| Abstract [eng] |
The thesis presents the research on the experience of aliveness, planned on the basis of the theory of existential-phenomenological psychology and the conception of intersubjectivity. The critical analysis of literature has highlighted several inconsistencies within the concept of the experience of aliveness. The aims of the research were the following: a) to describe the phenomenological structure of the experience of aliveness; b) to reveal the regularities of the attribution of meanings to the experience of aliveness. With reference to the conception of intersubjectivity, six people aged 35-63 were selected to participate in the research, i.e. business managers and patients treated for depression. The unstructured interview method was employed and all research participants were asked the same initial question, “What does it mean for you to feel alive?” The research results were analysed with the help of the Interpretative Phenomenological analysis (IPA) method (according to Jonathan A. Smith). On the basis of the research findings, the following phenomenological definition has been developed: the experience of aliveness is a subjective status of emotional involvement of varying intensity, the main sources of which are the level of physical experience and interpersonal relations. The research has revealed that individual differences of the experience of aliveness are related to the following factors: emotional tension, the level of physical experience, interpersonal relations, and the experience of temporality as well as the ability to render meaning to personal experience. While generalising the research results, it can be concluded that the experience of aliveness is felt during the search for optimal physical, social, psychological and spiritual stimulation. |
