Comparative Analysis on Weighting Methods for the Development of Social Harmony Index Relevant to Culture and Identity of a Diverse Nation.
Main Article Content
Abstract
The aim of the study reported in this article is to develop a Social Harmony Index (SHI) as part of a strategy in facilitating the governance of a multi-ethnic nation in accordance with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The index considered a number of essential variables or factors contributing towards a harmonic nation, which then employed a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methodology to recognize and assess those variables based on culture and identity spirits. Hence, this study utilized MCDM procedures to evaluate social cohesion in a diverse multi-ethnic nation, such as Malaysia. Specifically, the procedures involved extracting qualitative data through experts’ opinions, which were then quantified in the form of ranks. Another type of quantitative data was gathered through surveys from Malaysian citizens that belong to various ethnics. These data were consolidated according to the specific procedures presenting the findings of SHIROC value of 8.4 and SHIRS value of 8.3 on a scale of 1 – 10. The indices are deemed satisfactorily high as they reside within the identified bounds. These values reflect that the diverse nation of Malaysia enjoys a commendable level of unity, peace and harmonious living situation. Therefore, this study clarified the essential variables that foster harmonic coexistence and provides a feasible, evidence-based instrument for policymakers to assess social discord and enhance social cohesiveness in varied communities in the nation. It aids in formulating weighted procedures relating to culture and identity towards fostering national social cohesion and stability in Malaysia...
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
References
Abubakar, A. (2025). The values of Sufism as a foundation of tolerance and brotherhood in a multicultural society. International Journal on Advanced Science, Education, and Religion, 8(2), 156–168.
Ajitoni, B. D. (2024). Ubuntu and the philosophy of community in African thought: An exploration of collective identity and social harmony. Journal of African Studies and Sustainable Development, 7(3), 1 – 15.
Ahmadu, F. M., & Idris, H. A. (2025). Language preservation through traditional festivals: Revisiting the Kalankuwa festival of Northern Nigeria. Existentia: Concrescence Journal of Arts and Humanities, 3(1), 87 – 93.
Arvanitis, A., & Stichter, M. (2023). Why being morally virtuous enhances well-being: A self-determination theory approach. Journal of Moral Education, 52(3), 362–378.
Banban, D. (2018). Harmony in diversity: An empirical study of harmonious co-existence in the multi-ethnic culture of Qinghai. International Journal of Anthropology and Ethnology, 2(1), 1 – 23.
Blagojević, G. (2019). Instrument as a symbol of national identity: Fujara among Slovaks in Serbia. In The Ninth International Symposium on Traditional Polyphony, 488–496.
Casmana, A. R., Dewantara, J. A., Timoera, D. A., Kusmawati, A. P., & Syafrudin, I. (2023). Global citizenship: Preparing the younger generation to possess pro-environment behavior, mutual assistance, and tolerance awareness through school engagement. Globalisation, Societies and Education, 21(1), 15–32.
Chanchal, D. (2024). Multiethnic individuals and their position in society. International Journal of Innovations in Science, Engineering and Management, 3(3), 107–113.
Dahl, A. (2023). What we do when we define morality (and why we need to do it). Psychological Inquiry, 34(2), 53–79.
David, M., Dyen, M., & Ezan, P. (2024). Do YouTubers lead the way of healthy eating? A practice-based approach. Recherche and Applications in Marketing (English Edition), 39(3), 11–31.
Debreczeny, K. (2019). Faith and empire: Art and politics in Tibetan Buddhism. Rubin Museum of Art.
Delle Fave, A., Brdar, I., Wissing, M. P., Araujo, U., Castro Solano, A., Freire, T., & Soosai-Nathan, L. (2016). Lay definitions of happiness across nations: the primacy of inner harmony and relational connectedness. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 30.
Ding, Y., Semykina, O., Mykhailenko, A., Ushakova, O., & Khliupin, O. (2021). Modern Chinese and Japanese gardens as a symbol of national identity in the context of globalism. Landscape Architecture and Art, 19(19), 98–106.
Dulal, L. N. (2022). Prospects of promoting festival tourism: A case study of Khame Jatra in Bhaktapur. Nepalese Culture, 15(1), 1–22.
Ebrahimi, M. A. (2020). Cultural value of translation of proverbs and synopsis. Journal of Research and Knowledge Spreading, 1(1), e11484.
Erman, A., & Medeiros, M. (2021). Exploring the effect of collective cultural attributes on COVID-19-related public health outcomes. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 627669.
Fouka, V. (2020). Backlash: The unintended effects of language prohibition in US schools after World War I. Review of Economic Studies, 87(1), 204–239.
Hasnan, S. F., Ramli, R., & Hamid, M. N. A. (2022). Conference proceedings. In AIP Conference Proceedings (Vol. 2644, No. 1, p. 030043). AIP Publishing.
Heng, M. S. (2017). A study of nation building in Malaysia. East Asia, 34(3), 217–247.
Ho, L. C., & Barton, K. C. (2022). Critical harmony: A goal for deliberative civic education. Journal of Moral Education, 51(2), 276–291.
Hofstede, G. (2011). Dimensionalizing cultures: The Hofstede model in context. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, 2(1), 8.
Hoktaviandri, H., Suatri, S., Ningsih, S. S., Effauzi, M., & Ritonga, M. (2024). Diversity and urgency of religious moderation education according to public perception. Al-Hayat: Journal of Islamic Education, 8(2), 505–522.
Hommerich, C., & Tiefenbach, T. (2018). Analyzing the relationship between social capital and subjective well-being: The mediating role of social affiliation. Journal of Happiness Studies, 19(4), 1091–1114.
Huda, M., Nor Muhamad, N. H., Isyanto, P., Muhamat, R., Marni, N., Ahmad Kilani, M., & Safar, J. (2020). Building harmony in diverse society: Insights from practical wisdom. International Journal of Ethics and Systems, 36(2), 149–165.
Ilyasin, M., & Tohet, M. (2020). Multicultural education in a religious life: Developing harmony among religions in Southeast Asia. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management, 3791–3801.
Karim, R. (2020). Evolution and assessment of South Asian folk music: A study of social and religious perspectives. British Journal of Arts and Humanities, 2(3), 60–72.
Kirsten, F., & Bonga-Bonga, L. (2025). The ties that bind us: How social cohesion and institutional quality shape subjective well-being in Africa. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 20(6), 2183–2200.
Kjell, O. N., & Diener, E. (2021). Abbreviated three-item versions of the Satisfaction with Life Scale and the Harmony in Life Scale yield as strong psychometric properties as the original scales. Journal of Personality Assessment, 103(2), 183–194.
Kymlicka, W., & Norman, W. (2000). Citizenship in culturally diverse societies: Issues, contexts, and concepts. Citizenship in diverse societies, 1, 1-43.
Li, W. Z., & Zhong, H. (2022). Development of a smart tourism integration model to preserve the cultural heritage of ancient villages in Northern Guangxi. Heritage Science, 10(1), 91.
Lo Bianco, J. (2010). The importance of language policies and multilingualism for cultural diversity. International Social Science Journal, 61(199), 37-67.
Mamlok, D. (2023). The quest to cultivate tolerance through education. Studies in Philosophy and Education, 42(3), 231–246.
Manocha, S. (2023). The role of business communication for business success: a comprehensive review. Research Journal of English Language and Literature, 11(2), 1-5.
Mariyono, D. (2024). Multicultural values: A meeting point of two forces in developing Islamic education. Quality Education for All, 1(1), 46–69.
McNeill, L., & Venter, B. (2019). Identity, self-concept, and young women’s engagement with collaborative, sustainable fashion consumption models. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 43(4), 368–378.
Milona, M. (2019). Finding hope. Canadian Journal of Philosophy, 49(5), 710–729.
Ministry of National Unity (2022). Laporan akhir IPNAS 2022. https://www.perpaduan.gov.my/images/2023/document/dasar/ipnas/LAPORAN_AKHIR_IPNAS_2022_BM.pdf
Mulder, L. (2019). Music and national identity in Ecuadorian Pasillo. NCUR Proceedings.
Nawas, A., & Zuhri, M. (2022). Harmony in the frame of local wisdom “One Furnace–Three Stones” in education. Dinamika Ilmu, 22(1), 109–130.
Özdil, M. A. (2021). The effect of clothing as a marker of identity. Motif Akademi Halkbilimi Dergisi, 14(33), 117–130.
Reddy, G., & Van Dam, R. M. (2020). Food, culture, and identity in multicultural societies: Insights from Singapore. Appetite, 149, 104633.
Rozi, F. A. H. R. U. R. (2020). Confucian concept of self-cultivation and social harmony. International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 7(2), 129–133.
Saaida, M. B. (2023). The role of culture and identity in international relations. East African Journal of Education and Social Sciences, 4(1), 49–57.
Sarkar Munsi, U. (2024). Understanding categorization—the ‘tribal,’ the ‘folk,’ and the ‘classical’ dance forms. In Mapping Critical Dance Studies in India (pp. 85–135). Springer.
Shukri, S. (2024). Elite populism and Malay political leaders in Malaysia. Palgrave Macmillan.
Somananda, O., & Gohori, J. (2022). New strategies of conflict resolution in social work: A consideration on the Buddhist social work approach based on the Sutta Pitaka. Open Journal of Philosophy, 12(2), 199–213.
The Global Economy. (2022). Retrieved from https://www.theglobaleconomy.com
Thinyane, M., Bhat, K., Goldkind, L., & Cannanure, V. K. (2020). The messy complexities of democratic engagement and empowerment in participatory design: An illustrative case with a community-based organization. CoDesign, 16(1), 29–44.
Von Kriegstein, H. (2020). Well-being as harmony. In Explorations in Ethics (pp. 117–140). Springer.
Wan, C. D., & Sirat, M. (2018). The development of Malaysian higher education: Making sense of the nation-building agenda in the globalization era. Asian Education and Development Studies, 7(2), 144–156.
Wang, Y., He, X., Zhang, F., Zhang, X., Hu, X., & Xie, X. (2024). The influence of progeny–parents family travel on the well-being of the elderly in filial piety culture. PLOS ONE, 19(5), e0299565.
Yusoff, A. A., Lim Abdullah, M. R. T., Al-Amin Endut, M. N., Aziz, E. A., & Talib, A. T. (2018). Indicators for the socio-religious harmony index (SRHI) instrument for Malaysia: Findings of the FDM expert panel. Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities, 26, 55.
Zabelavičius, T. (2024). The features of communication in fostering trust in international business (Doctoral dissertation, Kauno technologijos universitetas).
Zainal, M. R., Kamri, K. A., Abd Hamid, A. H., Wildan, A. D., & Singh, C. K. D. (2022). The relationship between humanity values and religious tolerance for strengthening the social cohesion of urban communities in Malaysia: A conceptual framework. Journal of Techno-Social, 14(1), 56–65.
Zhang, W., Kam-Kwai, W., Xu, B., Ren, Y., Li, Y., Zhu, M., & Chen, W. (2024). CultiVerse: Towards cross-cultural understanding for paintings with large language models. arXiv Preprint arXiv:2405.00435.
Zhao, M. Y. (2025). Harmony: Towards a unified conceptual framework. Journal of Positive Psychology, 1–14.