Lusilda Schutte, holding a PhD degree in psychology and a Masters degree in statistics, is an associate professor in the Africa Unit for Transdisciplinary Health Research at the North-West University in South Africa, as well as a registered and practicing clinical psychologist. She is the principal investigator of a funded research project (2020-2022) that examines the conceptualisation, measurement, dynamics, and correlates of well-being in diverse contexts. She has been invited to present at the 6th World Congress of Positive Psychology in 2018, to convene a symposium at the International Congress of Psychology in 2021, and to present guest lectures in the USA and Croatia. She is an Associate Editor of Springer's Journal of Well-being Assessment, a Review Editor of Quantitative Psychology and Measurement, part of the journals Frontiers in Applied Mathematics and Statistics and Frontiers in Psychology, an Editorial Board member of the Journal of Happiness Studies, and she chaired the first Africa Positive Psychology Conference in 2018. She previously lectured statistics and worked as a statistical consultant at the North-West University and as a clinical psychologist at a government-funded psychiatric hospital in South Africa.

Tharina Guse is a counselling psychologist, professor, and Head of the Department of Psychology at the University of Pretoria. Her broad research area concerns the field of positive psychology. In particular, she is interested in examining factors related to youth well-being, including interventions to maintain and promote their psychological well-being. Tharina further investigates the nature, dynamics and mechanisms of psychological strengths, specifically hope and gratitude. She also examines the application of hypnosis for mental health promotion. Tharina has been invited as visiting professor to the University of Bologna, Italy, on several occasions received an Erasmus scholarship to the University of Porto, Portugal in 2016. She has been elected as founding President of the South African Positive Psychology Association. 

Marié P. Wissing (Drs. Clinical Psychology; DPhil Psychology), had been a Scientific Collaborator at the Free University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, the Director of the School for Psychosocial Behavioural Sciences at the North-West University in South Africa, and is presently Extraordinary Professor in the Africa Unit for Transdisciplinary Health Research (AUTHeR). She developed a research programme in Psychofortology (i. e. the science of psychological strengths; FORT) which included several funded team projects, and linked to multidisciplinary research projects. Her research focussed on the understanding, measurement and promotion of (bio)psychosocial well-being and strengths in diverse contexts, emphasizing theories and underlying philosophical assumptions. She is a steering member of the international Eudaimonic-Hedonic Happiness Investigation (EHHI) project, serves as Co-Editor of the Journal of Happiness Studies, and is a member of the editorial board of several other disciplinary journals. She edited the book Well-being Research in South Africa, guest-edited a special journal section on Meaning and Relational Well-being, and published many articles, chapters in scientific books, and commissioned research reports. She was an invited lecturer at various universities and a keynote speaker at conferences, initiated the First Positive Psychology Conference in South Africa in 2006 and the first masters degree in Positive Psychology in Africa. One hundred and twenty-six masters and doctoral degree students completed their studies under her (co-)supervision. She is on the Council of Advisors for the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA).

Preface

Part I Theoretical perspectives on well-being in Africa

Chapter 1 Embracing Well-Being in Diverse Contexts: The Third Wave of Positive Psychology and African Imprint

Marié P. Wissing, Lusilda Schutte, and Christelle Liversage

Chapter 2 Well-Being in Africa: Towards an Africa(n) Centred Positive Psychology

Angelina Wilson Fadiji, Itumeleng P. Khumalo, and Ncamisile Thumile Zulu

Chapter 3 Socially Influenced Health Norms: Their Construction and Enactment in African Culture Settings

Elias Mpofu and Elias Machina

Part II Measuring well-being in Africa

Chapter 4 Factorial Validity of the Twi Version of the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form and Prevalence of Mental Health in a Rural Ghanaian Sample

Richard Appiah, Marié P. Wissing, Angelina Wilson Fadiji, and Lusilda Schutte

Chapter 5 Conceptualising and Measuring Hospitality in Relation to Wellbeing in Kenya: Is Hospitality a Character Strength?

Sahaya G. Selvam, Joyce Wanjiru Kiige, and Jeketule Soko

Chapter 6 The factor structure of the Peer and Community Relational Health Indices in two South African samples: A bifactor exploratory structural equation modelling approach

Amanda Cromhout, Lusilda Schutte, and Marié P. Wissing

Part III Manifestations and dynamics of well-being in Africa

Chapter 7 Resilience in the Context of Chronic, Complex Stressors: An Emerging Adult's Account

Linda Theron and Michael Ungar

Chapter 8 Psychological Well-being among Yung People Living with HIV: Role of Social Support, Self-esteem and Socio-demographic Variables

Charles Magoba Muwonge, Annet Kembabazi, Gladys Nakalema, Margaret Ekatushabe, Diana Kwarikunda, Henry Kibedi, and Joseph Ssenyonga

Chapter 9 Exploring Protective Resources that Facilitate Positive Outcomes Among Married Girls in the Northern Region of Ghana

Hajara Baba, Joana Salifu Yendork, and Samuel Atindanbila

Chapter 10 Factors Contributing to Student Wellbeing: Student Perspectives

Irma Eloff, Sumari O'Neil, and Herbert Kanengoni

Chapter 11 Nature and Role of Student Hope and Meaning in Goal Setting: Implications for Higher Education in South Africa

Itumeleng P. Khumalo, Werner de Klerk, and Angelina Wilson Fadiji

Chapter 12 Virtues and Character strengths, Subjective Well-being and Academic Achievement: An Exploratory Study with Angolan University Students

Rutnilson da Silva, Ana Maria Rocha and Dilson Francisco

Chapter 13 Adult Attachment and Well-Being in the Medical Education Context: Attachment Security is Associated with Psychological Well-being through Self-Efficacy

Ephraim Chima Maduakor, JohnBosco Chika Chukwuorji, Peace N. Amanambu, and Chuka Mike Ifeagwazi

Chapter 14 Exploration of Harmony as a Quality of Happiness: Findings from South Africa and Ghana

Lusilda Schutte, Marié P. Wissing, Angelina Wilson Fadiji, Sonia Mbowa, Placidia M. Shoko, and Willem D. Schutte

Chapter 15 Concordance of Goals and Meaning with Reference to the Interpersonal Relationships Domain: Associations with Sociodemographic Variables and Well-being in a Multicultural South African Group

Christelle Liversage, Marié P. Wissing, and Lusilda Schutte

Part IV Well-being promotion in Africa

Chapter 16 Positive Psychological Interventions in African Contexts: A Scoping Review

Tharina Guse

Chapter 17 Community-based Interventions to Improve Well-being of Youth in a High-risk Community in South Africa: Researcher's Experiences and Implementation Outcomes

Izanette van Schalkwyk