An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of the Lived Experiences of Ecological Grief among Young Filipinos

An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of the Lived Experiences of Ecological Grief among Young Filipinos

by Eileen F Tupaz, PhD in Clinical Psychology Candidate

ABSTRACT
Scholars have generated a significant body of research on ecological emotions with much of the impetus in recent years driven by the escalating impacts of climate change. Much of this research has been driven by the recognition that how people feel about the environmental and climate crises affects their well-being and their capacity for engagement. Among these ecological emotions, in turn, grief is crucial because environmental decline invariably entails some kind of loss—and grief is a natural and universal response to loss. This study investigates the ecological grief experiences of young Filipinos—a population that embodies intersecting lines of fragility given that they are young people living in a low-income country that is climatically and ecologically at high risk. I conducted online semi-structured interviews with six young Filipino environmentalists and analyzed their interview transcripts using interpretative phenomenological analysis. My analysis revealed the following: that anger, anxiety, and guilt are prominent emotions in my participants’ lived experiences of ecological grief; that having a community is paramount in coming to terms with ecological grief and sustaining environmental action; and that the Filipino sense of a shared self or kapwa can account for my participants’ relational experiences of ecological loss and implicit emphasis on solidarity-based forms of engagement. The study highlights useful strategies and perspectives that can be deployed by those who wish to protect and promote the well-being of our planet and its human and non-human peoples.

12:00nn, Tuesday, October 22, 2024

Adviser:

Mira Alexis P Ofreneo, PhD

Panelists:

Mendiola T Calleja, PhD

Karina Therese G Fernandez, PhD

Lota A Teh, PhD

John Jamir Benzon R Aruta, PhD 

Key Words: ecological grief, ecological loss, young Filipino environmentalists