Existential wellbeing in the narratives of generation Y en Z
This PhD project explores the connections between existential meaning, wellbeing, and education. By analyzing personal stories on meaning and wellbeing from adolescents and young professionals, Marije Verkerk tries to understand how they create narratives about their experiences. She is also interested in what these meaningful narratives can tell us about meaningful education.
Objective
The aim is to contribute to the understanding of the increase in mental health problems among Dutch youth. This phenomenon is usually studied through an psychological or sociological lens; this study adds a humanities-inspired perspective by looking at it as a problem with existential meaning. Through the analysis of subjective narratives, we explore the context in which these respondents make sense of their experiences.
Education plays a formative role in the lives of adolescents and young adults. In the minor program Philosophy. World Religions. Spirituality questions of meaning are an explicit part of the curriculum. By engaging current and former students of this program in the study, we try to explore how attention to existential meaning in education interplays with wellbeing.
Results
- A conceptualization of ‘existential wellbeing’ to integrate insights from social sciences and humanities around wellbeing en existential meaning;
- Help fellow researchers, the respondents, and the public better understand the connection between wellbeing and meaning through the analysis of life stories;
- Provide guidelines, in the form of critical questions and good practices, for professionals in education who want to incorporate existential meaning in their work.
Duration
01 September 2021 - 31 July 2025
Approach
This qualitative research project utilizes different methodologies. For the conceptualization of existential wellbeing, we study scientific literature from various disciplines. The empirical data is collected through in-depth interviews and feedback sessions. The analysis of the life stories follows the principles of ‘narrative inquiry’.
Impact on Education
The research project aims to impact the field of education in two ways. Firstly, it helps the sector as a whole to reflect on questions about the values and goals of education, and if and how attention to student’s wellbeing takes place in this domain. Secondly, the project is of interest for professionals concerned with the formative and value-focussed side of education, where questions of meaning are part of the curriculum.
HU researcher involved in the research
Collaboration with knowledge partners
This research is partly funded by the Stichting Woudschoten.
