Taiwanese married women's lived experience of zen meditation
2014-02
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Taiwanese married women's lived experience of zen meditation
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2014-02
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Due to the impact of Confucianism on Taiwanese society, Taiwanese married women play multiple family roles including being a daughter-in-law, wife, mother, and working woman. Having to play multiple roles usually brings Taiwanese married women burdens and stress. It is reported that Zen meditation improves people's physical and mental wellbeing. Zen meditation may be a good means for professionals to help this group of women to improve the quality of their lives. No study has emerged concerning this subject. It is useful to understand the phenomenon of individuals with similar backgrounds who practice Zen meditation in their lives. Based on the research interest, a descriptive phenomenological research design was employed. The research question was: What is it like for Taiwanese married women having roles as a daughter-in-law, wife, mother, and working woman to practice Zen meditation in their lives? Open-ended unstructured phenomenological interviews were conducted with five participants who met the research criteria and were able to provide rich descriptions of their experiences. Recorded interviews were transcribed and analyzed using a descriptive phenomenological method that was influenced by two approaches as seen in the work of Amedeo Giorgi, and Karin Dahlberg, Helena Dahlberg, and Maria Nyström. Text analysis revealed a single structure consisting of six constituents describing the essence of the phenomenon. The constituents that emerged were: (1) self-transformation and personal growth; (2) opening the heart to the mother-in-law; (3) improving relationship with the husband; (4) becoming a warm and respectful mother; (5) increasing work efficiency and helping people at work; (6) Zen as a way of life. The findings of this study suggested four factors to be noted when Zen meditation is used as a means to help individuals with similar backgrounds improve the quality of their lives. In addition, the problems of Chinese parenting and the application of Zen to these problems were discussed. Reflections on using descriptive phenomenology as research methodology were also discussed. Finally, suggestions for future research in the field of family education were provided at the end of this research report.
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University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. February, 2014. Major: Education, Curriculum and Instruction. Advisor: Dr. Yvonne S. Gentzler. 1 computer file (PDF); v, 140 pages, appendices A-F.
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Kang, Hsin-Ru. (2014). Taiwanese married women's lived experience of zen meditation. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/162977.
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