Leveraging psychometric properties of Ubuntu measures to reveal its structural components
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.38140/ijss-2025.vol5.1.05Keywords:
Ubuntu, conceptualisation, scale, measurement, validityAbstract
Ubuntu is an African worldview that often shapes policy and social ethos; however, its distinct meaning remains unclear due to primarily philosophical discussions. This study seeks to define and measure Ubuntu's dimensions operationally and quantitatively using psychometric literature. Limited conceptual clarity has hampered research on Ubuntu thus far. This study aims to define Ubuntu, considering the materialisation of the concept and its components when measured, and to provide a usable measurement tool to advance research. A comprehensive review of Ubuntu measurement tools was conducted, focusing on research that included discussions of exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and measurement invariance (MI). Five Ubuntu measures were identified, revealing similar constructs but inconsistent terminology. EFA helped refine constructs, while CFA validated frameworks. MI was applied once, demonstrating cross-context adaptability. This study reveals that Ubuntu is frequently described as having more structural components than those that emerge from psychometric scrutiny and calls for a standardised framework and an agreed-upon, consistent measure of Ubuntu to advance empirical research. It provides a foundational list of items for a comprehensive measure, bridging the gap between philosophical and empirical approaches to Ubuntu.
References
American Psychological Association. (2020). APA guidelines for psychological assessment and evaluation. https://www.apa.org/about/policy/guidelines-psychological-assessment-evaluation.pdf
Andersen, M. Z., Gülen, S., Fonnes, S., Andresen, K., & Rosenberg, J. (2020). Half of Cochrane reviews were published more than 2 years after the protocol. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 124, 85-93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2020.05.011
Armour-Garb, B., Stoljar, D., & Woodbridge, J. (2023). Deflationism about truth. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Ary, D., Jacobs, L. C., Sorenson, C., & Razavieh, A. (2010). Introduction to research in education (8th ed.). Wadsworth.
Babbie, E., & Mouton, J. (2011). The practice of social research (1st ed.). Oxford University Press Southern Africa.
Badenas, R. (2012). Looking for (present) truth. Dialogue, 24(3), 8–12.
Berry, J. W., Poortinga, Y. H., Breugelmans, S. M., Chasiotis, A., & Sam, D. L. (2011). Cross-Cultural Psychology: Research and Applications (3rd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511974274
Bialosiewicz, S., Murphy, K., & Berry, T. (2013). An introduction to measurement invariance testing: Resource packet for participants. American Evaluation Association, 1–37.
Boer, D., Hanke, K., & He, J. (2018). On detecting systematic measurement error in cross-cultural research: A review and critical reflection on equivalence and invariance tests. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 49(5), 713-734.
Botha, A. C. (2022). Investigating time orientation and social self-construal in multi-cultural South Africa [Doctoral dissertation, University of Johannesburg]. https://hdl.handle.net/10210/501718
British Psychological Society. (2024). Guidelines on testing and test use. https://www.bps.org.uk/guidelines-testing-and-test-use
Broodryk, J. (2002). Ubuntu: Life lessons from Africa. Ubuntu School of Philosophy.
Brubaker, T. A. (2013). Servant leadership, Ubuntu, and leader effectiveness in Rwanda. Emerging Leadership Journeys, 6(1), 114-147.
Brynard, C. E. (2018). Development of the leadership behavioural scale (Doctoral dissertation). Stellenbosch University.
Buys, H. (2019). Development of an ethical leadership behaviour scale (Doctoral dissertation). University of Stellenbosch.
Chimakonam, J. O. (2016). The end of Ubuntu or its beginning in Matolino-Kwindingwi-Metz debate: An exercise in conversational philosophy. South African Journal of Philosophy, 35(2), 224–234. https://doi.org/10.1080/02580136.2016.1174921
Cordeiro-Rodrigues, L., & Molefe, M. (2024). Looking back and forward: Relational African bioethics and why personhood is not dead. The American Journal of Bioethics, 24(1), 62–64. https://doi.org/10.1080/15265161.2023.2278556
Cronbach, L. J., & Shavelson, R. J. (2004). My current thoughts on coefficient alpha and successor procedures. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 64(3), 389–390. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013164404266386
Cronin, P., Ryan, F., & Coughlan, M. (2008). Undertaking a literature review: A step-by-step approach. British Journal of Nursing, 17(1), 38–43. https://doi.org/10.12968/bjon.2008.17.1.28059
De Vos, A. S., Strydom, H., Fouche, C. B., & Delport, C. S. L. (2013). Research at grassroots (4th ed.). Van Schaik.
Dimitrov, D. M. (2010). Testing for factorial invariance in the context of construct validation. Measurement and Evaluation in Counselling and Development, 43(2), 121-149. https://doi.org/10.1177/0748175610373459
Eliastam, J. L. (2015). Exploring Ubuntu discourse in South Africa: Loss, liminality and hope. Verbum et Ecclesia, 36(2), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.4102/ve.v36i2.1427
Enslin, E. (2023). The conceptualisation, development and validation of a South African organisational leadership scale [Doctoral dissertation, University of South Africa]. https://hdl.handle.net/10500/30364
Enslin, P., & Horsthemke, K. (2004). Can Ubuntu provide a model for citizenship education in African democracies? Comparative Education, 40(4), 545-558. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305006042000284538
Flora, D. B., & Flake, J. K. (2017). The purpose and practice of exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis in psychological research: Decisions for scale development and validation. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 49(2), 78-88. https://doi.org/10.1037/cbs0000069
Flora, D. B., LaBrish, C., & Chalmers, R. P. (2012). Old and new ideas for data screening and assumption testing for exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 3, 55. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00055
Fontaine, J. R. J. (2008). Traditional and multilevel approaches in cross-cultural research: An integration of methodological frameworks. In Multilevel analysis of individuals and cultures (pp. 65–92). Lawrence Erlbaum.
Gade, C. B. N. (2012). What is Ubuntu? Different interpretations among South Africans of African descent. South African Journal of Philosophy 31(3), 484-503.
Galinon, H. (2015). Deflationary truth: Conservativity or logicality? The Philosophical Quarterly, 65(259), 268–274. https://doi.org/10.1093/pq/pqu087
Goldman, G., Thomas, P., & Molose, T. (2019). A qualitative approach to developing measurement scales for the concept of Ubuntu. Acta Commercii, 19(1), 692. https://doi.org/10.4102/ac.v19i1.692
Goldstein, G., Allen, D. N., & DeLuca, J. (Eds.). (2019). Handbook of psychological assessment (4th ed.). Elsevier Academic Press.
Grant, M. J., & Booth, A. (2009). A typology of reviews: An analysis of 14 review types and associated methodologies. Health Information and Libraries Journal, 26(2), 91–108. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-1842.2009.00848.x
Higgins, J. P. T., Thomas, J., Chandler, J., Cumpston, M., Li, T., Page, M. J., & Welch, V. A. (Eds.). (2023). Cochrane handbook for systematic reviews of interventions (Version 6.4). Cochrane. https://training.cochrane.org/handbook
Hox, J. J. (1997). From theoretical concept to survey question. In Survey measurement and process quality (pp. 47–69). Wiley.
Kamwangamalu, N. M. (1999). Ubuntu in South Africa: A sociolinguistic perspective to a Pan-African concept. Critical Arts, 13, 24-41. https://doi.org/10.1080/02560049985310111
Khomba, J. K., & Kangaude-Ulaya, E. C. (2013). Indigenisation of corporate strategies in Africa: Lessons from the African Ubuntu philosophy. China-USA Business Review, 12(7), 672-689.
Letseka, M. (2012). In defence of Ubuntu. Studies in Philosophy and Education, 31, 47–60. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11217-011-9267-2
Letseka, M. (2013). Educating for ubuntu/botho: Lessons from Basotho indigenous education. Open Journal of Philosophy, 3(2), 337–344. http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ojpp.2013.32051
Louw, D. J. (1998). Ubuntu: An African assessment of the religious other. The Paideia Archive: Twentieth World Congress of Philosophy, 23, 34–42. https://doi.org/10.5840/wcp20-paideia199823407
Matolino, B., & Kwindingwi, W. (2013). The end of Ubuntu. South African Journal of Philosophy, 32(2), 197–205. https://doi.org/10.1080/02580136.2013.817637
Mbigi, L. (1997). The African dream in management. Knowledge Resources.
Mbiti, J. S. (1990 [1969]). African religions and philosophy (2nd ed.). Heinemann.
Mboti, N. (2015). May the real Ubuntu please stand up? Journal of Media Ethics, 30(2), 125–147. https://doi.org/10.1080/23736992.2015.1020380
Metz, T. (2021). Ubuntu: The good life. In Encyclopedia of quality of life and well-being research (pp. 1–5). Cham: Springer International Publishing.
Milfont, T. L., & Fischer, R. (2010). Testing measurement invariance across groups: Applications in cross-cultural research. International Journal of Psychological Research, 3(1), 111–130.
Moher, D., Liberati, A., Tetzlaff, J., Altman, D. G., & The PRISMA Group. (2009). Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: The PRISMA statement. PLoS Medicine, 6(7), e1000097. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000097
Mokgoro, Y. (1998). Ubuntu and the law in South Africa. Buffalo Human Rights Law Review, 15, 1–6.
Molefe, M., & Muade, E. (2024). Ubuntu, umuntu and ubuntu: A response to Matolino and Kwindingwi. Ar?mar?ka: Journal of Conversational Thinking, 4(2), 82–105.
Molose, T. (2019). The experience of Ubuntu in a hospitality organisation: Scale development and validation. Journal of Advances in Humanities and Social Sciences, 5(3), 113–128. https://doi.org/10.20474/jahss-5.3.2
Mouton, J. (1996). Understanding social research. Van Schaik.
Mouton, J. (2013). How to succeed in your master's & doctoral studies. Van Schaik.
Mouton, J., & Marais, H. C. (1996). Basic concepts in the methodology of the social sciences (5th ed.). HSRC Publishers.
Murove, M. F. (2012). Ubuntu. Diogenes, 59(3–4), 36–47. https://doi.org/10.1177/0392192113493737
Mutsonziwa, I. (2020). Ubuntu: Development and validation of a scale to measure African humanism [Doctoral dissertation, University of Pretoria]. https://repository.up.ac.za/handle/2263/79761
Nunnally, J. C., & Bernstein, I. H. (1994). Psychometric theory (3rd ed.). McGraw-Hill.
Orçan, F. (2018). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis: Which one to use first? Journal of Measurement and Evaluation in Education and Psychology, 9(4), 414–421. https://doi.org/10.2139/jmeep.2018.009
Pett, M. A., Lackey, N. R., & Sullivan, J. J. (2003). Making sense of factor analysis: The use of factor analysis for instrument development in health care research. Sage Publications.
Poovan, N., Du Toit, M. K., & Engelbrecht, A. S. (2006). The effect of the social values of Ubuntu on team effectiveness. South African Journal of Business Management, 37(3), 17–27. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajbm.v37i3.604
Putnick, D. L., & Bornstein, M. H. (2016). Measurement invariance conventions and reporting: The state of the art and future directions for psychological research. Developmental Review, 41, 71–90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2016.06.004
Ramose, M. (2015). Ecology through Ubuntu. Emerging from Cultures and Religions of the ASEAN Region, 69–76.
Ramose, M. B. (2002). The philosophy of Ubuntu and Ubuntu as a philosophy. In Philosophy from Africa: A text with readings (pp. 230–237). Oxford University Press.
Riahi-Belkaoui, A. (1995). The cultural shaping of accounting. Quorum Books.
Rust, J., & Golombok, S. (2014). Modern psychometrics: The science of psychological assessment. Routledge.
Selig, J. P., Card, N. A., & Little, T. D. (2008). Latent variable structural equation modelling in cross-cultural research: Multigroup and multilevel approaches. In Multilevel Analysis of Individuals and Cultures (pp. 93–119). Lawrence Erlbaum.
Sigger, D. S., Polak, B., & Pennink, B. J. W. (2010). Ubuntu or ‘humanness’ as a management concept. CDS Research Journal, 29(6), 1–46. https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:157655382
Stovold, E., Beecher, D., Foxlee, R., & Noel-Storr, A. (2014). Study flow diagrams in Cochrane systematic review updates: An adapted PRISMA flow diagram. Systematic Reviews, 3, 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1186/2046-4053-3-54
Swanson, D. M. (2007). Ubuntu: An African contribution to (re)search for/with a ‘humble togetherness’. Journal of Contemporary Issues in Education, 2(2), 53–67.
Taber, K. S. (2018). The use of Cronbach’s Alpha when developing and reporting research instruments in science education. Research in Science Education, 48(6), 1273–1296. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-016-9602-2
Tavakol, M., & Dennick, R. (2011). Making sense of Cronbach’s alpha. International Journal of Medical Education, 2, 53–55. https://doi.org/10.5116/ijme.4dfb.8dfd
Taylor, P. C. (2023). Contemporary Africana philosophy. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2023/entries/africana-contemporary/
Terblanché-Greeff, A. C., & Nel, P. (2023). Measuring context-specific collectivism: The Metzian Ubuntu Inventory. South African Journal of Philosophy, 41(4), 401-414. https://doi.org/10.1080/02580136.2023.2206343
Tutu, D. (1999). No future without forgiveness. Doubleday.
Vandenberg, R. J., & Lance, C. E. (2000). A review and synthesis of the measurement invariance literature: Suggestions, practices, and recommendations for organisational research. Organisational Research Methods, 3, 4–70. https://doi.org/10.1177/109442810031002
Venter, E. (2004). The notion of Ubuntu and communalism in African educational discourse. Studies in Philosophy and Education, 23, 149–160. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:SPED.0000024428.29295.03
Young, J. O. (2018). The coherence theory of truth. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2018/entries/truth-coherence/
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Copyright (c) 2025 Renier Steyn, Pumela Msweli

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.