A Phenomenological Analysis of Anxiety as Experienced in Social Situations

Abstract

In this study, three individual descriptions of anxiety as experienced in social situations were analyzed so that a general structure representing social anxiety could potentially be obtained. The descriptions analyzed produced results that not only overlapped with already existing literature from various perspectives on the topic, but also highlighted certain key factors that have largely been unaccounted for by prior studies. By utilizing the Descriptive Phenomenological Method in Psychology (Giorgi, 2009), these factors were brought to light in more depth and clarity than if the same phenomenon were studied using a third person approach. Specifically, six constituents of social anxiety were revealed; including factors related to inter-subjectivity, the relationship between fear and anxiety, and the relationship between desire and self-lack.

Phenomenological psychology and qualitative research

“…The latter contains paradigmatic empirical studies on learning (by Giorgi) criminal victimization (by Wertz), thinking while playing chess (by Aanstoos), and self-deception (by Fischer). A brief representative sampling that illustrates the range of recent research outputs is as follows: Living through positive experiences of psychotherapy (Giorgi & Gallegos, 2005 ), Lived persistent meaning of early emotional memories (Englander, 2007 ), Art appreciation (Roald, 2008 ), Pivotal moments in therapy (B. Giorgi, 2011 ), Postpartum depression (Røseth et al, 2011 ), Autism and culture (Desai et al, 2012 ), Leading a police vehicle pursuit (Broomé, 2013 ), Social anxiety (Beck, 2013 ), The suffering of older adults (Morrissey, 2015 ), The beginning of an extra-marital affair (Zapien, 2016 ), Mental health and the workplace (Tangvald-Pedersen and Bongaardt, 2017 ) Disturbances in maternal affection (Røseth and Bongaardt, 2019 ) Cross cultural learning (DeRobertis, 2017 , 2020 ), and Black men’s experience of police harassment (Vogel, 2021 ).…”

Phenomenological psychological interviewing.

“…Zahavi and Martiny (2019, p. 4) carry on, In a subsequent application of Giorgi’s method, we find Beck explaining that the interviewed participants were asked to offer descriptions of their experiences, and that follow up questions were only used “when certain parts of the description seemed to be lacking clarity or depth” (Beck, 2013, pp. 188–189).Presentations like these suggest that the interviewer is assigned a rather passive role in the process. The sentence quoted from Beck is almost a standardized phrase for a method section of any phenomenological psychological qualitative study and meant as a way of stating that the researcher is interested in how the phenomenon is contextualized from the lived experience of the research participant.…”

The practice of phenomenology: The case of Max van Manen

“…Typically, the opening question will be quite broad and non‐directive, and simply be a question that encourages the interviewee to start describing his or her experiences. If further questions are at all to be asked, then typically only to encourage the interviewee to keep talking (Beck, : 188–189).…”