From business-driven society to individual psychological imagination: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis in Greek higher education students.

Abstract

Cognitive, emotional, and social development, and thus mental health and quality of life, are all fall under the umbrella of academic achievement, since good standards of academically achieving forecasts good standards of adult life. However, recent global and local literature highlights gaps in Greek educational policy and signifies that Greek students during primary and secondary education may be neglected with regards to cognitive milestones and emotional needs, surrounded by social stereotypes. As a result, Greek students enter in higher education as adults yet, as new-borns towards cognitive and emotional awareness. This study aims to address cognitive and emotional neglection by capturing the experience of 6 higher education Greek adult students in terms of interpreting their own beliefs of how the Greek policy neglect them. Semi-structure interviews were used, analysed through the prism of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis with a phenomenological epistemological approach. One superordinate theme “Influences towards the negative variance of mental health” created to express participants’ sense making of how society influences them, whereas it’s two subthemes “cognitive atrophy” and “emotional reflection” attempted to highlight deficits in participants cognitive dimension as well as emotional needs that must be listened. Fear, anxiety, low tolerance in social criticism, self-doubt, and projection defence mechanism are recorded as socially stimulated materials. Cognitive deficits and a hypothetical explanatory factor of procrastination are discussed. In terms of participants’ emotional dimension, individuals’ psychological imagination may be a potential tool for therapy and education.