Relational Well‐being: An Indigenous Perspective and Measure

Abstract

Extant measures of well‐being, guided by western European values and beliefs, reveal a scientific commitment to develop and test indices to monitor the social, psychological, familial, and economic status of populations. The limitations of these measures to ethnic populations are addressed in this study. Relational Well‐being (RWB II), an indigenous, culture‐based 14‐item measure rooted in beliefs and values emphasizing family, ancestors, culture, and harmony with nature, was developed and tested with a sample (N = 810) of indigenous Hawaiians in Hawaii. Exploratory factor analysis (n = 408), confirmatory factor analysis (n = 402), test of invariance, and tests of reliability and validity confirmed the psychometric quality of RWB II. The applicability of the composite index of Relational Well‐being II as well as its six underlying factors (Resilience, Community Involvement, Financial Stability, Cultural Practice, Family Commitment, and Health Care) to family theory of resilience, research, and education are discussed.

Decolonizing Research Methods for Family Science: Creating Space at the Center

“…Fundamental to the decolonizing methodology is the idea that families are connected to their ancestors, ancestral history, and their roots of both the past and present cultures (McCubbin, McCubbin, Zhang, Kehl, & Strom, ). Individual identity and family identity are interwoven through intergenerational systems of belief, history, tradition, and relational processes (McGregor, Morelli, Matsuoka, & Minerbi, ).…”

Tourism and Residents’ Quality of Life: A Critical Examination

“…Adopting a bottom up approach to examining indigenous conceptions of QOL and to understand how tourism influences indigenous experiences, the paper reflects the need for more dialogue between externally defined measures of QOL and localized conceptions of wellbeing (Buzinde et al, 2014). It reiterates the point made by McCubbin, McCubbin, Zhang, Kehl, & Strom (2013) that the enhanced understanding and incorporation of indigenous worldviews and knowledge in current indigenous tourism discourse will improve the resilience of these communities. This is not only an ethical imperative but also a pragmatic approach to ensure that the outcomes of academic research facilitate the sustainability of indigenous tourism (Whitford & Ruhanen, 2016).…”

Expressions of Indigenous rights and self-determination from the ground up: A Yawuru example

“…The literature on Indigenous wellbeing points to wellbeing as both a process and outcome, that is achieved and maintained as a collective and relationally. Furthermore, the literature reveals the importance of maintaining connection to country and culture and self-determination over matters concerning one's self, one's family, community and country (Greiner et al 2005, Durie 2006, Grieves 2007, Panzironi 2007, Ganesharajah 2009, Yu 2012, McCubbin et al 2013, Murphy 2014.…”