy1br1’) and reincarnation on personality.

‘Nkrabea’ or ‘hy1br1’ is the mission God gives every individual before the person comes to

earth. An individual with God’s approval can also decide on a mission that he wants to

achieve on earth. It is the soul that discusses this with God before the individual is born.

‘Nkrabea’ contains the ‘suban’ of the individual and because it is one’s mission on earth, it

has in totality the personality and the means through which an individual can achieve the

mission it set out to accomplish.



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“’Nkrabea’ is called destiny. Before a human comes to earth, the ‘4kra’ goes to God the

creator and tells God what she wants to do on earth. For example, I want to be born in the

Central Region of Ghana, to this family. I want to grow old and be successful or very rich so

that I can take care of other people. I want to be hardworking, generous and brave. That is

‘nkrabea.’” (Respondent 6, Male, 45years)

“the ‘4kra’ when it leaves God, it is supposed to do or live a good life. However, the ‘4kra’

can tell God that it is going to live a bad life be a thief or a murderer. If God agrees, the

person will come to earth and do particularly that” (Respondents 4, Female, years)

The ‘nkrabea’ of an individual can be changed on earth by evil spirits such as witchcraft,

‘abosom’ or gods and other spirits in the environment. Respondents 1, and 8 shares their

views on this when they say

“everyone has his or her ‘nkrabea,’ the ‘nkrabea’ God gave to the individual. ‘Nkrabea’ is

God’s plan for one before an individual is born. When you come to earth and someone

changes it, this means the ‘nkrabea’ God gave to you has been changed for example a

midwife who is a witch on delivery a child can change that child’s ‘nkrabea’ when she

realizes the child has a good ;nkrabea’” (Respondent1, Female, 84years)

“maybe I told God that when I come to earth, I will build a house, but when you come to

earth, the evil spirits and witches changed you ‘nkrabea’ which changed your suban. It is

only the evil spirit, and witchcraft that can change one’s ‘nkrabea.’ These evil spirits will

destroy your mind and changed your mind and thoughts, which will alter your ‘nkrabea’”




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Reincarnation is the chance of being born again into this world. It is the chance to amend

one’s bad suban and life that the individual lived on earth. It is also a chance to fulfil one’s

destiny if it was not fulfilled in previous life or lives. Sometimes the individual can recall and

give accounts of events in a previous life. The personality of a reincarnated person can

change or remain the same as in previous life or lives.

“People can come back to earth God can tell them to come back to earth because, for

example, God can say that, ‘you told me that when you come to earth, that is the life you want

to lead, why did you do this or that? Go back to earth and live as a child again in this family,

grow up and do what you were asked to do.’ Such a person when is a child talks like an adult,

she may behave like an adult since s/he was an adult in a previous life.” (Respondent 6,

Male, 45years)

“When the ‘4kra’ has not fulfilled its mission, or ‘hy1br1’ the ‘4kra’ goes to find another

body to reside in so as to fulfil its mission on earth. For example, my father told me that when

he dies, he will come back to earth as a female and he came back. I know this because I gave

birth to a girl child who was frequently getting sick. When we consulted an ‘4komfo,’ the

‘4kra’ revealed that it is the ‘4kra’ of my father which has been born as my daughter, she had

the same physical features and body marks as my father” (Respondent 8, Female, 65years)

“One’s ‘suban’ can be like the ‘suban’ in the previous life. For example, there is a child in

my family that is my reincarnated mother, the way the child acts, if a family member is

around, they immediately recognize her as my mother by her physical appearance and

character, so I named her after my mother. If you call her mother, she is so happy”




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The above statements the concept of reincarnation and its influence on the development of

personality in the Akan traditional context.

The influence of spirits on personality

Though ‘sunsum’ was described as synonymous to the ‘4kra’ or soul of an individual, it was

generally seen as the spirit living beings on earth that cannot be seen by physical eyes. It is

also referred to as ‘honhom’ in some Akan dialects. There are two categories of spirit, the

good spirit and the evil spirit. The evil spirit include some ‘abosom,’ witchcraft (‘bayie’)

dwarfs, spirits in water bodies, rocks, trees forest dwelling nymphs and others. These spirits

affect suban by possessing and controlling the individual. These spirits also create ‘akra’ or

souls that come to dwell on earth as human, such humans have evil or bad personalities. The

statements below illustrates the assertions made above.

Respondent 6 confirms the influence of spirits on the personality of an individual when she

says

“sometimes a ‘honhom’ or spirit can possess an individual and change the individual’s

‘suban.’ Someone can also go and a ‘honhom’ to possess another individual and change that

person’s ‘suban.’”(Respondent 6, Male, 45years)

Another respondent confirms this when she says

“these ‘abosom’ (gods) can change the ‘suban’ of an individual, they can come and reside in

the individual and change that individual’s mind and thoughts thereby changing that

individual’s ‘suban.’ They can spoil an individual’s ‘su’ and make that person have a bad

personality” (Respondent 8, Female, 65years)



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Respondent 5 also talks of the influence of witchcraft or ‘bayie’ on the influence of an

individual’s personality when he says

“a child can be born with a good ‘suban’ but will be given the witchcraft spirit which will

change that child’s ‘suban’, whatever you say, the child will not listen because s/he has a

strong power backing him or her” (Respondent 5, Male, 72years)

To sum up, the Akan concept of personality is influenced by many factors which have been

grouped into the physical factors and supernatural factors. The societal factors include the

influence of the community, parenting, inheritance of personality traits from parents and

other family relations. The supernatural factors on the other hand include such factors as the

influence of the ‘4kra’ or soul, destiny, reincarnation and spiritual forces in the environment.

4.2 Summary of Qualitative Results

Findings from the qualitative part of the study indicated that personality (‘suban’) in the Akan

context is derived from the cognitive (‘nsusu1’) and behavioural (‘banb4’) aspects of an

individual. Personality was described to be either good (‘suban papa’) or bad personality (‘suban

b4ne’). Themes that were gathered from the qualitative analysis indicated that social, biological

and supernatural factors were affecting the development of personality in the Akan context.

Social factors which included listening to the advice of elders, the person an individual is named

after, modelling of good or bad behaviour and the influence of friends, among others. Biological

factors dwelt mainly on the inheritance of a personality trait from one’s biological parents and

extended family members. Supernatural factors that were believed to have an influence on the

development of personality and included spiritual elements such as the ‘4kra,’ the ‘sunsum,’

(spirits) ‘akradin,’ (soul or day name) ‘nkrabea’ (destiny) and reincarnation.



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4.3 QUANTITATIVE RESULTS

The second part of the study generally examined the personality traits associated with the day

on which one is born does exist. A component analysis was conducted on the African

Personality Scale which was the scale designed specifically to test the traits associated with

the day of the week on which an individual is born.

4.4 Preliminary Analysis

Table 4.2 Descriptive statistics and Test for Normality (N=100)

Variable Mean SD Skewedness Kurtosis

Extraversion 3.98 1.16 -.23 .83

Agreeableness 4.61 1.26 .38 -.17

Conscientiousness 5.34 1.41 -.29 -.71

Emotional Stability 4.85 1.3 -.09 -.40

Openness 5.53 1.26 -.67 -.72

Spirituality 16.35 2.86 .24 .92

Intuition 13.59 3.21 -.35 -.72

Sensitivity 15.59 2.04 -.11 -.68

Respect 16.35 2.5 -.56 .89

Communalism 12.51 1.74 -.95 .76

Orality 10.74 2.14 -.19 -.71

Akan Personality Factor 18.20 2.34 .18 -.43



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Component Analysis

A principal component analysis using direct oblimin was used to examine the factor structure

of the Akan Personality Scale. Note that the researcher expected to load 7 factors for the

personality traits associated with the day of the week one which an individual is born. To

determine whether the sample size was adequate for factor analysis to be conducted, the

Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (KMO) measure of sampling adequacy was checked. A value of .50

was observed signifying that a factor analysis can be conducted. Also the Barlett’s Test for

Sphericity was significant at p=.000 indicating that factor analysis can be conducted on the

sample. Thirteen factors with eigenvalues greater than .1 were located. The scree test

demonstrated that thirteen factors should be retained. The rotated thirteen factor solution was

examined and the results showed that six of the factors had items loading poorly on them (.4

and below). Using the .5 and above as cut off, six factors were deleted because they loaded

poorly on the factors (.4 and below). Agius, Blenkin, Deary, Zealley and Wood (1996)

recommended the removal of variables with general loadings of .40 on more than one factor

and weak loadings of .39 on any factor, hence this study used a cut off of .50 slightly above

the recommended minimum. Further analysis showed that the other six factors (factors 2 to 7)

had only one item loading on them and were therefore eliminated with only one factor being

retained (See Tables 4.3 below). The internal consistency for the retained items in the African

personality Scale indicated a Cronbach alpha of .57.



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Table 4.3 Factor Loading on the questionnaire designed by researcher.

Factor 1 named Akan Personality Factor

Factor 1 Akan personality factor

Item No Item Loading

20 I can describe myself very calm and quite .62

27 I take time out for others .52

28 I like to be the centre of attraction .56

29 I always try to avoid confrontation -.56

30 I like to protect myself always .50

Principal Component Analysis on Africentric Worldview Scale

The table 4.4 to 4.1.0 illustrate the principal component analysis conducted on the Africentric

Worldview Scale. Findings indicated a similarity between factor one and the Spirituality

subscale on the Africentric Worldview scale. The other factors did not show any similarity

between in any of the subscales with those factors recording only one item.

Table 4.4 Items loading on Spirituality of Africentric Worldview Scale

No Item

Item

Loading

8 Attending churches, mosques or other places of worship is

important to me .70

11 When stressed I put my faith in a higher being. .60

9 I meditate and engage in other acts of faith. .59

4 I listen to my inner voice .54



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Table 4.5 Items Loading on Factor 2 of Africentric Worldview Scale


5 I am likely to rely on my inner voice .53

15 When things don’t work out, I try to see the positive .51

Table 4.6 Items loading on Factor 3 of Africentric Worldview Scale


20 The ultimate value of a person is in his/her service to others .51



19 It is not unsual for me to call close family friends "aunties,

uncles, etc."

.53

Table 4.8 Items loading of Factor 5 of Africentric Worldview Scale


1 I perform better on oral rather than written tasks .57



81



17 It is expected that the elderly will be cared for by the younger

generations.

.55



12 When I hear music, I respond actively to it. .60



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4.5 Hypotheses Testing

Hypothesis 1: There will be a significant difference between males and females scores on the

Ten Item Personality Inventory, the Africentric worldview Scale and the Akan Personality

Factor. This hypothesis was examined using the Multiple Analysis of Variance. Tables 4.11

and 4.11 illustrates the findings obtained.

Table 4.11 Summary of MANOVA table for the association between Big 5,

Indifferent/Disorganized Personality and gender of participants

Variable Gender

Male Female

Mean SD Mean SD df F ρ η2

Extraversion 4.02 1.38 3.94 0.89 1,98 0.12 0.73 0.01

Aggreableness 4.62 1.44 4.59 1.05 0.01 0.93 0

Concientiousness 5.41 1.37 5.26 1.46 0.29 0.59 0.01

Emotional Stability 4.96 1.35 4.73 1.25 0.78 0.37 0.01

Openness 5.71 1.25 4.73 1.25 2.3 0.13 0.02

TIPI=Ten Item Personality Inventory measuring Big 5 Personality Index

Table 4.11 above contains a summary of results of the Multiple Analysis of Variance, which

was conducted to examine differences in the mean scores of the Big 5 subscales with respect

to gender. The Wilk’s Lambda .966, F(1,98) =.655, p = .658 score obtained indicate that at

the p < .05 level of significance, there was no gender difference among the participants.



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Summary of MANOVA table for the association between Africentric Worldview Scale

and gender of participants

Variable Gender

Male Female

Mean SD Mean SD df F ρ η2

Spirituality 16.15 2.74 16.56 3.01 1,98 0.51 0.48 0.005

Intuition 13.29 3.43 13.92 2.95 0.96 0.33 0.01

Sensitivity 15.44 2.06 15.75 2.02 0.57 0.45 0.006

Respect 16.08 2.73 16.65 2.21 1.3 0.26 0.013

Communalism 12.37 2.01 12.67 1.38 0.75 0.39 0.008

Orality 10.46 2.25 11.04 2 1.84 0.18 0.018

Akan Personality Factor 18.6 2.35 17.77 2.29 3.16 0.61 0.003

Table 4.12 above contains a summary of results of the one-way analysis of variance which

was conducted to examine differences in the mean scores of the Big 5 subscales with respect

to gender. The Wilk’s Lambda .962, F(1,98) =.610, p = .722 score obtained indicate that at

the p < .05 level of significance, there was no gender difference among the participants.

There was no difference in the mean scores of the Africentric Worldview Scale and the Akan

personality factor among males and females.



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Hypothesis 2: The settlement of participants will have a significant difference on their score

on the Ten Item Personality Inventory, the Africentric Worldview Scale and the Akan

Personality factor. Hypothesis 2 was examined using the MANOVA. Results are illustrated in

tables 4.13 and 4.14.

Table 4.13 Summary of MANOVA results for the association between Africentric

Worldview Scale and Rural Urban Settlement

Variable Settlement

Urban Rural

M(SD) M(SD) df F ρ η2

Extraversion 4.05(1.17) 3.88(1.16) 1,98 0.54 0.46 0.01

Aggreableness 4.79(1.24) 4.33(1.25) 3.36 0.07 0.03

Concientiousness 5.48(1.41) 5.14(1.41) 1.38 0.24 0.01

Emotional Stability 5.08(1.23) 4.51(1.34) 4.68 0.03 0.05

Openness 5.66(1.24) 5.34(1.26) 1.57 0.21 0.02

TIPI=Ten Item Personality Inventory measuring Big 5 Personality Index

The table above illustrates the mean difference between the settlement of participants in the

study and the Ten Item Personality Inventory that measures the Big 5 personality index. For

the Big Five, the Wilk’s Lambda .698, F(1,98) = 1.123, p = .304 indicating no multivariate

effect among the mean scores of the Ten Item Personality Inventory. Findings indicate a

significant difference in the means of Emotional stability subscale of the Ten Item

Personality Inventory (F(1, 98) = 4.68, p> .05). comparing the mean score obtained for urban

settlers 5.08(1.23) and the mean score for rural settlers 4.51(1.34), one can deduce that

participants who live in urban areas are more emotionally stable than participants in rural

areas.



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Table 4.14 Summary of MANOVA results for the association between Africentric Worldview

Scale and Rural Urban Settlement

Variable Settlement

Urban Rural

M(SD) M(SD) df F ρ η2

Spirituality 16.37(2.71) 16.33(3.12) 1,98 .01 .94 .00

Intuition

Sensitivity

13.32(3.36) 14.00(2.95) 1.09 .29 .01

15.72(2.05 15.4(2.02) .58 .45 .01

Respect 16.12(2.84) 16.7(1.84) 1.31 .25 .01

Communalism 12.32(1.72) 12.8(1.74) 1.87 .17 .02

Orality 10.72(2.05) 10.78(2.30) .02 .89 .00

Akan Personality

Factor 18.15(2.34)

18.28(2.38) .07 .79 .00

Table 4.14 above illustrates a summary of results of the one-way analysis of variance done to

examine differences in the mean scores of the Africentric Worldview subscales and the Akan

personality factor among rural and urban settlers. For the Africentric Worldview, Wilks’

Lambda .906, F(1,98) = 1.956, p =.092 which indicates no multivariate effect between the

Africentric Worldview subscales and Akan personality factor among individuals living in

rural and urban settlements. This suggests that there was no difference among individuals

living in rural/urban settlements on the Africentric worldview and the Akan personality

factor.



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Hypothesis 3: There will be an association between the day of the week on which a

participant is born and their Akan Personality Factor.

Table 4.15 Summary of One-Way ANOVA results for the association

between day of birth and Akan Personality Factor

M (SD)

Sum of

Squares df

Mean

Square F P

Sunday 17.38(2.14) 27.69,

516.31

6,

93

4.61,

5.55

.83 .55

Monday 19.09(2.16)

Tuesday 17.93(2.62)

Wednesday 17.89(2.35)

Thursday 18.00(2.37)

Friday 18.73(2.83)

Saturday 18.69(2.02)

The table above demonstrates a summary of results of the one-way analysis of variance

conducted to examine differences in the mean scores of the Akan personality factor and the

day of the week on which an individual is born. Results pointed out that at the p < .05 level of

significance, there was no significant difference in the mean scores of the Akan personality

factor with respect to the day of the week on which an individual is born.



87

Hypothesis 4: There will a significant difference between the week day of birth and the Ten

Item Personality Inventory was analysed using MANOVA and has been presented in Table

4.16.

Hypothesis 5: which states that there will be a significant difference between the day of the

week on which a participant is born and their Africentric Worldview. This hypothesis was

also analysed using the MANOVA. Table 4.17 shows the results from this analysis.



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Table 4.16 Summary of MANOVA results for the association between the Big 5, Africentric Worldview and Day of birth

Variable Day of Birth

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

M(SD) M(SD) M(SD) M(SD) M(SD) M(SD) M(SD) df F ρ η2

Extraversion 3.81(1.11) 4.18(1.51) 3.82(1.15) 3.86(1.32) 3.76(1.20) 4.45(.69) 4.16(1.04) 1,98 .63 .71 .04

Aggreableness 4.58(1.41) 4.86(1.2) 4.75(.96) 4.44(1.64) 4.82(1.10) 4.091.07) 4.63(1.29) .53 .78 .03

Concientiousness 5(1.38) 5.77(1.29) 4.68(1.67) 5.33(1.32) 5.21(1.31) 5.14(1.25) 6.19(1.33) 1.94 .08 .11

Emotional Stability 5.23(1.01) 5.05(1.88) 4.5(1.40) 4.72(.98) 5.09(1.28) 4.86(1.33) 4.59(1.34) .61 .72 .04

Openness 5.42(1.29) 4.82(1.43) 5.07(1.60) 5.92(1.24) 5.88(.98) 5.27(1.13) 5.88(.96) 1.79 .11 .10



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Table 4.17 Summary of MANOVA results for the association between the Big 5, Africentric Worldview and Day of birth

Variable Day of Birth

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

M(SD) M(SD) M(SD) M(SD) M(SD) M(SD) M(SD) df F ρ η2

Spirituality 16.62(1.81) 17.09(2.66) 16.86(2.25) 16.06(3.98) 15.24(3.35) 16.91(2.98) 16.31(2.02) 1,98 .74 .62 .05

Intuition 13.08(3.57) 14.18(2.64) 13.86(3.46) 12.83(3.57) 13.47(2.43) 15.64(2.54) 12.94(3.59) 1.17 .33 .07

Sensitivity 15.62(2.32) 15.73(2.10) 15.57(1.65) 15.33(2.52) 15.47(2.27) 16.00(2.09) 15.63(1.36) .13 .99 .01

Respect 16.69(1.37 17.91(1.51) 16.64(1.91) 16.22(2.69) 15.65(2.64) 16.91(1.45) 15.25(3.72) 1.70 .13 .09

Communalism 12.23(2.17) 12.36(2.11) 12.21(1.19) 12.67(1.33) 12.24(1.09) 12.91(1.64) 12.94(2.52 .47 .83 .03

Orality 11.77(1.79) 11.00(2.15) 10.36(2.53) 10.72(2.21) 10.00(1.97) 10.64(2.29) 10.94(2.04) .96 .46 .06



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The multivariate analysis of variance conducted to examine differences in the mean scores of

the Africentric Worldview and the Big 5 personality on the day of the week on which an

individual is born. MANOVA results Wilk’s Lambda .698, F(1,98) = .1.123, p = .304,

pointed out no multivariate effect between the Ten Item Personality Inventory and the day of

the week on which an individual is born. For the Africentric Worldview, the Wilk’s Lambda

.714, F(1,98) = .868, p = .690 revealed no multivariate effect between mean scores of the day

of the week on which an individual is born.

Hypothesis 6: There will be a significant positive relationship between the Africentric

Worldview of participants and their Akan personality scores and Hypothesis 7: There will

be a significant positive relationship between the Ten Item Personality Inventory and the

Akan Personality Scale. Hypothesis 6 and 7 were analysed using Pearson correlation as

illustrated in table 4.17



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Table 4.18 Pearson's correlation Table of African Personality Factors with Ten Item Personality Inventory and the Africentric Worldview Scale

Variable 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

1. Extraversion 1

2. Agreeableness .08 1

3. Conscientiousness -.03 .18 1

4. Emotional Stability -.12 .18 .05 1

5. Openness .02 -.02 -.01 .09 1

6. Spirituality .18 -.07 -.12 -.11 -.18 1

7. Intuition -.01 .01 -.04 -.05 -.01 .04 1

8. Sensitivity .26** -.07 -.01 -.06 .05 .18 -.01 1

9. Respect .13 -.05 -.01 -.01 -.07 .12 .27** .12 1

10. Communalism .03 .07 .04 -.10 .15 .11 .18 .14 .28** 1

11. Orality -.01 -.03 -.04 .02 -.04 -.01 .16 .13 .12 .12 1

12. Akan Personality Factor -.02 .23* .15 .02 .09 .2* .13 .01 .05 .15 -.05 1

Note: N = 100; 1=Extraversion; 2=Agreeableness; 3=Conscientiousness; 4=Emotional Stability; 5=Openness; 6=Spirituality 7=Intuition, 8=Sensitivity, 9=Respect, 9=Communalism,

11=Orality, 12=Akan Personality Factor. *p<0.05 level (2–tailed), **p<0.01 level (2–tailed), N=100



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The Findings from Table 4.1.8 indicates that there is a significant positive correlation between

the Indifferent/Disorganized personality factor and Agreeableness subscale of the Big 5

personality index [r(100) =.023, ρ=.05 (two-tailed)]. There was also a significant positive

correlation between the Akan Personality Factor and the Sensitivity subscale of the Africentric

Worldview Scale [r(100) =.20, ρ =.05 (two-tailed)]. Findings from Table 4.7 also indicates a

significant positive correlation between Respect and Communalism [r (100) =.28, p=. (two-

tailed)] of the Africentric Worldview Scale, a positive correlation between Sensitivity and

Extraversion [r (100) =.28, p=.05 (two-tailed)] and a positive correlation between Respect and

Intuition.

4.6 Summary of Qualitative and Quantitative Findings

Findings from the qualitative part of the study indicated that the Akan concept of personality

(‘suban’) is derived from the observed cognitive (‘nsusu1’) and behavioural (‘banb4’) aspects of

an individual. Personality is subdivided into good personality (‘suban papa’) and bad personality

(‘suban b4ne’). One factor that was reported to influence the development of the Akan traditional

concept of personality social factors which include listening to the advice of elders, the person an

individual is named after, modelling of good or bad behaviour and the influence of friends,

parenting and the of the clan an individual belongs to. The impact of modernization on the

development of personality was another social factor that was discovered. One other factor

believed to affect the development of personality is the biological factor which is mainly the

inheritance of a personality trait from one’s biological parents and extended family members.

Supernatural factors were also believed to have an impact on the development of personality and

include spiritual elements such as the ‘4kra,’ the ‘sunsum,’ (spirits) ‘akradin,’ (soul or day

name) ‘nkrabea’ (destiny) and reincarnation. The ‘4kra’ (soul) is believed to affect the

personality of an individual by advising the individual and being the bearer of the

individual’s ‘akradin,’ ‘nkrabea’ and personality. The ‘akradin’ is the name one acquires



93

based on the day of the week on which one was born was explained to affect the personality

of the individual. ‘Sunsum’ (spirits) are also believed to affect the personality of the

individual by changing the individual’s destiny and manipulating the individual’s soul.

Hypothesis testing indicated that

1. There was no significant difference between day of the week of the week on which an

individual and their Akan personality.

2. The settlement of participants had no significant impact on their Akan personality.

3. There was a positive significant correlation between the Agreeableness subscale of the

Ten Item Personality Inventory and the Akan personality.

4. There was a significant positive correlation between the Sensitivity subscale of the

Africentric Worldview Scale and the Akan Personality.

5. There was a significant difference between Emotional stability of the Ten Item

Personality Inventory and rural/urban settlement of participants.

6. There was no significant difference between the day of the week on which an individual

is born and the Ten Item Personality Inventory and the Africentric Worldview.



94

Figure 4.1 Observed conceptual model

7.

8.

As illustrated in the observed model below, there is a relationship between rural and urban

settlement of participant and the Agreeableness and Emotional stability of the Big 5 Personality

Inventory. It was observed that Participants in urban centres scored higher on emotionally stable

and agreeableness of the Big 5 Personality Inventory than participants in the rural areas. There

was a significant positive correlation between the Sensitivity subscale of the Africentric

Worldview Scale and the Akan Personality Factor signifying a relationship between these two

variables. From the qualitative study, participants confirmed the notion that week day of birth

affects the personality of the individual.

Akan

Personality

Africentric

Worldview

(Sensitivity)

Week day

of birth

Rural/Urban

Settlement

Big 5 Personality

(Agreeableness,

Emotional

Stability)



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CHAPTER FIVE

DISCUSSION

The main aim of the study was to identify and describe the nature of the African personality

in the Akan context as well as examine the factors that influence African personality concept

specifically the Akan concept of personality. The African personality based on the Akan

theory of day names (kradin) was compared with the Big Five personality factors to

determine whether any relationship exists between these two constructs. Additionally, the

African personality traits were also compared with the Africentric worldview scale to

determine the construct validity of the African personality scale. Finally, study aimed to

ascertain whether the Akan theory of day name in determining personality holds.

With regards to the above aims, questions such as; does one’s personality continue to be

shaped by the concepts of African personality despite the influence and acculturation of the

EuroAmerican cultures? Does the belief and identification with one’s African values or

heritage depict the influence of the African personality on the individual? were addressed in

this study. This chapter presents a discussion of findings, limitations, recommendations and

conclusions.

5.1 Discussion of Findings

The Nature of the Akan Concept of Personality

One of the aims of this study was to identify the nature of the African personality (‘suban’) in

the Akan context. Personality explained to mean character or conduct. It was revealed that

personality encompasses all behaviours, mannerisms and activities the individual engaged in

to protect him/herself from the dangers in his or her environment. This assertion is consistent

with Rathus’ (2014) definition of personality when he describes personality to include the

thinking, feeling and behaviour patterns of an individual consistent over time.



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Findings indicated that the Akans see personality as the thoughts processes and perception

(‘nsusu1’) of an individual, which is manifested in his or her mannersism, feelings and the

total behaviour s/he exhibits towards his/her environment. These thoughts and perceptions are

believed to take place in the mind (‘adwene’). Since thought processes were believed to take

place in the mind (‘adwene’), one’s thoughts were denoted by the Akan word ‘adwene’ it was

therefore not difficult for respondents to say “s/he has a bad ‘adwene”, meaning the person

has bad or evil thoughts. Note that for the Akan someone with a bad ‘adwene’ is perceived as

evil or wicked whiles someone with good ‘adwene’ is a person who exhibits good behaviour

in his or her community. The role of the ‘adwene’ as explained in the findings of this study

depicts the role of the mental component of the African person described by Opoku (1973),

Sarfo and Mate–Kole (2014), and Oladupo (1992). They mentioned that the mental

component of the person in the names of ‘adwene’ in Akan and ‘opolo’ in Yoruba are the

main force that influence human conscious activities such as thinking and intelligence, it is

this same role that the findings of this research explain the ‘adwene’ to exhibit.

Findings also specified that in the Akan traditional context, personality has been categorized

into two; the good personality and the bad personality. Someone with a good personality was

explained to exhibit traits such as kindness, calm, sympathetic, respect for elders, heeding to

the advice of elders, comply with societal norms, not quarrelsome, does not follow friends

among others. Other the other hand, an individual with a bad personality exhibits traits like

disrespect, wickedness, evil, a thief among others.

It is important to note that a good or bad personality is usually defined by the society in

which an individual lives. This is because of the interconnectedness between the individual

and the community. The African society is such that there is an interconnectedness between

the individual and society and vice versa (Shutte, 1993; Gyekye, 1988; Mbiti 1969; 1992).



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The society therefore sets the customs and values that the individual is supposed to comply to

because it is believed that if an individual has an evil or bad personality, s/he is likely to

exhibit an unacceptable behaviour that is likely to affect the people in the community and if

possible the deities that are believed to be governing the community in the spiritual realm.

When these deities are offended, it becomes the duty of the community to conduct rituals to

appease them since they might punish the individual, the family and sometimes the whole

community. Therefore if an individual in the society is exhibiting a bad personality trait, it is

commonplace for any elderly person in the society to advice that individual on the behaviour

he or she is exhibiting.

Factors affecting the development of personality

Personality is also believed to be influenced by a myriad of factors in the Akan traditional

context. Findings indicated that the Akans of Ghana believed that personality is shaped by

three broad factors; social, biological and spiritual factors. These findings will be discussed in

the ensuing paragraphs.

Social Factors influencing personality

Results from the qualitative part of this study showed that the community in which an

individual is born into or lives influences the development of that individual. Social structures

such as elders, friends, family and parents all come together to help shape an individual’s

personality. Elders in the society are expected to advice the individual to help shape the

personality that the individual will develop. One is not supposed to be related to an elderly

person for that elder to advise him or her on the kind of behaviour to adopt. In some

instances, the elder of the child is named after may also invite the child so as to advice the

child especially when the child is not modelling the good behaviour that s/he has. It is

important to note that findings indicated that a child is supposed to model the good behaviour



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of the elder or ancestor s/he was named after. If a child emulates the bad behaviours of an

elder in the society s/he was named after, it is the duty of his or her parents, other elders and

grownups to correct that behaviour.

Friends are also believed to affect the personality of the individual in both good and bad

ways. Individuals in the society are expected to associate themselves with good friends since

these friends are believed to influence their personality. When one is spotted in the company

of bad friends, that individual is immediately advised to refrain from such company. This can

be done by any individual in the community as well as the parents of such a person.

In the Akan community the child is seen as the property of the community in which s/he is

raised in, it is therefore the duty of the community to raise children to become good and

upright citizens. This view of the Akan society shows the interconnectedness between the

society and the individual as postulated by Mbiti (1969; 1992), Gyekye (1988), Senghor

(1966) and Shutte (1993). The concept of reciprocity, interconnectedness and communality is

seen in this instance because in the shaping of the personality of an Akan child in the

community that helps the development of the personality of the child that child is expected to

reciprocate the advice by exhibiting a good personality. There is also the view that if the child

develops a good personality, the community benefits, if a bad personality is developed,

community is negatively affected.

Biological factors

Findings indicated that biological inheritance influence the development of the personality of

the individual. Individuals are seen to inherit their personality from their parents and

extended relatives for instance, if one’s parents are humble, the child can inherit humility trait

and be humble, also if one’s parents are wicked, the child might inherit this personality.



99

However, not all children inherit the personality traits of their parents others inherit from

their extended relatives. The influence of biological inheritance on personality is not far from

what other personality researchers have found. Findings made by researchers (Yamagata, et

al., 2006; Anderson et al., 2007; Keller, 2010) suggested that personality has biological basis

and may account for similarities in personality across cultures.

Supernatural Factors influencing personality

The present study also revealed that the Akan personality is influenced by spiritual factors in

the environment. These supernatural factors include the ‘4kra,’ destiny (‘nkrabea’/ ‘hy1br1’)

reincarnation, day name (‘akradin’), witchcraft and other spiritual entities.

The ‘4kra’ and personality

The ‘4kra,’ described as the God given spiritual component living in the human body is seen

as the life giving force thus it is also called the ‘4krateasefo4.’ The ‘4kra’ was seen to be the

same as the ‘sunsum’ living in the human being. It is truthful and good in nature and the

bearer of the individual’s personality and destiny. Even though it is good in nature, there can

be an ‘4kra,’ that is evil and only exhibits evil behaviour. The individual is supposed to

follow the advice of the ‘4kra’ if the individual does not listen to the advice of the individual,

it moves out of the body and goes to stand by that individual. The ‘4kra,’ also influences

behaviour by guiding and advising the person on what to do as one lives on earth.

The view of the ‘4kra’ as the living being or the life force (4krateasefo4’) suggested by

Gyekye (1995) and Akesson (1965) is the same described by respondents in this study.

Results also implied that the ‘4kra’ existed before the birth of any individual as is described

by Rattary (1927). The concept of the ‘4kra’ being the sole advisor and protector of the



100

individual, neglecting him or her when the individual refuses to take the advice it gives the

individual (Rattary, 1927) is also held by respondents in this study. the comparison of the

‘4kra’ to the Freudian id can also be harnessed from the views of respondents because it was

mentioned that the ‘4kra’ advices the individual on what to do whether it is right or wrong

despite societal rules and regulations (Meyerowitz, 1951; Gyekye, 1995; Sarfo & Mate–Kole,

2014). Results in this study suggested that when the ‘4kra’ advises the individual, it is

expected that the individual heeds to that advise no matter societal rules or regulations and if

the individual does not take the advice, it moves out making the person sad and weak both

spiritually and physically which might lead to eventual death.

The role of ‘akradin’ in the development of personality

‘Akradin’ was also found to play a significant role in the development of the personality of an

individual in an Akan community. The ‘akradin’ which is the name the‘4kra’ inherits based

on the day of the week on which it is born was believed to have an influence on the

personality of the individual. Each day of the week was said to have a personality trait

associated with the particular day. Akesson (1969), Gyekye (1996), Gyasi (1997) and Akhan

(2008) all reported that the Akan of Ghana believed that the day of the week on which an

individual is born determines the personality of the individual citing specific personality traits

associated with those particular days. This view is in line with findings of this present study.

Furthermore, the results of this study indicated that the ‘akrada’ which is the day of the week

on which the individual is born is said to have deities or spirits (‘akradinbosom’) that protects

individuals born on those particular days, this view is also supported by Akhan (2008)

however, respondents in this study mentioned the deities or spirits (‘akradinbosom’) as well

as the animal totems associated with those days. It is also important to note that the



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personality traits associated with each day of the week suggested by scholars (Akhan, 2008;

Akesson, 1969, Agyekum, 2006) of the Akan personality were similar to the personality traits

mentioned by respondents in this study. There were however, some traits that were different

for example individuals born on Wednesday were seen to have traits such as ungratefulness

and revengefulness instead of wickedness and evil reported by literature. The personality

traits associated with Monday also had disruptiveness added to the peaceful, humble and

calm.

Destiny, reincarnation and personality

The Akan concept of destiny (‘nkrabea’) and reincarnation were found to play a profound

role in the development of the personality of an individual in this study. ‘Nkrabea’ also

referred to as ‘hy1br1’ was explained to mean the destiny an individual’s ‘4kra’ agrees with

God the creator to achieve on earth. The ‘nkrabea’ was explained to determine personality

since it contains the life of the individual. The town in which one is born, the parents one is

born to, fortunes and misfortunes one experiences, dispositions, tendencies and personality

one exhibits were all believed to be influenced by the ‘nkrabea’ which is the view also held

by Airoboman, (2012). The individual is expected to live by the dictates of his or her destiny

therefore if the individual’s destiny is to live a bad or evil life on earth that is exactly what the

person will do. It was also explained that when the individual is not able to achieve the full

purpose of his or her destiny, then s/he might have met an evil person or spirit that stalled the

person’s destiny. The view of Gyekye (1995) which states that the Akan believe that every

individual has a destiny that fixed by God is reinforced in this study.

Closely tied to destiny is the Akan concept of reincarnation, here, findings pointed out that

reincarnation is the chance one is given by the God to come and fulfil an unfulfilled destiny.

Respondents mentioned that in some instances, the individual is able to recall events in



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previous life as well as exhibit the same personality traits that one had in his or her previous

life.

The influence of spirits on personality

One major finding of this study is the belief that supernatural beings in the environment

influence the personality of the individual. These beings are collectively called ‘honhom’ or

‘sunsum’ depending on the Akan dialect one is speaking. They are believed to be in the

natural environment and can be seen in hills, mountains, rivers and other natural elements.

They have been categorized into two the evil spirits and the good spirits. Both the evil and

good spirits are believed to have the power to change an individual’s personality by

possessing the individual and controlling the individual to act the way they want. They also

seize the individual’s ‘4kra’ and causes it to be ineffective as well as change the individual’s

destiny which in contained in the ‘4kra.’ Mbiti’s (1969) view that supernatural beings possess

and change the personality of individuals is not far from the view held by respondents in this

study.

Discussion of Quantitative findings

The relationship between the day of the week and Akan personality factor.

A principal component analysis on the Akan personality revealed that only one category of

the Akan personality. This category of personality did not correspond to any specific

personality trait associated with the days of the week as qualitative findings and previous

literature (Akhan, 2008; Agyekum, 2006; Akesson, 1965) have stated. The inability to find

the seven personality traits of the Akan personality associated with the day of the week on

which an individual is born may be due to the items selected for the development of the Akan

Personality Scale. The type of question, language used and order of items selected are



103

reported to have some form of effect on the response from participant and may even bias

response (Rattary & Jones, 2005).

A principal component analysis on the Africentric Worldview scale confirmed the spirituality

subscale proposed by Belgrave et al., (1997). It is however important to note that the other

subscales of the Africentric Worldview Scale (intuition, sensitivity, respect, communalism,

orality) were not supported.

The third hypothesis revealed that no significant difference between the different days of the

week on which a participant is born and Akan personality. Even though previous literature

(Akhan, 2008; Agyekum, 2006) suggested that a difference exists in the week day of birth

and the Akan personality.

The second hypothesis sought to find out if rural or urban dwelling of a participant affects the

personality of that individual. Findings indicate that there was no significant difference

between the settlement of a participant and their personality based on the Akan personality

concept. This hypothesis was to determine whether westernization especially in the urban

areas has a significant influence on the personality of the Akan. Nyasani (1997) and

Mugambi (1998) mentioned that westernization has had an impact on the personality of the

African. The inability of this study to find a significant difference in the personality of

individuals living in rural or urban areas may suggest that westernization has no impact on

the personality of an individual.

Hypothesis six was to determine whether a positive relationship existed between the Big-five

personality subscales and the Akan personality. Results indicated a positive significant

correlation between the Agreeableness subscale of the Ten Item Personality Inventory that

measures the Big-five personality index and the Akan personality. In relation to this,



104

hypothesis results also indicated that there was a significant difference between Emotional

stability of the Ten Item Personality Inventory and rural/urban settlement of participants.

Participants living in rural areas had low emotional stability as compared to participants in

urban areas.

Also, the seventh hypothesis was to test for the relationship between the Africentric

worldview of participants and their personality based on the Akan personality. Results

showed no significant difference between the Africentric worldview of participant and their

Akan personality. It is worthy to note that there was a significant positive correlation between

the Sensitivity subscale of the Africentric Worldview Scale and the Akan Personality. This

may suggest that spirituality plays a significant role in the personality of the Akan as reported

by Gyekye (1996), Ross (2010) and Sarfo and Mate-Kole (2014).

It is also important to note that there was no significant difference between males and females

on the Africentric Worldview Scale, the Ten Item Personality Inventory and the Akan

Personality factor (see APPENDIX G). Another finding in this research also did not support

Jahoda (1954) finding that individuals born on Wednesday are more ‘troublemakers’ or

‘aggressive.’ Findings indicated no significant difference between male participants on the

Akan personality factor.

To sum up, findings indicated that there was no significant difference between the day of the

week on which an individual is born and the Big-five personality as well as the Africentric

worldview of participants. This result may be due to the social desirability. Social desirability

bias is the nature to of an individual to present oneself in a positive and likeable way to others

(Neeley & Cronley, 2004). According to Neeley and Cronley (2004) usually, individual over-

report their opinions and behaviours that are in line with socially acceptable values and



105

under-reporting those deemed socially undesirable. During data collection, it was observed

participant were likely to accept and associate personality types that were socially acceptable

to themselves and disapprove personality types that they deemed to be socially unacceptable.

It is important to note that they were encouraged to report the true nature of their personality

by researcher.

5.2 Limitations

Despite the substantive contribution of the current study, there are some limitations that were

experienced during the course of the research. The sampling method (purposive sampling)

does not make it easy for one to generalize the results of this study to the entire Akan

population in Ghana. Moreover, the sample size was small and unrepresentative therefore,

generalizing findings to the entire Akan population of Ghana becomes difficult. Also social

desirability proved to be a limitation in the conduct of this study. The researcher observed

that participant were giving socially acceptable responses to questions even after being

prompted not to do so.

Another limitation worth noting is the fact that the qualitative aspect of this study is culturally

based as a result, the researcher could not control all external or extraneous variable that

could have influenced the results of the study. This could have explained the reason why

most quantitative results support qualitative findings.

5.3 Recommendations

Recommendations have been categorized into two sections (i) Recommendations for Future

Studies and (ii) Practical Recommendations



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Recommendations for Future Studies

As it has become evident that the sampling method is a limitation in this study, it will be

commendable if future researchers used the probability sampling technique to increase the

ability to generalize to the Akan population. Another factor that can increase the

generalizability of future research is the employment of large sample size. It is important for

further researchers to reduce the tendency of social desirability among participants by

employing questioning methods such as indirect questioning, and encouraging participants to

give a true description of their personality. It would also be commendable for future

researchers to carefully select the questions for the development of their questionnaire. A

good way to select items will be to constantly revisit the research questions to ensure that

items reflect the research questions one sought to answer (Oppenheim 1992, Bowling 1997).

It would be good to also make sure that the type of question, language used and order of

items may not bias response.

Practical Recommendations

Qualitative results have indicated the influence of social, biological and supernatural

implications on the development of personality. Social factors like the influence of elders,

family, peers were seen to have an influence on the development of the personality of an

individual. This suggests that for the key shapers (elders, family, and peers) of personality

should be educated on the role they play in the development of the personality of an

individual. On the other hand, it would be beneficial if an individual is also educated on the

factors that influence the development of his/her personality so as to make the right choices

in life.

The biological factors that are believed to shape the personality of an individual suggests that

personality even in the Akan traditional setting or to a large extent the African traditional



107

setting is may have biological basis. This information adds to the ongoing nature-nurture

debate and informs clinicians of the influence of genes and inheritance on the development of

personality.

The supernatural findings garnered in this study suggests the important role of cultural and

supernatural factors on the development of personality. This suggests that when on is

researching on the personality of an individual of Akan or African heritage, it is important to

note the influence of some of these factors affecting personality.

During therapy the clinician must take into account the various factors that influence the

individuals’ personality especially individuals of Akan heritage or other individuals from

cultures similar to the Akan.

5.4 Conclusion

The main of the purpose of the study was to identify and describe the nature of the African

personality in the Akan context as well as examine the factors that influence African

personality concept specifically the Akan concept of personality. It also examined the

categories of personality that was defined by respondents in the qualitative part of the study.

Data gathered revealed that personality in the Akan context is the similar to the personality

definitions presented by most personality scholars. One of the factors that are believed to

influence the personality of an individual includes the social factors such as friends, parents,

elders and the kind of name one is given at birth. Another factor that influences personality is

biological inheritance where an individual inherits personality traits from his or her parents

and the extended family. What sets the Akan concept of personality apart from the

Eurowestern concept of personality is the spiritual factor that is believed to affect the

personality of the individual. Spiritual beings such as dwarfs, gods, nymphs and even



108

witchcraft are believed to also influence the personality of an individual. Another spiritual

component that plays a role in the development of the personality is the ‘4kra’ (soul) which

contains the destiny, the day name (‘akradin’) and personality of the individual.

The Akan concept of personality based on the day of the week an individual is born was also

examined through principal component analysis. The principal component analysis revealed

that one personality trait can be harnessed from the seven day personality suggesting that the

days of the week on which an individual is born may not predict the personality of the

individual. Spirituality affects the personality of the Akan as suggested by researchers of

Akan personality. In a nut shell the Akan concept of personality still exists despite

westernization and acculturation.



109

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APPENDICES

UNIVERSITY OF GHANA

PROTOCOL CONSENT FORM

Section A- BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Title of Study:

TO AFRICAN CULTURAL VALUES AND PERSONALITY FACTORS AMONG RURAL AND

URBAN DWELLERS Principal Investigator:

Elizabeth Anokyewaa Sarfo

Certified Protocol Number

Section B– CONSENT TO PARTICIPATE IN RESEARCH

General Information about Research

The study is aimed at investigating the extent to which the day in which one is born

determines his/her personality traits. Determine influence of urban and rural living on

the African personality. Determine the influence of residential dwelling on the

development of personality traits. To determine whether the development of personality

traits based on the day in which you are born will be determined by your African identity.

The study is expected last run from March 1st 2015 to March 30th 2015. This is the

duration in which data will be collected from participants in the study.

Participants will be expected to answer four questionnaires, the Ten–Item Personality

Inventory, the Africentric Worldview Scale and Akan Personality Scale designed by the

author. Specific guidelines and instructions are provided on the first page of each

questionnaire.

Benefits/Risk of the study

There are no specific risks and benefits associated with the participation in this study to the

participants. However findings from this study will help build up knowledge about African

cultural values that affect the personality of Africans.

Confidentiality

Participants will NOT be required to state their names, telephone or mobile numbers,

postal or residential address on the questionnaires only questions like age, sex, and

ethnicity among others will be required of them which will not directly or indirectly

indicated their identity. All records and data collected will be filed and kept in a filing



122

system and locked up to protect the identity of participants and their views on the

variables being tested.

Aside from the principal investigator, her two supervisors may have direct access the

research records at any particular time thus signing or thumb printing this written

consent form, participants or their representatives are authorizing such access.

Compensation

Participants will be given a pen which will be to answer the questionnaire and

subsequently kept by the participants. This is only to show appreciation for participation.

Withdrawal from Study

Participation is voluntary and participants may withdraw at any time without Penalty.

As the principal researcher, I assure that any participant will not be adversely affected if

he/she declines to participate or later stops participating.

Participant or the participant's legal representative will be informed in a timely manner

if information becomes available that may be relevant to the participant's willingness to

continue participation or withdraw.

Participation will be terminated when and if participants indicates the will to withdraw

from the study under any circumstances and/or reasons pertinent to the participant.

Contact for Additional Information

For further information about the study, contact Prof C. C. Mate–Kole, Department of

Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ghana. He can be contacted on 027

4323 154 and at [email protected]

Section C- VOLUNTEER AGREEMENT

"I have read or have had someone read all of the above, asked questions, received answers

regarding participation in this study, and am willing to give consent for me, my child/ward

to participate in this study. I will not have waived any of my rights by signing this consent

form. Upon signing this consent form, I will receive a copy for my personal records."

________________________________________________

Name of Volunteer

_________________________________________________ _______________________

Signature or mark of volunteer Date


mailto:[email protected]


123

If volunteers cannot read the form themselves, a witness must sign here:

I was present while the benefits, risks and procedures were read to the volunteer. All questions

were answered and the volunteer has agreed to take part in the research.

_________________________________________________

Name of witness

________________________________________________ _______________________

Signature of witness Date

I certify that the nature and purpose, the potential benefits, and possible risks associated with

participating in this research have been explained to the above individual.

__________________________________________________

Name of Person who Obtained Consent

___________________________________________ ______________________

Signature of Person Who Obtained Consent Date



124

APPENDIX B

Ten–Item Personality Inventory

Here are a number of characteristics that may or may not apply to you. Please tick in the

column to indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with that statement. You should

rate the extent to which the pair of traits applies to you, even if one characteristic applies

more strongly than the other.

1 –Disagree Strongly

2 –Disagree moderately

3 –Disagree a little

4 –Neither agree nor disagree

5 –Agree a little

6 –Agree Moderately

7 –Agree Strongly

I see myself as: Disagree

strongly

Disagree

Moderately

Disagree

a little

Neither

agree nor

disagree

Agree

a

little

Agree

Moderately

Agree

strongly

Extraverted and

enthusiastic

Critical,

quarrelsome

Dependable, self–

disciplined

Anxious, easily

upset

Open to new

experiences,

complex

Reserved, quite

Sympathetic, warm

Disorganized,

careless

Calm, emotionally

stable

Conventional,

uncreative



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APPENDIX C

Africentric Worldview Scale

Please answer the following question about how you go about your daily activities and your

reaction to things around you. For each statement, indicate the level of agreement (or

disagreement) using the numbers 1,2,3,4 and 5 to mean the following:

1. Strongly disagree

2. Disagree

3. Neither agree nor disagree

4. Agree

5. Strongly agree

1 2 3 4 5

1 I perform better on oral rather than written tasks.

2 When greeting someone, I prefer verbal acknowledgements

(rather than a nod or a hand wave).

3 I feel that sometimes I do things “just because it feels, right.”

4 I listen to my inner voice.

5 I am likely to rely on my inner voice.

6 I have to see something to believe it.

7 I can tell when a close friend is in trouble.

8 Attending churches, mosques, or other places of worship is

important to me.

9 I meditate and engage in other acts of faith.

10 I believe in a spiritual force or power.

11 When stressed, I put my faith in a higher being.

12 When I hear music I respond actively to it.

13 When speaking I am likely to use body language and hand

gestures.

14 I view death as a spiritual event.

15 When things don’t work out, I by to see the positive side.

16 People should be judged on who they are rather their

material achievement.

17 It is expected that the elderly will be cared for by the

younger generations.

18 Older members of my family are relied on for advice /guidance

19 It is not unusual for me to call close family friends

“aunties, uncle, etc.”

20 The ultimate value of a person is in his/her service to others.

21 My successful achievements are due to the support of significant

others.

22 My successful achievements have are due to the support

of significant others.

23 Remembering the past is as important as preparing for the future.



126

APPENDIX D

African Personality Scale

Please read and answer the following questions about your beliefs and views on your

personality. For each statement, please indicate your level of agreement or disagreement using

the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 to mean the following:

1–Strongly Disagree

2–Disagree

3–Neither Agree nor Disagree

4–Agree

5–Strongly Disagree

1 2 3 4 5

1 I believe I sometimes act in a particular way that I cannot

explain.

2 I sometimes feel directed by an innate force to act in a

particular way.

3 I sometimes do things because it feels good.

4 I believe that listening to the advice of my friends helps

me grow as a good person.

5 The advice of the elderly are very important for the

development of a good person.

6 Respect of the elderly in the society is a good character

every individual must adopt.

7 Upholding the rules and regulations of a society shows

one has a good personality.

8 I believe the culture of a society shapes the personality of

the individuals in that society.

9 I believe my parents have a great influence on the

development of my personality.

10 An important value a person must uphold is “service to

others.”

11 I enjoy making new friends and meeting new people.

12 I like to resolve my problems peacefully without any

fight.

13 I find more satisfaction in attending to the needs of others

than myself.

14 I find it difficult sharing my difficulties with people even

those who are closest to me.

15 I see myself as someone who enjoys travelling and

visiting new places.

16 I like engaging in laborious.

17 I like taking part in very bold and daring activities.

18 I enjoy creative and artistic.

19 I find myself acting more aggressive about a situation

than is required.

20 I can describe myself as very calm and quite.



127

21 Humility is a quality I uphold and always practice.

22 I react to every wrong done to me.

23 I see myself as someone who reflects and ponders over

ideas.

24 I am very frank and honest with everyone whether young

or old.

25 I am a problem solver.

26 I am always concerned with the wellbeing of others

around me.

27 I take time out for others

28 I like to be the centre of attraction.

29 I always try to avoid confrontation

30 I like to protect myself always.

31 I identify myself easily with the needy in society.



128

APPENDIX E

Interview Questions for Research: Comparison of African Cultural Values and Personality

Factors among Rural and Urban Dwellers

Name: Age:

Sex: Ethnicity:

1. “Suban” in Akan means character, do you believe?

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

________________________

2. Can you please explain the concept of “suban” or personality?

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

______________________________

3. How is “suban” developed?

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________

4. When one is describing “suban” in the Akan traditional context, what are the most

important factors that affect the development of “suban”?

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________



129

5. In your opinion what is “4kra”?

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

___________________________

6. Does the “4kra” of an individual play a role in the development of “suban”?

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

___________________________

7. How does “4kra” affect “suban”?

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

___________________________

8. Now let us talk about “kradin.” What does “kradin” mean to you?

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_________________________________



130

9. There is a belief that “kradin” plays a role in the development of “suban,” how true is

this?

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_________________________________

10. How does “kradin” affect behaviour?

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

____________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

______________________________

11. Now I want to talk about “Sunsum.” What is “sunsum”?

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

____________



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12. Does the “sunsum” play a role in the development of the personality?

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________

13. Can you describe how “sunsum” affect behaviour or “suban”?

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________

14. Kindly describe the relationship between the “4kra,” the “sunsum,” and “kradin.”

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

______________________________

15. Can you please tell me what you know about “nton”? How is it acquired? Does it

affect behaviour or “suban”?

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________



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16. Are there spirits that influence the “suban” (personality) of an individual? Can you

explain how these spirits affect our personality? Please give examples of such spirits

and how they influence personality.

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________

17. What is “nkrabea” (destiny)? How does “nkrabea” affect “suban”?

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________

18. Can we talk about reincarnation? What is reincarnation? Does it play a role in the

development of “suban” or behaviour? If yes how?

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_________________________________



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19. Is “nkrabea” connected to reincarnation? Kindly explain this.

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_________________________________



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APPENDIX F



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APENDIX G

Summary table of association between Males and their day of birth on Akan Personality

Factor

Day of

Birth N M (SD)

Sum of

Squares df

Mean

Square F P

Sunday 5 18.00 (2.65)

within

groups

8.06 6 1.34 0.22 0.97

Monday 8 19.13 (2.53) between

groups

272.459 45 6.05

Tuesday 8 18.50 (2.73)

Wednesday 11 18.45 (2.25)

Thursday 7 18.36 (2.67)

Friday 7 19.00 (2.77)

Saturday 6 18.00 (1.27)


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