The newly developed psychology of working theory in the US has been tested in some countries in Europe and is receiving growing attention from career investigators. However, no study has examined the theory in low-income countries or developing economies such as Sub-Saharan Africa, where decent work is still uninvestigated. Thus, our purpose in this paper was to provide a validation of the French versions of the Decent Work Scale (DWS) and the Job Satisfaction Scale (JSS) and test some psychology of working theory basic assumptions in a Sub-Saharan African context. For this reason, a Togolese sample of 334 primary school teachers responded to a questionnaire that included the DWS, the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), the JSS, and a single measure of work meaning. Results indicated that the DWS fitted well the Togolese data as well as the adapted form of the JSS, suggesting that both measures are perfectly usable in this context. Our findings mostly supported theoretical assumptions in Togo. As expected some personal and socio economic variables (i.e., age, job insecurity, seniority, social status) and pay satisfaction were related to subscales of decent work. Overall decent work predicted the outcome variables of job satisfaction and life satisfaction. Furthermore, overall decent work mediated only between pay satisfaction and life satisfaction. Nevertheless, possible specific points to be considered for the theory’s adaptation in Africa are discussed.
