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 
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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..................................................... 
 
 
 
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African personality factors among Akans in Ghana 
 
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DEDICATION 
This thesis is dedicated to our African fathers and mothers who have fought tirelessly for all 
Africans. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
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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.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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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 
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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 
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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 
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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 4.6 Items loading on Factor 3 of Africentric Worldview Scale……………………….81 
Table 4.7 Items loading on Factor 4 of Africentric Worldview Scale……………………….81 
Table 4.8 Items loading on Factor 5 of Africentric Worldview Scale……………………….81 
Table 4.9 Items loading on Factor 6 of Africentric Worldview Scale……………………….82 
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 
Table 4.16 Summary of One-Way ANOVA results for the association between 
 the Big Five and the day of birth.................................................................................89 
Table 4.17 Summary of One-Way ANOVA results for the association between  
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 
 
 
 
 
 
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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 
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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 
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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 
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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 
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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, 
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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 
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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 
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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 
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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. 
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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 
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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. 
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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.  
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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).  
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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 
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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 
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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 
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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 
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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.  
 
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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) 
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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 
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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.  
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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). 
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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 
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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 
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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 
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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: 
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"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 
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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 
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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.    
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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). 
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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. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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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) 
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African personality factors among Akans in Ghana 
 
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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. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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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 
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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. 
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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.  
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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.  
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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, 
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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. 
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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. 
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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. 
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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 
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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 
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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. 
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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. 
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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 
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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 
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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 
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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 
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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 
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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 
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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 
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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. 
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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. 
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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 
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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) 
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“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.” 
(Respondent 8, Female, 65years) 
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 
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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 
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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’” 
(Respondent 8, Female, 65years) 
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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” 
(Respondent 2, Female, 100years) 
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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 
Item No   Item Loading 
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 
Item No   Item Loading 
20 The ultimate value of a person is in his/her service to others .51 
 
Table 4.7 Items Loading on Factor 4 of Africentric Worldview Scale 
Item No   Item Loading 
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 
Item No   Item Loading 
1 I perform better on oral rather than written tasks .57 
 
 
 
 
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Table 4.9 Items Loading on Factor 6 of Africentric Worldview Scale 
Item No   Item Loading 
17 It is expected that the elderly will be cared for by the younger 
generations. 
.55 
 
Table 4.10 Items Loading on Factor 7 of Africentric Worldview Scale 
Item No   Item Loading 
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.  
 
 
 
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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 
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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. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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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. 
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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 
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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 
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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, 
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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 
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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 
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African personality factors among Akans in Ghana 
 
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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 
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African personality factors among Akans in Ghana 
 
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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.  
  
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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 
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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 djabatey@hotmail.com   
 
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    
 
 
 
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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   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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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.      
 
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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.      
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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.       
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
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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? 
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
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______________________________ 
3. How is “suban” developed? 
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
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_______________________________________ 
4. When one is describing “suban” in the Akan traditional context, what are the most 
important factors that affect the development of “suban”?  
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________ 
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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? 
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_________________________________ 
 
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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”? 
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
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_____________________________________________________________________
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_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
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_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________ 
 
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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