Thank you to Emily Weiss @nsuntheimer.bsky.social Richard Appiah @bettaaurino.bsky.social @wolfssharon.bsky.social

We problematize the use of WEIRD measures in majority world contexts. Using tools without attention to cultural context can misrepresent psychosocial states in non-Western settings and limit efforts to evaluate programs designed to support children’s social and emotional development.

Exploratory factor analysis of the SDQ in northern Ghana revealed a factor combining self-regulation and prosocial behaviors—a construct we term “Responsibility,” which reflects social skills highly valued in the Ghanaian context but not explicitly captured by WEIRD-developed instruments.