Doctoral Dissertations
Date of Award
12-1998
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Major
Psychology
Major Professor
Howard Pollio
Committee Members
Jack Barlow, Ron Hopson, Jack Reese
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to describe the human experience of longing. The dialogical method of existential phenomenology was utilized to arrive at a description of the experience. Eleven participants were interviewed about their experience of longing. The interviews were transcribed and the resulting transcriptions were interpreted using a hermeneutic approach.
Longing was characterized as a dynamic state of consciousness punctuated by fluctuations in what was figurally noticed. Participants described their awareness as shifting among four interrelated themes: Reaching For, Desired Object, Barrier, and Bittersweet Feelings. The thematic structure of longing emerged against a ground described as a state of consciousness: “As Is/ As If.” Fluctuations in thematic experiences corresponded with alternations in "As Is" and "As If” modes of consciousness. The "As Is" mode concerns phenomena experienced as existing in the world; the "As If” mode concerns objects and experiences regarded as products of fantasy or imagination.
These findings suggest that longing is a complex phenomena characterized by paradoxical relationships among aspects of its own state. Such interrelationships express and instantiate transformational aims: In longing, individuals experience a desire to change ontological states - to become other than who or what they were at that moment. Present findings were considered in relation to a select number of philosophical and psychological theories. The theoretical descriptions of longing provided by Hegel, Sartre and Hillman closely accorded with the descriptions provided by participants in this study.
Recommended Citation
Ravicz, Li, "The experience of longing. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 1998.
https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/9342