Virtues, Resilience, and Well-Being of Indigenous Youth in Peru
PDF (Français (Canada))

Keywords

Peru
Indigenous
Youth
Values In Action virtues
Child and Youth Resilience Measure

How to Cite

R.L. BullockA., StumpfB. C., & ChangK. B. (2021). Virtues, Resilience, and Well-Being of Indigenous Youth in Peru. International Journal of Child and Adolescent Resilience, 8(1), 98-109. https://doi.org/10.7202/1077720ar

Abstract

Objectives: The objective of this study was to observe the relation of Values In Action (VIA) virtues, well-being, and resilience within a unique, non-Western population of Indigenous youth in the Peruvian Amazon.
Methods: Data were collected from students (n = 172, age range: 11-16 years) attending a rural village school via self-report surveys to assess relationships using the VIA Youth-96 (VIA-Y-96) Assessment, Personal Wellbeing Index (PWI-A), and the Child and Youth Resilience Measure (CYRM-28).
Results: The factor analysis of the CYRM-28 yielded a 3-factor breakdown (Social Engagement, Cultural Citizenship, and Guidance) instead of eight. Different VIA virtues predicted each of the three factors of the revised 3-factor CYRM-21-Peru model (CYRM-21-P); Transcendence, Humanity, and Wisdom were predictors of well-being; and higher reported resilience leads to higher well-being. Most participants scored very high on the PWI-A.
Implications: Research presented in this paper involved a unique population of Indigenous youth residing in the Peruvian Amazon, and found that (a) VIA virtues were differentially associated with well-being, (b) Humanity was a significant predictor across Cultural Citizenship and Social Engagement in the revised CYRM-21-P, and (c) higher resilience was correlated with higher well-being. Implications of this research can be used to inspire future research of Indigenous populations in a Latin American context to develop youth development programs that teach students from a strength-based perspective to improve vocational, academic, psychological, and social well-being.

https://doi.org/10.7202/1077720ar
PDF (Français (Canada))

References

Alfaro, J., Castellá, J., Bedin, L., Abs, D., Casas, F., Valdenegro, B., & Oyarzún, D. (2014). Adaptación del Índice de Bienestar Personal para adolescentes en lengua española y portuguesa [Adaptation of the Personal Well-Being Index for adolescents on Spanish and Portuguese language]. Universitas Psychologica, 13(1), 239–252. https://doi.org/10.11144/Javeriana.UPSY13-1.aibp

Alzina, R. B., & Paniello, S. H. (2017). Psicología positiva, educación emocional y el Programa Aulas Felices [Positive psychology, emotional education and the Happy Classrooms Program]. Papeles del Psicólogo, 38(1), 58-65. https://doi.org/10.23923/pap.psicol2017.2822

Azañedo, C. M., Fernández-Abascal, E. G., & Barraca, J. (2014). Character strengths in Spain: Validation of the Values in Action Inventory of Strengths (VIA-IS) in a Spanish sample. Clínica Y Salud , 25(2), 123–130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clysa.2014.06.002

Castro Solano, A. (Ed.). (2014). Positive Psychology in Latin America. Springer.

Castro Solano, A., & Cosentino, A. C. (2016). The relationships between character strengths and life fulfillment in the view of lay-people in Argentina. Interdisciplinaria Revista De Psicología Y Ciencias Afines , 33(1), 65–80. https://doi.org/10.16888/interd.2016.33.1.4

Drawson, A. S., Houlding, C., Braunberger, P., Sawula, E., Wekerle, C., & Mushquash, C. J. (2016). Violence and resilience: A scoping review of treatment of mental health problems for indigenous youth. International Journal of Child and Adolescent Resilience, 4(1), 48–63. https://www.ijcar-rirea.ca/index.php/ijcar-rirea/article/view/197

Heaton, T., & Forste, B. (2008). Domestic violence, couple interaction and children’s health in Latin America. Journal of Family Violence, 23(3), 183-193. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-007-9142-7

Helliwell, J. F., Layard, R., Sachs, J., & De Neve, J. E. (Eds.). (2020). World Happiness Report 2020. Sustainable Development Solutions Network. https://happiness-report.s3.amazonaws.com/2020/WHR20.pdf

Herrera, A. (2013). Heritage tourism, identity and development in Peru. International Journal of Historical Archaeology, 17(2), 275–295. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10761-013-0221-6

International Wellbeing Group (2013). Personal Wellbeing Index. Australian Centre on Quality of Life, Deakin University.

Jaffee, S., Caspi, A., Moffitt, T., Polo-Tomás, M., & Taylor, A. (2007). Individual, family, and neighborhood factors distinguish resilient from non-resilient maltreated children: A cumulative stressors model. Child Abuse & Neglect, 31(3), 231–253. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2006.03.011

JASP Team (2020). JASP (Version 0.12.2) [Computer software]. https://jasp-stats.org/

Johnston, A. (2006). Is the sacred for sale? Tourism and indigenous peoples. Earthscan.

Kanagawa, C., Cross, S. E., Markus, H. R. (2001) "Who am I?": The cultural psychology of the conceptual self. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27, 90–103. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167201271008

Lau, A. L. D., Cummins, R. A., & McPherson, W. (2005). An investigation into the cross-cultural equivalence of the Personal Wellbeing Index. Social Indicators Research, 72(3), 403–430. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-004-0561-z

Liebenberg, L., Ungar, M., and Van de Vijver, F. R. R. (2012). Validation of the Child and Youth Resilience Measure-28 (CYRM-28) among Canadian youth with complex needs. Research on Social Work Practice, 22(2), 219–226. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049731511428619

Martínez-Martí, M. L., & Ruch, W. (2017). Character strengths predict resilience over and above positive affect, self-efficacy, optimism, social support, self-esteem, and life satisfaction. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 12(2), 110–119. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.5

McGrath, R. E. (2014). Scale- and item-level factor analyses of the VIA inventory of strengths. Assessment, 21(1), 4–14. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191112450612

McGrath, R. E. (2015a). Character strengths in 75 nations: An update. The Journal of Positive Psychology: Special Issue in Memory of Chris Peterson, 10(1), 41–52. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2014.888580

McGrath, R. E. (2015b). Integrating psychological and cultural perspectives on virtue: The hierarchical structure of character strengths. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 10(1), 407–424. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2014.994222

Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism of Peru. (2019). Flujo de turistas internacionales e ingreso de divisas por turismo receptivo [International tourist flow and foreign exchange income from inbound tourism]. https://datosturismo.mincetur.gob.pe/appdatosTurismo/Content1.html

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. (2019). Investing in Youth: Peru. OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264305823-en

Park, N. & Peterson, C. (2006). Moral competence and character strengths among adolescents: The development and validation of the Values in Action Inventory of Strengths for youth. Journal of Adolescence, 29(6), 891–909. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2006.04.011

Park, N., Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2004). Strengths of character and well-being. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 23(5), 603–619. https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.23.5.603.50748

Pasquier-Doumer, L., & Brandon, F. R. (2015). Aspiration failure: A poverty trap for indigenous children in Peru? World Development, 72, 208–223. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2015.03.001

Perera, M. J., Yu, E. A., Chia, S. W., Yu, T., & Downey, C. A. (2016). Positive psychology practice with Latin Americans. In E. C. Chang, C. A. Downey, J. K. Hirsch, & N. J. Lin (Eds.), Positive psychology in racial and ethnic groups: Theory, research, and practice. (pp. 235–257). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/14799-012

Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2004). Character strengths and virtues: A handbook and classification. Oxford University Press and American Psychological Association.

Peterson, C., Park, N., Pole, N., D’Andrea, W., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2008). Strengths of character and posttraumatic growth. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 21(2), 214–217. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.20332

Proctor, C., Maltby, J., & Linley, P. A. (2011). Strengths use as a predictor of well-being and health-related quality of life. Journal of Happiness Studies, 12(1), 153–169. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-009-9181-2

Sanders, J., Munford, R., Thimasarn-Anwar, T., Liebenberg, L., & Ungar, M. (2015). The role of positive youth development practices in building resilience and enhancing wellbeing for at-risk youth. Child Abuse & Neglect, 42, 40–53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2015.02.006

Sarriera, J. C., Casas, F., Alfaro, J., Bedin, L., Strelhow, M. R., Abs, D., Valdenegro, B., Garcia, C., & Oyarzún, D. (2014). Psychometric properties of the Personal Wellbeing Index in Brazilian and Chilean adolescents including spirituality and religion. Psicologia: Reflexão e Crítica, 27(4), 710–719. https://doi.org/10.1590/1678-7153.201427411

Seligman, M. E. P. (2011). Flourish: A visionary new understanding of happiness and well-being. Simon and Schuster.

Seligman, M. E. P. (2002). Authentic happiness. Free Press

Seligman, M. E. P., Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2004). The Values In Action (VIA) classification of character strengths. Ricerche di Psicologia, 27(1), 63–78.

Seligman, M. E. P., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Positive psychology: An introduction. The American Psychologist, 55(1), 5–14. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.5

Steele, D. (2018). Higher education and urban migration for community resilience: Indigenous Amazonian youth promoting place-based livelihoods and identities in Peru. American Anthropological Association, 49(1), 89–105. https://doi.org/10.1111/aeq.12233

Stevens, E. P. (1973). The prospect for a women’s liberation movement in Latin America. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 35, 313–331. https://doi.org/10.2307/35066

Suarez, E. (2013). Two decades later: The resilience and post-traumatic responses of Indigenous Quechua girls and adolescents in the aftermath of the Peruvian armed conflict. Child Abuse & Neglect, 37(2–3), 200–210. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2012.09.011

Ungar, M. (2008). Resilience across cultures. British Journal of Social Work, 38(2), 218–235. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcl343

Ungar, M., & Liebenberg, L. (2011). Assessing resilience across cultures using mixed methods: Construction of the child and youth resilience measure. Journal of Multiple Methods in Research, 5(2), 126–149. https://doi.org/10.1177/1558689811400607

Webb, A. (2014). Re-working everyday concepts of civic virtue and ethnic belonging among indigenous youth in Chile. Journal of Youth Studies, 17(6), 717–732. https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2013.853873

World Bank. (2015). Indigenous Latin America in the Twenty-First Century. World Bank. http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/145891467991974540/pdf/Indigenous-Latin-America-in-the-twenty-first-century-the-first-decade.pdf