A PHENOMENOLOGICAL CONTENT ANALYSIS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL FLEXIBILITY IN PRIVATE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS OF LAHORE

Abstract

Psychological flexibility is an emerging phenomenon worldwide. It has been shown that an adequate level of psychological flexibility supports with adjustment of an individual in a present situation. In European cultures, psychological flexibility has been associated with successful outcomes and adaptive behaviors for stress management. The phenomenology of a variable differs in different populations; the scarcity of an indigenous psychological flexibility scale for university students in Pakistani society drew this research study towards an exploration of the variable among Pakistani students. The purpose of the study is to comprehend the perceptions of university students about psychological flexibility. The experiences were collected in the form of written transcripts from 73 university students from two private universities in Lahore. Participants were recruited through convenience sampling. A qualitative summative content analysis approach was used to interpret the results of the data. A research question was formulated for data collection and codes were found using an operationalized definition from the literature review. Four major themes were identified through the data analysis of the university students' phenomenology exploration about psychological flexibility. The key findings that were highlighted through the content analysis were discussed based on the pre-determined codes in the operational definition of psychological flexibility. The study provides direction to future researchers while working on the level of psychological flexibility in clinical and non-clinical practices.