Autonomy, Community, and Divinity Among Emerging Adults in Sub-Saharan Africa: New and Renewed Ethical Values in a Globalizing World

This study used the Ethical Values Assessment (EVA) to examine the extent to which emerging adults (N = 2,316) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) rated Autonomy, Community and Divinity values as important and prioritized them as core values in their lives, and how their values were affected by globalization. Participants strongly endorsed all three values, reaffirming Ubuntu as a distinguishing concept in SSA. Unexpectedly, they prioritized Autonomy—as do emerging adults in increasing parts of the world. Globalization in the form of internet access, but not urban residence, boosted Autonomy, which fits with recent literature that has termed Autonomy the globalization ethic. Surprisingly, globalization also boosted Divinity, which may reflect a surge of religiosity unique to emerging adults in SSA, especially among those living in urban areas. Several future research directions are proposed to encourage studies in SSA, a severely understudied region that has much to contribute to psychological science.