Phenomenology and temporality in psychopathology: Calibrating qualitative phenomenological methods according to the timescale of subjective reports
Aleš Oblak, Dominik Milotić, Borut Škodlar, Jurij Bon
June 19, 2023 preprint DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/bc9av (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Qualitative |
|---|---|
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Key points | Argues that contemporary phenomenological methods overemphasize momentary experience and proposes that lived experience at elementary, integrative, and narrative timescales is nested, with temporally extended experience occurring at the narrative level of description (experiential reports and sense-making). Suggests this nesting principle can organize qualitative phenomenological data and that psychopathology research should study temporally extended experience. |
Abstract
Many methodologies for systematic study of lived experience have been proposed. Methods are typically calibrated in terms of the depth and complexity of data collection and whether they consider reports on pre-reflective experience admissible. Even though it has been shown that lived experience occurs at different timescales (elementary, integrative, narrative), contemporary methods tend to focus on momentary experience. We trace the focus on momentary experience to the current cultural milieu and attitudes in the history of psychology. We point out the need for studying temporally extended experiences in the field of psychopathology. We propose that lied experience at different timescales are nested within each other and that this principle can be used to organize data collected with qualitative phenomenological methods. We suggest that temporally extended experience occur at the narrative level of description (i.e., they consist of experiential reports and sense-making).