Vivian A Dzokoto
Biographic Data
| ID | 630564 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Vivian A Dzokoto |
| GIVEN NAMES | Vivian A |
| FAMILY NAME | Dzokoto |
| SIGNATURE | DZOKOTO V A |
| AFFILIATIONS | Virginia Commonwealth University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-7668-9962 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 47 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 102 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 47 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2000 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
What predicts environmental stewardship (climate intentions) and beliefs about climate change in Ghana: Religion (faith) or science
We investigated the predictive role of religious and scientific beliefs on climate attitudes among 286 participants from two communities in southern Ghana. Using structural equation modeling, we examined whether specific religious variables (intrinsic religious orientation, extrinsic religious orientation, and religious conviction) and science variables (interest in gaining science and technology knowledge and belief in science’s benefit to human…
Cognition and belief: Exploring the influence of cognitive styles on religious behavior and orientation in Ghana
Cognitive styles play a significant role in how individuals attend to, process, evaluate, and interpret information. In this study, we assessed the relationship between cognitive styles (specifically rationality and analytic holism), and religious behavior (God consciousness and formal practices) and religious orientation (intrinsic and extrinsic orientation) among 283 participants from two communities in southern Ghana. Using structural equation…
Ghanaian values in motion: A content analysis of slogans on commercial vehicles in Accra
Slogans on commercial vehicles are a common sight in Ghana. These material artefacts can provide insight into beliefs and values about the sociocultural, spiritual, and political experiences of life in the contemporary Ghanaian context. In this study, we collected and analysed a total of 438 commercial vehicles’ slogans from 5 main transportation terminals in the Accra metropolitan area. Our thematic analysis of these slogans shows a major emphas…
The Shaman and Schizophrenia, Revisited
This paper presents evidence that some-but not all-religious experts in a particular faith may have a schizophrenia-like psychotic process which is managed or mitigated by their religious practice, in that they are able to function effectively and are not identified by their community as ill. We conducted careful phenomenological interviews, in conjunction with a novel probe, with okomfo, priests of the traditional religion in Ghana who speak wit…
Melting intestines, red hearts, and scattering eyes: Exploring embodiment in the Efik feeling lexica
Languages feature labels used to name various feeling states, referred to as emotion lexica. Language-specific linguistic features patterned after culturally-shaped templates such as somatic referencing, make each emotion lexicon unique. This study investigates somatic referencing in the emotion lexicon of the Efik ethnolinguistic group obtained through ethnographic linguistic fieldwork in South-eastern Nigeria. Our analysis revealed that in the …
Representations of Mental Illness in a Ga Community in Southern Ghana
This study explored lay concepts about and attributions of mental illness in a Ga community in southern Ghana. The study’s sample consisted of 11 Ga men and 12 Ga women, ranging in age from 30-81. Participants completed one-on-one interviews. Participants ascribed to polyphasic attributions of mental illness including biomedical and spiritual explanations. Attributions informed understandings of help-seeking behavior. Stigma was recognized as an …
Conceptualizations of Effective Parenting: Perspectives of Religious Counselors in Ghana
Limited research on effective parenting and optimal child outcomes within an African, specifically Ghanaian context exists. This study examined conceptions of effective parenting from the perspective of religious counselors who are often sought by parents for parenting advice. Two research questions were addressed: (1) how do religious counselors conceptualize effective parenting; and (2) to what extent do their conceptualizations reflect current…
Emotion regulation strategies and psychological health across cultures
Emotion regulation is important for psychological health and can be achieved by implementing various strategies. How one regulates emotions is critical for maximizing psychological health. Few studies, however, tested the psychological correlates of different emotion regulation strategies across multiple cultures. In a preregistered cross-cultural study ( N = 3,960, 19 countries), conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, we assessed associations b…
Like it's Already Done: Spiritual Experience, Hope, and Optimism in Southern Ghana
This article examines the intersection of optimism and religion by exploring the spiritual experiences of Pentecostal Christians and Traditionalists in Cape Coast, Ghana. We argue that for both Pentecostals and Traditionalists (practitioners of indigenous Akan religion) an experience of contact with the spirit realm conditions movements between pessimistic and hopeful subjectivities. When the object of hope is definite, but uncertain, Pentecostal…
Covid relief as 'dangerous money' for Black business owners
The present study examines Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) experiences of a sample of Black business owners in a mid-sized city amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It explores how Black business owners made sense of the Paycheck Protection Program, and how they came to regard it as an untrustworthy source of economic relief or even a dangerous trap. Less than half of the small business owners we interviewed applied for PPP, and those who did, did so wi…
Religion and Values in Contemporary Africa: Christian Interpretations of Vice/Virtue Discourses in Ghana
Despite the popularity of religion in African settings such as Ghana, reports of moral decline abound. This article reviews traditional, mission, and Christian theological perspectives of morality in Ghana. Using interviews, surveys, and content analysis of vehicle slogans, it examines what Ghanaians today consider to be values in terms of virtues and vices. It explores implications for Christian mission involvement in shaping morality in educati…
Do police experience trauma during routine work? An analysis of work-related potentially traumatic events and expressed trauma in a sample of Ghanaian police officers
Existing research associates police work with stress and mental health challenges due to routine exposure to potentially traumatic incidents. Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are under-represented in this literature. In this study, we explored the relationship between work-related potentially traumatic events and expressed trauma symptoms in a sample of 121 Ghanaian police officers. Ninety-seven (97) male and 24 female police officers par…
A Lot of Ghanaians Really Don’t Understand the Work We Do” – Cultural Adaptations and Barriers in Ghanaian Psychotherapy Practice
Formal psychotherapy in Ghana is gaining momentum. Concerns about the over-reliance on Western theories bring the suitability of associated clinical interventions into question for Ghanaian, non-Western clients. We interviewed 27 clinical practitioners (including clinical, counseling, and health psychologists) practicing in an urban setting to explore cultural challenges they faced and to identify cultural adaptations they made in their practice.…
The modernity/coloniality of love: Individualist lifeways and charismatic christianity in Ghanaian worlds
A manifestation of coloniality in psychological science concerns the modern individualist lifeways that inform mainstream research. We report results of a multi‐method research project that investigated implications of these ways of being for the experience of love in Ghanaian settings. In particular, we investigated the hypothesis that engagement with Pentecostal Charismatic Churches (PCCs)—an important carrier of individualist lifeways in many …
Sensing the presence of gods and spirits across cultures and faiths
Significance The sensory presence of gods and spirits is central to many of the religions that have shaped human history—in fact, many people of faith report having experienced such events. But these experiences are poorly understood by social scientists and rarely studied empirically. We present a multiple-discipline, multiple-methods program of research involving thousands of people from diverse cultures and religions which demonstrates that tw…
The functions of emotion-referencing names in Ibibio
In certain societies including the Ibibio of Akwa Ibom State, South-Eastern Nigeria, naming is a distinctive system of communicative practice which is used to express emotion and construct the personhood and identity of the name-bearer. This article examines emotion-referencing names among the Ibibio and adopts an ethnographic approach to investigate the motivations for the name choice, their socio-onomastic significance and the extent of influen…
“I Reported My Wife to Her Mother . . .” An Analysis of Transgressions Within Child- and Parent-In-Law Relationships in Ghana
We investigated transgressions in the context of in-law relationships in Ghana. In-laws form an integral part of the family structure in Ghana. However, psychological studies on in-law relationships in this country are rare. The current study interviewed thirty-seven individuals, aged between 32 and 76 who had been married between 2 and 59 years, from two regions in Southern Ghana. Through semi-structured interviews, participants described transg…
The Impact of Covid-19 and Religious Restrictions on the Well-Being of Ghanaian Christians: The Perspectives of Religious Leaders
Newspaper Coverage of Substance Misuse and Other Drug-Related Behaviors in Ghana: A Content Analysis of Health Communication
Ban of Religious Gatherings during the Covid-19 Pandemic: Impact on Christian Church Leaders’ Well-Being in Ghana
Similarities and differences in concepts of mental life among adults and children in five cultures
Premarital Counseling Practices among Christian and Muslim Lay Counselors in Ghana
We examined premarital counseling services offered by Christian and Muslim lay counselors in Ghana. Participants including clergy, Islamic clerics, and laity practicing in four urban centers were interviewed. Thematic analysis showed that common issues covered include medical screening, beliefs and values, expectations, partner knowledge, roles and duties, sex, parenthood, financial management, communication, and conflicts. The findings offer imp…
Conflict Handling in Ghanaian In-law Relationships: Implications for Face Concerns
We interviewed 34 married individuals between the ages of 32 and 69 in Southern Ghana regarding conflict handling strategies they adopt in their in-law relationships. We conceptualized the strategies around face concerns. Findings from inductive thematic analysis support participant use of five main conflict handling strategies: human/divine third-party engagements, obsequious behavior, apologizing, ignoring, and confronting. These strategies map…
Adwenhoasem: An Akan theory of mind
This essay explores the way the domain of what English-speakers call the mind - believing, thinking, feeling, and other mental acts - is represented and mapped by Ghana's Akan ethno-linguistic group. It uses several sources of evidence: mind and mind-related words in Fante (an Akan language); the largest Akan (Twi) proverb compendium; longsemi-structured interviews with forty adult Christians and African traditional religion practitioners; and sh…
Common presenting problems in religious lay counselling practice in Ghana
Mental help systems in Ghana are overwhelmed with severe and chronic mental health issues. Yet, rapid urbanisation is contributing to a weakening of traditional help systems. Religious organisations offer a viable option through counselling ministries and groups. To understand the role lay counselling plays in the help system in Ghana, we interviewed one hundred (N = 100; age range: 24–80) lay counsellors practising mainly in Christian and Islami…
Culture, personality, and subjective well-being: Integrating process models of life satisfaction
The authors examined the interplay of personality and cultural factors in the prediction of the affective (hedonic balance) and the cognitive (life satisfaction) components of subjective well-being (SWB). They predicted that the influence of personality on life satisfaction is mediated by hedonic balance and that the relation between hedonic balance and life satisfaction is moderated by culture. As a consequence, they predicted that the influence…
Desired emotions across cultures: A value-based account
Values reflect how people want to experience the world; emotions reflect how people actually experience the world. Therefore, we propose that across cultures people desire emotions that are consistent with their values. Whereas prior research focused on the desirability of specific affective states or 1 or 2 target emotions, we offer a broader account of desired emotions. After reporting initial evidence for the potential causal effects of values…
The measurement of values across cultures: A pairwise comparison approach
Emotion regulation strategies and psychological health across cultures
Emotion regulation is important for psychological health and can be achieved by implementing various strategies. How one regulates emotions is critical for maximizing psychological health. Few studies, however, tested the psychological correlates of different emotion regulation strategies across multiple cultures. In a preregistered cross-cultural study ( N = 3,960, 19 countries), conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, we assessed associations b…
The modernity/coloniality of love: Individualist lifeways and charismatic christianity in Ghanaian worlds
A manifestation of coloniality in psychological science concerns the modern individualist lifeways that inform mainstream research. We report results of a multi‐method research project that investigated implications of these ways of being for the experience of love in Ghanaian settings. In particular, we investigated the hypothesis that engagement with Pentecostal Charismatic Churches (PCCs)—an important carrier of individualist lifeways in many …
Happiness in the Eye and the Heart: Somatic Referencing in West African Emotion Lexica
Although many theories about the structure of emotion have been developed, none of them seem to adequately explain the African experience. This study examined the folk emotion lexica of two indigenous West African languages. Fifty monolingual Fante speakers and 50 monolingual Dagbani speakers from rural and semirural Ghana participated in focus groups to generate words in their native language that they use to describe experiences that involve em…
The Shaman and Schizophrenia, Revisited
This paper presents evidence that some-but not all-religious experts in a particular faith may have a schizophrenia-like psychotic process which is managed or mitigated by their religious practice, in that they are able to function effectively and are not identified by their community as ill. We conducted careful phenomenological interviews, in conjunction with a novel probe, with okomfo, priests of the traditional religion in Ghana who speak wit…
Analyzing Ghanaian Emotions Through Narrative: A Textual Analysis of Ama Ata Aidoo's Novel Changes
Contemporary African emotional expression is a cultural artifact that has encoded within it the story of colonial and postcolonial history. Through an analysis of Ama Ata Aidoo's award-winning novel Changes, this article explores how emotions are expressed in contemporary Ghanaian literature. From literal translations of indigenous languages and culturally specific nonverbal communication to Western expressions and locally created neologisms, the…
Similarities and differences in concepts of mental life among adults and children in five cultures
Adwenhoasem: An Akan theory of mind
This essay explores the way the domain of what English-speakers call the mind - believing, thinking, feeling, and other mental acts - is represented and mapped by Ghana's Akan ethno-linguistic group. It uses several sources of evidence: mind and mind-related words in Fante (an Akan language); the largest Akan (Twi) proverb compendium; longsemi-structured interviews with forty adult Christians and African traditional religion practitioners; and sh…
Ghanaian values in motion: A content analysis of slogans on commercial vehicles in Accra
Slogans on commercial vehicles are a common sight in Ghana. These material artefacts can provide insight into beliefs and values about the sociocultural, spiritual, and political experiences of life in the contemporary Ghanaian context. In this study, we collected and analysed a total of 438 commercial vehicles’ slogans from 5 main transportation terminals in the Accra metropolitan area. Our thematic analysis of these slogans shows a major emphas…
Ban of Religious Gatherings during the Covid-19 Pandemic: Impact on Christian Church Leaders’ Well-Being in Ghana
Conflict Handling in Ghanaian In-law Relationships: Implications for Face Concerns
We interviewed 34 married individuals between the ages of 32 and 69 in Southern Ghana regarding conflict handling strategies they adopt in their in-law relationships. We conceptualized the strategies around face concerns. Findings from inductive thematic analysis support participant use of five main conflict handling strategies: human/divine third-party engagements, obsequious behavior, apologizing, ignoring, and confronting. These strategies map…
Their Hands Have Lost Their Bones: Exploring Cultural Scripts in Two West African Affect Lexica
Positivity and the Construction of Life Satisfaction Judgments: Global Happiness is not the Sum of its Parts
Culture, personality, and subjective well-being: Integrating process models of life satisfaction
The authors examined the interplay of personality and cultural factors in the prediction of the affective (hedonic balance) and the cognitive (life satisfaction) components of subjective well-being (SWB). They predicted that the influence of personality on life satisfaction is mediated by hedonic balance and that the relation between hedonic balance and life satisfaction is moderated by culture. As a consequence, they predicted that the influence…
Self and Identity in African Studies
Rather than a comprehensive review of self and identity in particular settings, this article considers implications of research in African Studies for the psychological science of self and identity. The first section considers implications of research about enemies for the concept of interdependent selfways (Markus, Mullally, & Kitayama, 1997). In contrast to the positive connotations typical of studies about culture and self, this research direc…
Understanding Genital-Shrinking Epidemics in West Africa: Koro, Juju, or Mass Psychogenic Illness
The measurement of values across cultures: A pairwise comparison approach
Happiness in the Eye and the Heart: Somatic Referencing in West African Emotion Lexica
Although many theories about the structure of emotion have been developed, none of them seem to adequately explain the African experience. This study examined the folk emotion lexica of two indigenous West African languages. Fifty monolingual Fante speakers and 50 monolingual Dagbani speakers from rural and semirural Ghana participated in focus groups to generate words in their native language that they use to describe experiences that involve em…
Genital-Shrinking Panic in Ghana: A Cultural Psychological Analysis
The present article applies the theoretical framework of mutual constitution (MC)—the dialectical process by which ‘culture and psyche make each other up’—to analyze an occurrence of genital-shrinking panic (GSP). Although media reports promote interpretation of this event in terms of ignorance and superstition, the MC framework affords a less pathologizing analysis. The first part of this analysis, one that resonates with classic ethnographic pe…
Analyzing Ghanaian Emotions Through Narrative: A Textual Analysis of Ama Ata Aidoo's Novel Changes
Contemporary African emotional expression is a cultural artifact that has encoded within it the story of colonial and postcolonial history. Through an analysis of Ama Ata Aidoo's award-winning novel Changes, this article explores how emotions are expressed in contemporary Ghanaian literature. From literal translations of indigenous languages and culturally specific nonverbal communication to Western expressions and locally created neologisms, the…
A tale of two Cedis: Making sense of a new currency in Ghana
A Bird, a Crocodile, and the 21st Century Cowrie Shell: Analyzing Ghana’s Currency Change
Ghana’s currency was redenominated in 2007. The current study explored this transition as an example of change occurring in a cultural context. This was achieved using interviews as a window into the experiences of a sample of 40 Ghanaians who daily live in the aftermath of this change. These findings indicate that the old currency continues to play a very important role in post-redenomination Ghana. Though no longer physically present, the old c…
Somatic Referencing and Psychologisation in Emotion Narratives: A USA–Ghana Comparison
Ameka (2002), Dzokoto and Okazaki (2006) and Guerts (2002) have observed a preponderance of somatic references in the communication of emotion in several spoken Ghanaian languages. This suggests that embodiment features prominently in Ghanaian cultural scripts of emotions. Unfortunately, the structure of English—Ghana’s official language due to its British colonial history—does not provide opportunities for somatic referencing in its emotion lexi…
If times change, should we throw away the hearthstone? Exploring (Dis) continuities in autonomy and decision-making in the lives of Ghanaian women
This paper attempts to investigate continuities and discontinuities between traditional and modern representations of womanhood and female gender roles focusing primarily on family and work settings. Using approaches informed by Sociology, Cultural Psychology, and African Studies, the paper explores traditional views of womanhood encapsulated in (and also transmitted intergenerationally) through proverbs. This customary perspective is contrasted …
Listen to your heart: The cultural shaping of interoceptive awareness and accuracy
West African cultural contexts foster higher levels of attention to the bodily signals compared with the European American contexts. Interoception, or the processing of signals from the body, is a key component of emotional reactivity. Interoceptive awareness (i.e., the self-reported tendency to attend to physiological changes) and accuracy (i.e., the ability to accurately detect physiological changes) are distinct aspects of interoception. Does …
Attention to Emotion and Non-Western Faces: Revisiting the Facial Feedback Hypothesis
In a modified replication of Strack, Martin, and Stepper's demonstration of the Facial Feedback Hypothesis (1988), we investigated the effect of attention to emotion on the facial feedback process in a non-western cultural setting. Participants, recruited from two universities in Ghana, West Africa, gave self-reports of their perceived levels of attention to emotion, and then completed cartoon-rating tasks while randomly assigned to smiling, frow…
Mass media constructions of ‘socio-psychological epidemics’ in sub-Saharan Africa: The case of genital shrinking in 11 countries
Genital shrinking is a recurring phenomenon with about 180 reported cases in sub-Saharan Africa over the last two decades. Transcending national boundaries, it results in distress for victims, mob violence against accused perpetrators and mass panic which law enforcement agencies struggle to contain. This article examines mass media construction and framing of genital shrinking within a social representations theory framework. Our analysis sugges…
Money That Isn’t: A Qualitative Examination of the Adoption of the 1 Pesewa Coin and Biometric Payment Cards in Ghana
The introduction of a new form of money into society can be deemed successful if it is adopted and integrated into the daily financial practices of a large part of the society. In other words, both central banks and the general society play a role in money objects becoming money. On occasion, social rejection of new money objects occurs, such that official legal tender is not accepted or put to use as a medium of exchange in financial transaction…
Desired emotions across cultures: A value-based account
Values reflect how people want to experience the world; emotions reflect how people actually experience the world. Therefore, we propose that across cultures people desire emotions that are consistent with their values. Whereas prior research focused on the desirability of specific affective states or 1 or 2 target emotions, we offer a broader account of desired emotions. After reporting initial evidence for the potential causal effects of values…
Their Hands Have Lost Their Bones: Exploring Cultural Scripts in Two West African Affect Lexica
Conceptions of love in Ghana: An exploration among Ghanaian Christians
We explored conceptions of love from the perspective of Ghanaian Christians. Using an ethnographic approach, we interviewed 61 participants (males = 39; females = 22; age range 20 to 70) on their understanding and experiences of love in the context of family. Thematic analysis of the interview data revealed understandings of love expression in meeting material needs (of children, spouse, parents, and close relatives), helping other people in need…
Explorations of Forgiveness in Ghanaian Marriages
Marriage Is Like a Groundnut, You Must Crack It to See What Is Inside: Examining Romantic Relationship Rules in Akan Proverbs
Proverbs are a valuable part of African culture. They transmit messages of shared, communal values about different facets of life inter-generationally. In an exploration of one West-African ethnic group, the Akan, the present study investigates messages that proverbs communicate about interpersonal relationships. A total of 79 Akan proverbs that addressed romantic relationships were examined using thematic analysis. The main components of advocat…
Common presenting problems in religious lay counselling practice in Ghana
Mental help systems in Ghana are overwhelmed with severe and chronic mental health issues. Yet, rapid urbanisation is contributing to a weakening of traditional help systems. Religious organisations offer a viable option through counselling ministries and groups. To understand the role lay counselling plays in the help system in Ghana, we interviewed one hundred (N = 100; age range: 24–80) lay counsellors practising mainly in Christian and Islami…
Meaning and Perceptions of the Good Life in Ghana
Premarital Counseling Practices among Christian and Muslim Lay Counselors in Ghana
We examined premarital counseling services offered by Christian and Muslim lay counselors in Ghana. Participants including clergy, Islamic clerics, and laity practicing in four urban centers were interviewed. Thematic analysis showed that common issues covered include medical screening, beliefs and values, expectations, partner knowledge, roles and duties, sex, parenthood, financial management, communication, and conflicts. The findings offer imp…
Conflict Handling in Ghanaian In-law Relationships: Implications for Face Concerns
We interviewed 34 married individuals between the ages of 32 and 69 in Southern Ghana regarding conflict handling strategies they adopt in their in-law relationships. We conceptualized the strategies around face concerns. Findings from inductive thematic analysis support participant use of five main conflict handling strategies: human/divine third-party engagements, obsequious behavior, apologizing, ignoring, and confronting. These strategies map…
Psychology (41 works) · Social Psychology (28 works) · Sociology (25 works) · Political science (16 works) · Social Psychology (14 works) · Epistemology (13 works) · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology (12 works) · Law (11 works) · Philosophy (10 works) · Social science (10 works)