Four distinct latent profiles of psychological well-being emerged among Ghanaian undergraduates, with meaningful heterogeneity driven primarily by autonomy, personal growth, and environmental mastery, and profile membership varied by age but not gender.
Key Findings
Results
Latent profile analysis identified four distinct psychological well-being profiles among Ghanaian undergraduates.
The four profiles were labeled: fully flourishing students, harmonious life seekers, purposeful self-actualizers, and aspiring actualizers.
The sample consisted of 574 regular undergraduate students from a public university in Ghana.
Students completed the 18-item Ryff's Psychological Well-Being Scale.
A cross-sectional design was employed, and LPA was performed using JAMOVI statistical software.
Results
The largest profile was 'harmonious life seekers,' comprising 45.1% of the sample, followed by 'fully flourishing students' at 38.7%.
Harmonious life seekers represented 45.1% of participants.
Fully flourishing students represented 38.7% of participants.
Aspiring actualizers represented 8.7% of participants.
Purposeful self-actualizers represented 7.5% of participants, making it the smallest profile.
Results
The psychological well-being profiles differed primarily in levels of autonomy, personal growth, and environmental mastery.
These three dimensions of Ryff's eudaimonic model were the key differentiators across the four identified profiles.
Ryff's model includes six dimensions: autonomy, personal growth, environmental mastery, purpose in life, positive relations with others, and self-acceptance.
The differential patterns on these dimensions defined the heterogeneity in well-being across profiles.
Results
Well-being profile membership was not associated with gender.
Chi-square tests were used to examine associations between profile membership and demographic variables.
Gender did not significantly vary across the four well-being profiles.
This finding challenges assumptions that gender is a key demographic determinant of psychological well-being profiles.
Results
Well-being profile membership varied significantly by age, though the effect size was small.
Age was significantly associated with profile membership based on Chi-square testing.
The effect size of the age-profile association was described as small.
This suggests age has a statistically detectable but practically modest relationship with eudaimonic well-being profiles.
Discussion
The study demonstrates meaningful heterogeneity in eudaimonic well-being among Ghanaian undergraduates using a Western-derived measurement model in a non-Western cultural context.
Ryff's Psychological Well-Being Scale, a Western-derived instrument, was applied to a Ghanaian undergraduate population.
The person-centered analytic framework (LPA) revealed subgroup differences not detectable by variable-centered approaches that assume population homogeneity.
The findings highlight the importance of culturally sensitive, profile-based mental health interventions beyond demographic assumptions.
The study offers insight into how the Western-derived eudaimonic model functions in a non-Western cultural context.
What This Means
This research suggests that psychological well-being among university students in Ghana is not uniform — rather, students fall into meaningfully different groups based on how they experience well-being. Using a statistical technique called latent profile analysis, researchers identified four distinct groups among 574 Ghanaian undergraduates: 'fully flourishing students' (about 39%), 'harmonious life seekers' (about 45%), 'purposeful self-actualizers' (about 8%), and 'aspiring actualizers' (about 9%). The groups differed most in their sense of personal independence, personal growth, and ability to manage their environment effectively.
The study also found that these well-being groups did not differ by gender — meaning male and female students were equally likely to fall into any of the four profiles. However, age did play a small but statistically meaningful role in which group a student belonged to. These findings matter because most psychological research treats populations as uniform and looks for average trends, potentially missing important differences between subgroups of people.
This research suggests that mental health programs and support services at universities — particularly in African and other non-Western contexts — should consider targeting specific well-being profiles rather than assuming all students have the same needs or that demographic factors like gender reliably predict well-being. It also suggests that Western psychological models of well-being, like the one used here, can reveal meaningful patterns when applied in non-Western settings, though cultural context remains important to consider.
Essel D, Quansah F, Ntumi S, Bonsi F, Larbi L, Ishaaq A. (2026). Uncovering Heterogeneity in the Measurement of Psychological Well-Being in Non-Western Culture: A Latent Profile Analysis of Ghanaian Undergraduates.. Brain and behavior. https://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.71216