Ghana Social Science Journal

Experiences of the elderly in Ghana during the COVID-19 pandemic

2024-07-13T17:44:17+00:00

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences of the elderly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Twelve elderly people were recruited from a support group in Accra, Ghana. A semi-structured interview guide was used to collect data on their experiences of and coping with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Reflexive thematic analysis of the data revealed an overarching theme of “worry”, and related themes such as survivalism, threats and challenges helpful resources and prosociality. Findings indicate adaptive and prosocial mechanisms adopted to deal with and contribute to reducing the spread of the COVID-19 despite their worries. Findings from our study deepens understanding of the elderly’s experiences of COVID-19 as well as offers important insights for supporting them in terms of allocating resources and providing social and psychological interventions to improve their well-being.

Self-serving leadership behaviours and productive work behaviours: The role of proactive personality

2024-07-13T17:44:18+00:00

Studies investigating the circumstances under which self-serving leadership affect individual level outcomes are dearth. Drawing on the social information processing theory, the research investigated the extent to which proactive personality moderates the relationship between self-serving leadership and the performance of employees in government-based organisations in Ghana. A cross-sectional survey design was used to gather data from 272 employees working in public sector institutions in Ghana, who completed our anonymous and confidential survey. The results indicate that self-serving leadership behaviors and proactive personality have different effects on productive behaviors at work. Self-serving leadership behaviours related negatively to task proficiency and proactive behavior, whereas a proactive personality related positively with both proficient and proactive performance. Finally, it was revealed that self-serving leadership behavior was counterproductive to both task proficiency and proactivity for employees with high levels of proactive tendencies; however, the relationship was insignificant for those with low levels of proactivity. Self-serving leadership behaviour fosters the performance of public sector employees who are highly proactive. This research addresses an essential, yet under-researched question in leadership literature. Importantly, the study showed that self-serving leadership undermines task proficiency and proactive work behavior for employees with a high level of proactive personality in public sector organisations in Ghana.

Does gender moderate the relationship between career-oriented goal setting and implementation intention? Insights from Fashion Design Education

2024-07-13T17:44:18+00:00

The study examines the career goal-setting behaviour of fashion design students enrolled in a Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programme using the goal-setting theory. A cross-sectional survey was carried to obtain data from 514 respondents who were conveniently sampled. Structural equation model was used to analyse the data. The study revealed that specific goal-setting constructs such as feedback mechanisms, goal commitment, and self-efficacy have significant predictive impact on implementation intention. In addition, on aggregate terms, goal-setting had a significant impact on implementation intention; however, gender did not significantly moderate the relationship between goal-setting and implementation intention. The study provides an important insight on how goal-setting constructs (i.e., self-efficacy, goal commitment, feedback mechanism, situational constraints) and implementation intention can be used to motivate students and aid policy formulation and implementation intention of students in Fashion Design and TVET. This contributes to our understanding of the application of goal-setting theory in the context of students in a career-driven academic programme, where students’ individual goal-setting behaviour may often be overlooked.

Pockets of innovation in the public sector: Digitalization as a driver of change and innovation in Ghana’s public sector

2024-07-13T17:44:19+00:00

Digitalization has had a phenomenal impact on public management by redefining how public services are delivered in two main strategic ways; (a) speeding up and strategically improving public service delivery and (b) enabling public servants, politicians, and citizens to interact, engage and influence each other in the public sphere. Despite these promises, most countries especially those in developing countries, are still waiting in vain for the expected returns on their digitalization investment. This raises some questions worthy of consideration. First, what is digitalization and what is its value in the public sector? What kind of digitalization is suitable for developing countries and under what conditions? The central argument of this paper is that expected benefits of digitalization are not a given, but wholly dependent upon the successful adoption and adaption of what is referred to here as digitalization friendly policies. Using the example of the recent digitalization crusade in Ghana, the paper examines this relative success story in a developing country context to highlight how reforms can be creatively adapted to fit the needs of individual countries. This way, the research contributes to and advances knowledge and understanding of practitioners, policymakers and students of public management on how to build resilient societies and communities through digitalization.

Beyond Continuity: Options for reforming teacher trainee allowance policy in Ghana

2024-07-13T17:44:19+00:00

Popular resistance to policy change often frustrates reform-minded policymakers and politicians, and this has been the story of the teacher trainee allowance policy in Ghana for more than two decades. Due to its cash-benefit-distributing nature and design, the policy has developed a coalition of beneficiaries and sympathizers with vested interest over the years whose opposition to change has rendered it path-dependent. But is it the case that trainee allowances cannot experience path-departing change? This paper offers insight from institutional analysis of policy change with a special focus on incremental and evolutionary change and argues that a strategic combination of mechanisms of change could alter the existing path of policy in a manner that ensures adequate funding for students while enabling policymakers to achieve the objectives of allowing Colleges of Education in Ghana to operate at optimal capacity in their quest to address the issues of deficits in the supply of professional teachers. In particular, it shows that layering student loans as an alternative option that coexists with trainee allowances in a manner that links the former to automatic placement in the job market while denying the latter such an opportunity would be instrumental in placing the policy in path-departing change.

The mediating role of consumer cynicism in the relationship be-tween psychological contract breach and negative electronic word of mouth (eWOM)

2024-07-13T17:44:20+00:00

The present study aims to investigate the mediating role of consumer cynicism’s in the relationship between psychological contract breach and negative electronic word of mouth. A cross-sectional survey design with a standardised self-administered questionnaire used to collect data from 400 purposively selected consumers with online shopping experience. The Pearson r and the Process Macro regression analysis were used to analyse the data. The results showed that psychological contract breach was positively associated with both consumer cynicism and negative electronic word of mouth (eWOM), while consumer cynicism was positively associated with negative eWOM. The mediation analysis showed that consumer cynicism mediated the relationship between psychological contract breach’s and negative eWOM. These findings have implications for organisations to put in measures to minimize errors in order to prevent customers from perceiving PCB during the online shopping process.

In Memoriam of Professor Seth Oppong (1982-2024)

2024-07-13T17:44:20+00:00

Professor Seth Oppong a young, vibrant and much respected Professor of Psychology who made his strongest mark advancing Indigenous African Psychology, died unexpectedly on February 17, 2024. Until his untimely death, Seth was a Full Professor at the University of Botswana and served as a Research Associate at University of Witwatersrand, South Africa. He was also the Secretary of the Pan African Psychology Union (PAPU