SÅRBARHET, MOD OCH INBJUDAN
– Unga vuxnas strävan efter välbefinnande i entillvaro präglad av existentiell oro
Maria Lundvall
Akademisk avhandling
som för avläggande av filosofie doktorsexamen vid Högskolan i Borås försvaras vid offentlig disputation, fredagen den 15 januari 2021, kl. 9:30
i hörsalen M404, Sandgärdet, Högskolan i Borås. Disputationen sänds via videolänk, för information se kalendariet på hb.se/forskning.
Fakultetsopponent: Professor Catrine Kostenius Institutionen för hälsovetenskap
Vulnerability,
Courage and Invitation
– Young adult’s endeavor to well-being in an existence profoundly marked by existential concerns
Maria Lundvall
University of Borås Sweden
ABSTRACT
Aim: The overall aim of the thesis is to examine how young adults experiences life living with
existential concerns and how well-being is enabled when living with existential concerns.
Approach and method: A reflective lifeworld research (RLR) approach guided this dissertation’s
methodological approach. Lifeworld interviews were performed in all four studies and analyses were conducted according to RLR principles: bridled attitude, openness, and compliance to the studies’ different phenomena. Study I describes healthcare professionals’ experiences of conversations with young adults experiencing existential concerns. Eleven lifeworld interviews (seven individual-, two pair- and two group interviews) were conducted with seventeen healthcare professionals from various fields. Data was analysed via phenomenological-based thematic meaning analysis. Studies II and III describes young adults’ experiences of existential concerns from the perspective of young women and young men; nine women (study II) and eight men (study III) participated. All interviews were individual lifeworld interviews. Study IV describes young adults’ experiences of enabling wellbeing in a life with existential concerns. Seventeen adults (same participants as study II and III) participated and all interviews were individual lifeworld interviews. Studies II, III, and IV were analysed by phenomenological analysis.
Main results: The results show that the lives of young adults with existential concerns are significantly
affected by these concerns. Existential concerns awaken vulnerability, characterized by feeling lost in life and living near a bottomless darkness in which life may seem unbearable. In such a vulnerable existence, there is a desire to find a place to rest, thereby enabling wellbeing. For young adults, vulnerability means having the courage to expose their life situation and innermost thoughts. In encounters with others, there is a risk of being condemned, neglected, identified as weak, or rejected. In a caring relationship between young adults and healthcare professionals, both young adults and healthcare professionals’ vulnerability to life’s fragility evokes. Courage means daring to expose one’s vulnerability and sharing one’s life story. Courage also means that healthcare professionals dare to remain in the caring relationship and listen to the young adult’s life story, no matter how dire or dark it seems. In order for the life story to stand out, a mutual invitation between young adults and healthcare professionals is required. The results show that the prerequisites for a caring relationship involve mutual vulnerability, courage, and invitation to reflect on life’s challenges. In a genuinely caring relationship, through existential confirmation, entails finding a place to rest that enables wellbeing when experiencing existential concerns as a young adult.
Conclusion: The thesis contributes knowledge relating to how young adults experience life with
existential concerns and, in turn, how wellbeing is enabled through the experiences of young adults and healthcare professionals. Existential concern is a complex phenomenon, involving vulnerability, courage, and the invitation to enable wellbeing. From a lifeworld theoretical perspective, we see an openness to existential dimensions in young adults’ life stories, providing guidance to caregivers in enabling young adults to find a place where they can be vulnerable and have an opportunity to recover.
Keywords: Young adults, healthcare professionals, existential concerns, reflective lifeworld research,
caring sciences, caring relationship, phenomenology This dissertation is available at:
ISBN 978-91-89271-07-4 (printed) ISBN 978-91-89271-08-1 (pdf)
ISSN 0280-381X (writings from University of Borås, nr. 115) Electronic version: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hb:diva-24028
