The Choice of the Existential-phenomenological Approach

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THE INTRODUCTION TO THIS STUDY

Groucho Marx, with impeccable timing amplified by his characteristic body language and deadpan facial expression, says “Why, a four-year-old child could understand this report. Run out and find me a four-year-old child. I can’t make head or tail of it” (1933 Film Duck Soup). The same might be said of the experience of insight. It is so simple for a spontaneous, wide-eyed four-year-old child, for whom everything is a fresh discovery, a new insight. Yet a report of the phenomenon, particularly a PhD thesis, runs the risk of so complicating the experience that one literally “can’t make head or tail of it”. In this introduction, three aspects of the study will be covered; the motivation for the study, the nature and aim of the study, and finally an overview of the study.

The Motivation for the Study

The saving grace of this study, if there is one, is that it was not undertaken primarily to obtain a PhD. In my seventieth year, that is not exactly a requirement for a ‘retread’ priest and psychotherapist; though doubtless vanity plays its part. The most significant conscious motivation has been, and continues to be, my own personal experience of insights, or intuitions as some might describe them. I am not making any great claims for these experiences which usually occur while reflective or prayerful, sometimes ‘out of the blue’ or during conversation and particularly in a therapeutic setting. I am simply making the point that they motivate me to explore the experience of insight further. In fact some of these experiences were comparatively trivial, although always meaningful. One was probably life-saving; it occurred while going unconscious, completely buried in an avalanche of snow while skiing in the Alps; it certainly precipitated a profound sense that I owed my life to God, and over time led to my ordination as a priest. Another very different experience of insight led to accepting an invitation in 1979 to work in South Africa, which to my shame I had turned down just three weeks before; the result of that has also been life-changing. Because of these experiences I have come to value the meaning and significance of experiences of insight, and have long wanted to investigate the matter further in order to come to a deeper and more integrated understanding for myself and for the sake of others. The incredible pressures of Christian ministry and involvement in the struggle for justice made it impossible to pursue the privilege and luxury of academic work, until after the remarkable transition of power in South Africa, and the completion of the main work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Perhaps it is not such a bad thing to be a lot older, and hopefully a little wiser, before beginning a PhD.

The Nature and Aim of the Study

The continuing lack of a clear mechanism for insight, combined with the legacy of an historical suspicion that the phenomenon of insight is somehow supernatural, has both challenged and inhibited researchers in exploring this most mysterious, fascinating and important human experience. The fundamental difference in the attempt to understand, is between qualitative and quantitative approaches to insight. These two approaches need not necessarily be in competition with one another but may be complementary to one another. This study is a qualitative one for at least three reasons: (1) It has to be acknowledged that a qualitative study is the researcher’s particular and personal interest. I started my working life as a research assistant in electronics, specialising in autopilots in the aircraft industry, which involved a fair amount of number crunching and hard technical science.
I have since then, as a priest and psychotherapist, become increasingly interested in human beings and increasingly convinced about the value and significance of human science, in the quest for meaning and understanding, rather than exact measurement. I value exact measurement where it is possible and cherish the ideal of the complementary role of qualitative and quantitive studies, yet it is also sadly true that what is of least significance in human terms is often what is most easily measured and quantified. (2) Insight itself, according to Csikszentmihalyi and Sawyer (1995:329) is what distinguishes “mental processes that are routine, shallow, and trivial on the one hand, and those that are unusual, profound, and important on the other”. So it is vital that the methodology employed enables understanding not just of trivial experiences, as is so often the case with the puzzle- problem approach of cognitive psychology, but is also able to illuminate profound examples, as in the case study approach of great minds experiencing insight and in the approach of spirituality to insight. (3) Humanistic psychology, in which the fullest range of human potential has become open to investigation, involves the call to experience a different, more fully conscious and more empathically insightful way of being-in-the-world, rather than simply a different way of thinking.
This implies transcending the limits of the ego-self, the ordering centre of the conscious personality, which at the current stage of research can only be explored by way of description and discovery of meaning and intentionality, rather than by measurement or explanation. So, it is at least arguable, that at this point in terms of research into insight generally, there is a particular value in a qualitative exploration and description of a deeper and broader understanding of the experience of insight to open the subject further, both for its own sake and also as a way of opening up aspects and structures of the experience for other complementary quantitative studies, particularly cognitive and neurological ones. The third chapter begins with three predisposing factors in choosing the existential- phenomenological methodology. Then five interlocking reasons, related to different aspects of the existential-phenomenological approach itself, are adduced which cumulatively indicate this methodology as the most appropriate for this particular study of the experience of insight. This is followed by a brief philosophical background of existential phenomenology and its adaption pioneered by Giorgi for its use in pursuit of psychological understanding. The focus then moves to the application of the methodology in the research process. An essential part of the preparation for the research was a self-reflective search of my own experiences of insight. This was undertaken in order to sensitize me to the nature of the research, to help clarify my central research question for the interviews of the research participants, and to attempt to identify my own preconceived notions or biases with a view to ‘bracketing’ them. It proved to be a profoundly moving and revealing experience exceeding my expectations. The development of the ethical protocol and informed consent form are then described, with copies in Appendix D.

TABLE OF CONTENTS :

  • CHAPTER 1 THE INTRODUCTION TO THIS STUDY
    • 1.1 The Motivation for the Study
    • 1.2 The Nature and Aim of the Study
    • 1.3 An Overview of the Study
  • CHAPTER 2 THE LITERATURE REVIEW
    • 2.1 Introduction and Approach
    • 2.2 Some Definitions of Insight
      • 2.2.1 Some Definitions of Intuition
      • 2.2.2 Exploring the Relationship between Intuition and Insight
      • 2.2.3 Some Phenomenological Characteristics of Insight
    • 2.3 The Holistic Approach of Gestalt Psychology to Insight
      • 2.3.1 Five Inter-Related Views of Insight in Gestalt Psychology
      • 2.3.2 An Evaluation of the Contribution of the Approach of Gestalt Psychology
    • 2.4 The Existential Approach of Phenomenological Psychology to Insight
      • 2.4.3 Insight as Impact and as Interpreting
      • 2.4.4 Insight as Feeling
      • 2.4.5 Disturbed Disposition: Unconscious Behaviour
    • 2.4.6 An Evaluation of the Contribution of the Approach of Existential- Phenomenology
    • 2.5 The Puzzle-Problem Approach of Cognitive Psychology to Insight
      • 2.5.1 Three Alternative Perspectives on Insight
      • 2.5.2 The Mental Preparation for Insight
      • 2.5.3 The Incubation Phase of Insight
      • 2.5.4 The Process in the Moment of Insight
      • 2.5.4.1 The Cognitive Components of Insight
      • 2.5.4.2 The Affective Components of Insight
    • 2.5.4.3 The Behavioural Components of Insight
    • 2.5.4.4 A Merger of the Cognitive and Affective Components of Insight
    • 2.5.5 The Verification of Insight
    • 2.5.6 Some Questions about “Insight Problems” in the Laboratory
    • 2.5.7 An Evaluation of the Contribution of the Approach of Cognitive Psychology
    • 2.6 The Creative Approach of Genius, Dreams, Design and Invention to Insight
      • 2.6.1 An Overview of the Literature on Creativity
      • 2.6.2 A Darwinian Chance Configuration Theory of Creative Genius
      • 2.6.3 Unconscious Chance or Conscious Logic in Insight?
      • 2.6.4 Insight and Creativity in Dreams
      • 2.6.5 Insight and Creativity in Design
      • 2.6.6 Constraints on Thinking in Insight and Invention
      • 2.6.7 Serendipity, Profusion and Profligacy in Creativity and Invention
      • 2.6.8 An Evaluation of the Contribution of the Creative Approach
    • 2.7 The Representational Approach of Models of Insight
      • 2.7.1 Intrapsychic and Interpersonal Models of Insight
      • 2.7.2 Evolutionary, Ecological and Inter-actionist Models of Insight
      • 2.7.3 An Interpsychic Model of Insight
      • 2.7.4 Insight in Presented Problem Solving and Discovered Problem Finding
        • 2.7.5 An Evolving Systems Model of Insight
        • 2.7.6 An Evaluation of the Contribution of the Approach of Models of Insight
    • 2.8 The Case–Study Approach of Great Minds Experiencing Insight
    • 2.8.1 The Approach to Poincaré’s Experience of Insight
    • 2.8.2 Thought, Purpose and Affect in Darwin’s Malthusian Moment of Insight
    • 2.8.3 An Evaluation of the Contribution of the Great Minds Approach
    • 2.9 The Metaphors-Of-Mind Approach to Insight
      • 2.9.1 Insight in Minds and Genes
      • 2.9.2 An Investment Metaphor for Insight
      • 2.9.3 The Vision Metaphor for Insight
      • 2.9.4 The Significance of the Quality of Vision
      • 2.9.5 The Problem Space Metaphor for Insight
      • 2.9.6 Verbalisation and Insight
      • 2.9.7 The Significance of Metaphors-of-Mind in the Current Research of Insight
      • 2.9.8 An Evaluation of the Contribution of the Metaphors-of-Mind Approach
    • 2.10 The Inter-Subjective Approach of Psychotherapy to Insight
      • 2.10.1 The Significance of Insight in Psychotherapy
      • 2.10.2 Three Assumptions Underlying this Approach
      • 2.10.3 Insight of the Therapist
      • 2.10.3.1 Insight as Analytic Intuition
      • 2.10.3.2 Insight as Interpreting Psychoanalytic Theory
      • 2.10.3.3 Therapist Characteristics and Techniques
    • 2.10.4 Insight of the Client
      • 2.10.4.1 Self-Insight in Quantitative Research
      • 2.10.4.2 Self-Insight in Qualitative Research
      • 2.10.5 The Evolving Insight in the Inter-Subjective Psychotherapeutic Relationship
        • 2.10.5.1 The Unique Interpretation of Interpretations in Insight
        • 2.10.5.2 The Role of Implicit Knowledge and Intuitive Thought in Insight
        • 2.10.5.3 Associations as Representatives of the Unthought Known in Insight
    • 2.10.6 A Reflection on the Difference between Insight as Interpreting Psychoanalytic Theory and Insight as Analytic Intuition
    • 2.10.7 An Evaluation of the Contribution of the Inter-Subjective Approach of Psychotherapy
    • 2.11 The Body-Mind-Spirit Continuum Approach of Spirituality to Insight
      • 2.11.1 The Phenomenon of Man: The Origins and Consummation of Spirituality
      • 2.11.2 The Origins of Spirituality in Africa
      • 2.11.3 A Distinction between Spirituality and Religion
      • 2.11.4 The Body-Mind-Spirit Continuum
      • 2.11.5 Trans-cultural and Ecumenical Spirituality
      • 2.11.6 Four Different Experiences of Insight in Spirituality
      • 2.11.6.1 An Individual’s Experience
      • 2.11.6.2 Dialoguing for Spiritual Insight
      • 2.11.6.3 A Theologian’s Experience of Insight through Music
      • 2.11.6.4 Ubuntu: A Crucial Insight in African Spirituality
      • 2.11.7 An Evaluation of the Contribution of the Mind-Body-Spirit Approach of Spirituality
    • 2.12 A Summary of the Significance of Each Approach for this Study
      • 2.12.1 The Significance of the Holistic Approach of Gestalt Psychology
      • 2.12.2 The Significance of the Existential Approach of Phenomenology
      • 2.12.3 The Significance of the Puzzle-Problem Approach of Cognitive Psychology
      • 2.12.4 The Significance of the Creative Approach of Genius, Dreams, Design and Invention
      • 2.12.5 The Significance of the Representational Approach of Models
      • 2.12.6 The Significance of the Approach of Great Minds and Dedicated Lives
      • 2.12.7 The Significance of the Approach of Metaphors-of-Mind
      • 2.12.8 The Significance of the Inter-subjective Approach of Psychotherapy
      • 2.12.9 The Significance of the Body-Mind-Spirit Continuum Approach of Spirituality
    • 2.13 Conclusion
  • CHAPTER 3 THE METHODOLOGY
    • 3.1 Introduction and Orientation
    • 3.3 The Choice of the Existential-phenomenological Approach
    • 3.4 A Brief Philosophical Background to Existential Phenomenology
      • 3.4.1 Existentialism
      • 3.4.2 Phenomenology
      • 3.4.3 Existential Phenomenology
    • 3.5 The Adaptation of Existential Phenomenology for Psychology
    • 3.6 The Research Process
    • 3.6.1 The Literature Review
    • 3.6.2 A Self-reflective Search
    • 3.6.3 The Central Research Question for the Interview
      • 3.6.4 The Ethical Protocol and Informed Consent Form
      • 3.6.5 Selection of Research Participants
      • 3.6.6 A Preliminary and Exploratory Study
    • 3.7 The Interview
      • 3.7.1 Theoretical Clarification of the Interview
      • 3.7.2 Characteristics of a Qualitative Interview
      • 3.7.3 Methodological Implications of the Interview
      • 3.7.4 Practical Matters Relating to the Interview
    • 3.8 The Procedure for the Analysis of the Protocols
    • 3.8.1 Obtaining a Sense of Each Protocol as a Whole Experience (Step 1)
    • 3.8.2 Discerning and Numbering Meaning Units (Step 2)
    • 3.8.3 Stating the Meaning That Dominates Each Meaning Unit (Step 3)
    • 3.8.4 Interrogating Each Transformed Meaning Unit (Step 4)
    • 3.8.5 Synthesising These Interrogated Transformed Meaning Units into a
    • Descriptive Situated Structural Statement (Step 5)
    • 3.8.6 Developing a General Structural Statement (Step 6)
    • 3.8.7 Elucidating a Comprehensive Structural Statement (Step 7)
  • CHAPTER 4 THE PRELIMINARY STUDY
    • 4.1 Introduction
    • 4.2 The Purpose of the Preliminary Study
    • 4.3 The Research Participant
    • 4.4 The Selection of one Part of the Interview for Study
    • 4.5 The Context
    • 4.6 The Verbal Text
    • 4.7 The Situated Structural Statement
    • 4.8 The Visual Text
  • CHAPTER 5 THE INVESTIGATION AND FINDINGS
    • 5.1 Introduction
    • 5.2 The Research Participants
    • 5.3 The Investigation of Desmond’s Experience of Insight
    • 5.4 The Situated Structure of Desmond’s Experience of Insight
    • 5.5 The Investigation of Debbie’s Experience of Insight
    • 5.6 The Situated Structure of Debbie’s Experience of Insight
    • 5.7 The Investigation of Roger’s Experience of Insight
    • 5.8 The Situated Structure of Roger’s Experience of Insight
      • 5.8.1 The initial stages and precursors of insight
      • 5.8.2 The dynamic core of Roger’s sudden experience of insight
      • 5.8.3 Roger’s own reflections on his experience of insight
    • 5.9 The General Structure of the Experience of Insight
  • CHAPTER 6 THE DISCUSSION OF THE FINDINGS
    • 6.0 Introduction
    • 6.1 Finding 1. The Unresolved Issue
    • 6.2 Finding 2. The Openness Required
    • 6.3 Finding 3. The Unresolved Issue ‘Confronted’ and ‘Contained’
    • 6.4 Finding 4. The ‘Impact’: A Passive Experience
    • 6.5 Finding 5. The ‘Interpretation’: A Reflexive Experience
    • 6.6 Finding 6. The “Aha!” Experience
    • 6.7 Finding 7. The Changed Perspective
    • 6.8 Finding 8. The Self-Authenticating Experience
    • 6.9 Finding 9. The New Understanding
    • 6.10 Finding 10. The Recurring Quality
  • CHAPTER 7 THE DISTINCTIVE VALUE OF THIS RESEARCH
    • 7.1 The Value of the Structure of the Experience of Insight
    • 7.2 The Value of the Selection of Research Participants
    • 7.3 The Value of ‘Disposition of Openness’ for Insight
    • 7.4 The Value of ‘Confronting and Containing’ for Insight
    • 7.5 The Value of the ‘Moment of Impact’
    • 7.6 The Value of the ‘Moment of Interpreting’
    • 7.7 The Value of Insight as ‘Key to a Self-Actualising Process’
    • 7.8 The Value of the Quality of ‘Understanding’ in Insight
    • 7.9 The Value of Insight as ‘Self-Authenticating’
    • 7.10 The Value of the ‘Recurrence’ of Insight
    • 7.11 The Value of the ‘Experience’ and the ‘Fruit of Insight’
    • 7.12 The Value of the Experience of Insight in the ‘Unfolding Context’ of Life
    • 7.13 The Value of the ‘Relationship Between Sight and Insight’
    • 7.14 The Value of the ‘Relationship Between Foresight and Insight’
    • 7.15 The Value of the ‘Relationship Between Humour and Insight’
    • 7.16 The Value of the ‘Philosophical Understanding of Intuition for Insight’
    • 7.17 The Value of ‘Relating the Qualitative Research to Neurobiological Research’
    • 7.18 The Value of the ‘Researcher’s Own Learning Experience’
    • 7.19 The Limits, Shortcomings and Omissions in this Research Requiring Further Investigation
    • 7.20 A Concluding Overview of this Study
    • REFERENCES
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