Journal of Psychology in Africa (JPA) is a peer-reviewed Open Access journal that publishes research articles, research reviews, conceptual development articles and thematic issues in the areas of socio-cultural and health development globally, with a particular emphasis on African settings and the African diaspora. This journal is published bi-monthly by Tech Science Press.
Social Sciences Citation Index (Web of Science): 2023 Impact Factor 0.8; Scopus Citescore (Impact per Publication 2023): 1.7; SNIP (Source Normalized Impact per Paper 2023): 0.404; JCI (Journal Citation Indicator): 0.32; IBSS (International Bibliography of the Social Sciences).
Effective 2025, the Journal of Psychology in Africa (JPA) will be published by Tech Science Press (TSP). This transition aims to broaden the journal’s reach, enhance its global influence, and ensure equitable access to high-quality research in psychology.
The journal’s mission, scope, and submission guidelines will remain unchanged. Under the continued leadership of Editor-in-Chief Prof. Elias Mpofu and the Editorial Board, JPA will maintain its commitment to advancing psychological research and practice.
We extend our gratitude to authors, reviewers, and readers for their steadfast support as we embrace this transformative phase in the journal’s journey.
Open Access
Journal of Psychology in Africa, Vol.35, No.1, pp. 1-6, 2025, DOI:10.32604/jpa.2025.065768 - 30 April 2025
Abstract This study examined how psychological meaningfulness moderates job complexity and work-family conflict in Nigerian secondary school teachers. This study included 1694 teachers from 17 Nigerian secondary schools (female = 69.54%, mean age = 33.19, SD = 6.44 years). The participants completed the Work-family Conflict Scale, Job Complexity Scale, and Psychological Meaningfulness Scale. Study design was cross-sectional. Hayes PROCESS macro analysis results indicate a higher work-family conflict with job complexity among the secondary school teachers. While psychological meaningfulness was not associated with work-family conflict, it moderated the link between job complexity and work-family conflict in secondary More >
Open Access
Journal of Psychology in Africa, Vol.35, No.1, pp. 7-19, 2025, DOI:10.32604/jpa.2025.065775 - 30 April 2025
Abstract Employees’ innovative performance determines an organization’s innovation, which critically impacts its structural optimization and sustainability. Applying expectancy theory, we examined how and when the Pygmalion effect occurs in the relationship between leaders’ expectations of innovation and employee innovative behavior. Our sample comprised 201 frontline employees (female = 31.84%; mean age = 41.48 years, SD = 7.97 years) in a Chinese coal enterprise, who completed surveys on innovation expectations of leaders, expected positive performance outcomes, innovative self-efficacy and innovative behavior. The results revealed that employees’ expected positive performance outcomes mediated the positive relationship between leaders’ innovation More >
Open Access
Journal of Psychology in Africa, Vol.35, No.1, pp. 21-27, 2025, DOI:10.32604/jpa.2025.065766 - 30 April 2025
Abstract This study explored the mediating role of moral courage in the relationship between emotional intelligence and perceptions of patient safety competence among nursing students in clinical practice. The study sample comprised 220 nursing students from a teaching hospital (female = 93.6%; mean age = 20.64 years, SD = 1.78 years). Nursing students completed standardized measures of Emotional Intelligence Scale, the Moral Courage Scale, and the Health Professional Education in Patient Safety Survey. Following hierarchical regression analysis and bootstrap analysis, the results showed that emotional intelligence and moral courage significantly predicted high levels of the perceptions More >
Open Access
Journal of Psychology in Africa, Vol.35, No.1, pp. 29-35, 2025, DOI:10.32604/jpa.2025.066007 - 30 April 2025
Abstract The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic introduced significant psychosocial stressors for morticians in South Africa, yet their coping mechanisms remain underexplored. This study investigated how South African morticians (N = 10, Black males) coped with these stressors during the pandemic through semi-structured interviews. Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) informed thematic analysis identified five themes: (i) death overload distress associated with trauma and fear of exposure; (ii) insomnia due to worry, workload, and fear of infection; (iii) stigmatisation from community avoidance and negative perceptions; (iv) social isolation and anxiety related to emotional disconnection, personal protective equipment (PPE) shortages, More >
Open Access
Journal of Psychology in Africa, Vol.35, No.1, pp. 37-42, 2025, DOI:10.32604/jpa.2025.065760 - 30 April 2025
Abstract This study investigated the mediating role of basic psychological needs satisfaction in relationship between teacher support and adolescents’ personal growth initiative. A total of 493 adolescents (females = 44.8%, mean age = 12.46, SD = 0.57) completed the Teacher Support Scale, the Adolescents’ Personal Growth Initiative Scale, and the Basic Psychological Needs Scale. The results, analyzed through a Mediation model analysis results indicated higher teacher support to be significantly associated with higher adolescents’ personal growth initiative. Teacher support was also associated with higher basic psychological needs satisfaction. Basic psychological needs satisfaction mediated the relationship between teacher More >
Open Access
Journal of Psychology in Africa, Vol.35, No.1, pp. 43-49, 2025, DOI:10.32604/jpa.2025.065880 - 30 April 2025
Abstract Drawing upon the Conservation of Resources theory, this study investigated the relationship between proactive personality and strengths use, as well as the mediating role of psychological safety and the moderating role of exploitative leadership within this relationship. Data were collected from 368 employees (females = 57.61%; mean age = 32.35; SD = 6.31) working in various organizations in China at two points in time with a two-week interval. We conducted structural equation modeling and a moderated mediation path analysis to test our hypotheses. The results demonstrated that proactive personality is positively related to strengths use More >
Open Access
Journal of Psychology in Africa, Vol.35, No.1, pp. 51-59, 2025, DOI:10.32604/jpa.2025.065781 - 30 April 2025
Abstract Although numerous findings show that people experience both positive and negative experiences with regards to solitude, the relationship between solitude capacity and emotional experience remains unclear. The current study investigated the extent to which emotion regulation may play a suppressive role in the relationship between solitude capacity and emotional experience. Questionnaires on solitude capacity, emotion regulation, and emotional experience were completed by a sample of Chinese college students (n = 844; 432 females; Meanage = 19.79 years, SD = 1.43 years). The results of the indirect effect test showed that cognitive reappraisal suppresses the prediction of solitude More >
Open Access
Journal of Psychology in Africa, Vol.35, No.1, pp. 61-67, 2025, DOI:10.32604/jpa.2025.066008 - 30 April 2025
Abstract Online gaming has become a daily norm, leading to unique forms of game-bullying distinct from traditional cyberbullying due to its immersive nature and ranking systems. This study examined how game-bullying victimization (GBV) affects depression via self-esteem, moderated by resilience and the state of flow, among 359 Chinese MOBA (Multiplayer-online-battle-arena) gamers (30.7% female, mean age = 23.8 years, SD = 4.57 years). The analysis revealed a direct link between GBV and depression. Self-esteem mediates this relationship, with higher GBV associated with lower self-esteem and subsequently greater depression. Resilience moderates both direct and indirect effects, mitigating GBV’s More >
Open Access
Journal of Psychology in Africa, Vol.35, No.1, pp. 69-73, 2025, DOI:10.32604/jpa.2025.065769 - 30 April 2025
Abstract We examined the mediating effect of burnout and subjective well-being on the relationship between work-family conflict and learning capacity among college teachers. Using a cross-sectional study design, 422 Chinese college teachers (females = 57.3%, mean years of service = 35.56, SD = 6.38) completed the Work-Family Conflict Questionnaire (WFCQ), the Burnout Scale (BS), the Subjective Well-Being Scale (SWBS), and the Teacher Learning Capacity Evaluation Scale (TLCES). The results indicated that work-family conflict had a direct connection with learning capacity. Moreover, work-family conflict had an indirect association with learning capacity through the sequential mediating roles of More >
Open Access
Journal of Psychology in Africa, Vol.35, No.1, pp. 75-81, 2025, DOI:10.32604/jpa.2025.065767 - 30 April 2025
Abstract This study examined the relationship between leader-employee calling congruence on employees’ voice behaviour. Participants were 173 leader-employee dyads from the Chinese service industry. They completed online surveys on calling, perceived insider status, and voice behaviour. Results from polynomial regression and response surface analysis showed that employees perceived insider status to be weaker with the low leader-low subordinate calling congruence, and stronger with high leader and high subordinate calling congruence. Employees perceived insider status is stronger in low leader and high subordinate calling incongruence compared with high leader and low subordinate calling incongruence. Perceived insider status More >
Open Access
Journal of Psychology in Africa, Vol.35, No.1, pp. 83-90, 2025, DOI:10.32604/jpa.2025.065784 - 30 April 2025
Abstract This study investigated the role of intentional self-regulation and the moderating role of peer relationship in the relationship between teacher-student relationship and learning engagement. The study sample comprised 540 Chinese senior secondary school students between the ages of 15–18 (51.67% boys; Mage = 16.56 years; SDage = 0.90). They completed surveys on the Teacher-Student Relationship Scale, the Selection, Optimization, and Compensation (SOC) Scale, the Peer Relationship Scale for Children and Adolescents, and the Learning Engagement Scale. The results following regression analysis showed that teacher-student relationship predicted higher learning engagement among senior secondary school students. Intentional self-regulation More >
Open Access
Journal of Psychology in Africa, Vol.35, No.1, pp. 91-97, 2025, DOI:10.32604/jpa.2025.065779 - 30 April 2025
Abstract This study constructed a moderated mediation model to examine how the social support received by teachers is associated with their work pay fairness perception in relation to their job satisfaction and job performance. Data were collected from 2411 preschool teachers in China (female = 98.01%; mean age = 29.12 years, SD = 6.28 years). These data were analyzed using structural equation modelling, bootstrapping and latent moderate structural equations. The results indicated that teachers’ perception of pay fairness is directly associated with self-rated job performance. Additionally, pay fairness perceptions have an indirect effect on higher job More >
Open Access
Journal of Psychology in Africa, Vol.35, No.1, pp. 99-105, 2025, DOI:10.32604/jpa.2025.065783 - 30 April 2025
Abstract This study investigated the relationship between college students’ awe and depression, along with the mediating roles of future self-continuity and presence of meaning. 891 Chinese college students (570 female; mean age 18.59; SD 1.34) from one university completed four surveys: Dispositional Awe Subscale, Future self-continuity Scale, Meaning in Life Scale and Depression Scale. Using structural equation modelling and the bootstrap method, the results delineated that awe negatively related to depression, and future self-continuity and presence of meaning had a serial mediation effect, reducing depression. The study implies educational institutions should foster a positive mental health More >
Open Access
Journal of Psychology in Africa, Vol.35, No.1, pp. 107-115, 2025, DOI:10.32604/jpa.2025.065762 - 30 April 2025
Abstract The study examines the relationship between emotional intelligence (EI), work-family conflict, and burnout among remote workers, a highly relevant issue in modern working dynamics. The sample included 557 remote workers (Males = 59.1%, Mage = 31.9, SD = 4.64) including different professions (Information technology, engineers, business and management, content writers and finance) in China. Data was gathered using a cross-sectional survey utilizing standardized tools, including the Work-Family Conflict Scale, Maslach Burnout Inventory, and Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale. Structure equation modeling with slope checks on moderation effects was conducted. The findings indicated a significant inverse More >
Open Access
Journal of Psychology in Africa, Vol.35, No.1, pp. 117-125, 2025, DOI:10.32604/jpa.2025.065785 - 30 April 2025
Abstract This study aimed to explore the mediating roles of self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation on the relationship between teacher autonomy and teacher job satisfaction. Data were from the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS 2018), with a sample of 3131 junior high school teachers (female = 2337; male = 794) from Shanghai, China. The mediating effect was analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results showed that teacher autonomy was positively associated with teacher job satisfaction, self-efficacy, and intrinsic motivation. Both self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation were associated with teacher job satisfaction. Self-efficacy was associated with teacher intrinsic More >
Open Access
Journal of Psychology in Africa, Vol.35, No.1, pp. 127-133, 2025, DOI:10.32604/jpa.2025.065777 - 30 April 2025
Abstract This longitudinal study investigated how self-management and learning burnout influences the relationship between habitual mobile phone use and subjective well-being among first-year university students. A sample of 1172 Chinese university students participated in a two-wave survey, with data collected six months apart at two time points (T1, T2). The results of Pearson correlation revealed that higher habitual mobile phone use at T1 was associated with lower subjective well-being at T2. Self-management was associated with healthy phone use habits and higher subjective wellbeing. Learning burnout risk was higher with habitual phone usage. Lower self-management and learning More >
Open Access
Journal of Psychology in Africa, Vol.35, No.1, pp. 135-141, 2025, DOI:10.32604/jpa.2025.065759 - 30 April 2025
Abstract This study aimed to explore how core self-evaluations and gender influence interpersonal adjustment and depression risk. Participants were 1748 college students (female = 59.73%, male = 40.27%, mean age = 18.71 years, SD = 0.78 years). The students completed the Interpersonal Adjustment Scale for College Students, Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, and Core Self-evaluation Scale. The results of Linear regression and mediated moderated effects modeling revealed that college students with higher interpersonal adjustment and core self-evaluation scores were at lower risk for depression. Core self-evaluation mediated the relationship between interpersonal adjustment and depression in More >
Open Access
Journal of Psychology in Africa, Vol.35, No.1, pp. 143-150, 2025, DOI:10.32604/jpa.2025.065772 - 30 April 2025
Abstract While the relation between shyness and problematic social media use (PSMU) among adolescents has been established, the mediating and moderating mechanisms underlying this association remain largely unexplored. The present study examined whether psychological insecurity mediated the association between shyness and adolescents’ PSMU and whether this mediation was moderated by relational-interdependent self-construal (RISC). A total of 1506 Chinese adolescents (Mage = 13.74 years, SD = 0.98) filled out self-report measures of shyness, psychological insecurity, RISC, and PSMU. SPSS (version 23.0) and the PROCESS macro (version 4.1) were employed to test the proposed model. Mediation analyses indicated that… More >
Open Access
Journal of Psychology in Africa, Vol.35, No.1, pp. 151-157, 2025, DOI:10.32604/jpa.2025.065786 - 30 April 2025
Abstract This study explored the relationship between perceived social support and employment anxiety among Chinese college students, as well as the mediating and moderating effects of psychological resilience and career adaptability on this relationship. A total of 1928 college students (females = 1371, mean age = 20.42, SD = 1.05) completed the Perceived Social Support Scale, Employment Anxiety Questionnaire, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale and Career Adapt-Abilities Scale. Mediation analysis results showed that psychological resilience mediated the relationship between perceived social support and employment anxiety for lower employment anxiety. Career adaptability moderated the mediating effect of psychological resilience More >
Open Access
Journal of Psychology in Africa, Vol.35, No.1, pp. 159-165, 2025, DOI:10.32604/jpa.2025.065764 - 30 April 2025
Abstract There has been an increase in mental health problems in Sub-Saharan Africa. Considering this, it is critical to track the region’s level of mental health literacy (MHL) to identify key mental health priorities and to direct the most effective interventions. The purpose of this study was to review the existing literature on MHL in sub-Saharan Africa. EBSCOhost (inclusive of Academic Search Ultimate, MEDLINE, APA PsycINFO, APA Psych Articles, and Global Health), CINAHL with full text, Wiley Online Library, Taylor and Francis Online Journals and Google Scholar databases were searched to retrieve relevant articles. The study… More >