Duda (Doubt) and Psychological Wellbeing:
Differentiating Psychologically Healthful
and Non-healthful Doubting
Divine Love A. Salvador
Department of Psychology
University of the Philippines — Diliman
PAP Conference 2016
Email. [email protected]
Overview
✤ construct definition:
✤ duda (doubt)
✤ psychological wellbeing
✤ method details
✤ psychologically healthful v. non-healthful doubting
✤ hypotheses-testing
Construct: Duda
✤ Duda — interim conceptual definition:
✤ Duda is the intra-personal experience of felt contradiction, especially
as it relates to profound personal issues that make up the
nagdududa’s ultimate concerns.
✤ Pagdududa is the psychological experience of being in this
dissonant state:
✤ characterized by ostensibly competing cognitions and emotions;
✤ the nagdududa is driven to resolve his or her pagdududa.
Construct: Psychological Wellbeing
✤ a construct indicating eudaemonic wellbeing
✤ Ryff and colleagues’ definition:
✤ “… a breadth of wellness that includes positive
evaluations of oneself and one’s past life, a sense of
continued growth and development as a person, the
belief that one’s life is purposeful and meaningful, the
possession of quality relations with others, the
capacity to manage effectively one’s life and
surrounding world, and a sense of self-determination”
(p.720, Ryff & Keyes, 1995).
✤ emphasizes optimum functioning and psychological health
✤ has six (6) dimensions:
✤ personal growth
✤ purpose in life
✤ positive relations
✤ self-acceptance
✤ environmental mastery
✤ autonomy
✤ measurable through the Ryff PWB Scale
Method
✤ mixed methods
✤ qualitative insight —> stories / narratives through
pakikipagkuwentuhan (in-depth interview)
✤ quantitative data —> PWB Scale scores; assessment
perspective, i.e. intra-sample comparison of high/low PWB
✤ N = 16
✤ N = 14 for final data analysis
✤ data analysis: sources of information about
✤ pagdududa —> analysis of participant narratives
✤ PWB
✤ analysis of pax narratives, viz
✤ PWB scale scores
✤ levels of analysis / comparisons
✤ intra-individual: narrative v. PWB score
✤ intra-sample: narratives of higher v. lower PWB
An Illustration of Pagdududa
Ang Duda ni Eman
sa Kanyang Asawa
“...Pero ako talaga yung duda ko, hindi na maalis... Kasi hindi ko
na maramdaman na mahal niya ko eh! Mahal niya ko pag nandyan
siya, oo! Paano pag wala? Sanay na siya makipagplastikan. Dahil
yung mga kasama niya, super tupperware. Kaya nararamdaman ko
yung minsan pinaplastic niya ko. Pag nandyan, okay. Lambingan
kami oo pero gusto ko maramdaman pag malayo na siya eh.
... Yung ‘I love you’ pag tinext ko siya ng ‘I love you,’ walang reply
yun na ‘I love you’ back... parang inuuto na lang ako eh. Para hindi
ako mag-isip. Para iparamdam niya sa kin na mahal niya ko. Pero
lahat ginagawa ko sa kanya, hangga’t maari sa bahay. Pag umuuwi
siya, hangga’t maari ayokong gumagalaw siya. Kahit pagod ako,
tatrabahuhin ko eh.
… Eh sa akin naman gusto ko lang naman maramdaman na kahit
na malayo siya… wala siyang ibang pinagkakabisihan, na may time
siya para sakin... Na maramdaman ko na I love you, ganun... at least
maramdaman ko na kahit na malayo siya… wala siyang ibang
pinagkakabisihan kundi ako, o pamilya ko. Eh hindi eh...
An Illustration of Pagdududa
Ang Duda ni Janine sa
Presensiya ng Diyos
“I grew up in the church. I came from a dysfunctional family. I have a physically present
dad but he was very absent. Absent siya sa buhay ko and very abusive… So I grew up feeling
neglected. Emotionally, we weren’t provided much. And my family, our family is a poor family.
So the church became a place of refuge for me. That’s the church—yan yung place for family,
for friendship. Yung authority sa church, the pastor, yung asawa ng pastor. So I was seven
when I said ‘I’m going to marry a pastor someday.’ Sabi ko siguro masayang magkaroon ng
asawang pastor.
…And then I met my husband there. We were married. So I entered marriage with this
idealized picture of what is a pastor, what is a pastor’s wife, yung picture ng family ng isang
pastor.
In the beginning, it was good. But then, my husband became so busy with ministry. He
was a very kind, very good husband, very loving husband—wala akong masabi sa kanya
except na yung addiction niya ministry. So when it comes to family, wala nang natitira. The
story naulit… Ang belief ko noon, you’re supposed to suffer. That’s part of being Christian…
Pero even if sinasabi ko yon, and sinasabi namin pareho, nafifeel ko yung stress sa family
namin. On all fronts, merong stress.
Kaming mag-asawa? Nag-uusap kami about the church, the ministry, the weather,
everything. Except that we don’t talk about our hearts. So distant yung aming relationship...
Very superficial… I tell him kung ano yung nangyayari. Pero yung role ko to support him.
Parang ako yung backdrop. Kahit saan, sige. Kahit ano, sige. Kasi siya yung pastor, siya
yung leader.
So doon nag-start yung… I began to see na ‘Teka muna, hindi naman ito yung marriage na
hinanap ko, a. Hindi naman ito yung buhay na inisip ko na magiging buhay ko.’… Bakit
ganito?
PWB viz Pax pagdududa
Per results, three dimensions of PWB were implicated
in participants’ pagdududa: personal growth, self-
acceptance, and (perhaps indirectly) positive relations
showed up as themes in the narratives
higher PWB and domain scores —> positive themes
lower PWB and domain scores —> less positive /
negative themes
Characteristics of psychologically
healthful pagdududa
✤ Putative benefits:
✤ more realistic and integrated view of events
✤ sense of having grown as a person
✤ greater self-acceptance
✤ positive relationships (perhaps as consequence of
being more open to others’ perspectives)
✤ Putative attributes of a healthy nagdududa:
✤ willingness to stay in the experience*
✤ ability to explore different aspects of issues and
situations*
✤ ability to take personal responsibility
✤ Bi-directional effects
*(Bautista, personal communication, October 2014)
Characteristics of psychologically
non-healthful pagdududa
✤ Nagdududa remains stuck in the vacillating motion (i.e.
ambivalence, lack of clarity, and indecision) of pagdududa.
✤ Nagdududa has a sense of stagnation, i.e. not having progressed
and grown as a person.
✤ Nagdududa avoids exploring and confronting personal emotion-
laden issues and ultimate concerns.
✤ Nagdududa has lower self-efficacy and confidence, less realistic
view of events, lower self-acceptance, and diminished quality of
relationships.
Testing Hypotheses
✤ developmental hypothesis
✤ Inappropriate doubting in adults (cognitive measure) can be
predicted by attachment / relational style (Salvador & Parcon,
ongoing)
✤ interpretive utility hypothesis
✤ The dimensions of pagdududa identified in this study’s participant
narratives could also be identified in the narratives of other
participant samples, regardless of type of duda.
✤ These dimensions are sufficient to describe the experience of
duda.
✤ PWB v. duda hypothesis (Salvador, ongoing)
✤ Inappropriate doubt (cognitive measure) predicts
lower scores in 3 of Ryff’s PWB dimensions:
personal growth, self-acceptance, positive
relations.
✤ Ginhawa hypothesis (Bautista & Salvador, ongoing)
✤ Ginhawa is a culturally relevant construct of
eudaemonic wellbeing.
✤ Ginhawa could be measured in the same way that
PWB is.
✤ therapeutic utility hypothesis
✤ Pagdududa, viewed as process and experience, can
be used therapeutically.
✤ using pagdududa as a psychotherapy framework
✤ tracking the mental health outcomes of clients
who undergo pagdududa psychotherapy
References:
Bautista, V. (2011). Gaan at gana sa buhay: Sikolohiya ng sarap, ligaya at ginhawa sa pananaw
ng sikolohiyang pang klinika. In J.A. Cantiller and Yacat, J.A. (eds). Isip: Mga kaisipan sa
sikolohiya, kultura at lipunang Pilipino (Vol. 1, pp. 15-44). Quezon City: Pambansang Samahan sa
Sikolohiyang Pilipino.
de Vera, M.G.A. (1976). Pakikipagkuwentuhan: Paano kaya pag-aaralan ang pakikiapid? In Pe-
Pua, R. (Ed.), Sikolohiyang Pilipino: Teorya, metodo at gamit (pp. 187-193). Quezon City,
Philippines: Philippine Psychology Research and Training House.
Ryff, C.D. & Keyes, C.L.M. (1995). The structure of psychological well-being revisited. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 89, 719-727.
Salvador, D.L.A. (2011). Pagdududa: An initial inquiry into Filipinos’ experience of doubt.
Philippine Social Science Review, 63 (1), 35-63.
Salvador, D.L.A. (2015). Understanding duda and its relationship to psychological wellbeing.
Unpublished dissertation. University of the Philippines — Diliman, 2015.
Salvador 2016
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