Special section: Arts-based phenomenological research can evoke rich, sensual insight into the essence of human experience

This special section in Qualitative Psychology introduces arts-based phenomenological research as an innovative methodology for doing psychological research (Gupta & Zieske, 2024). Phenomenology is a method of qualitative research that produces knowledge about human experience by collecting as data people’s rich, sensual descriptions of lived experience, then interpreting these descriptions to reveal the essence of a phenomenon under inquiry (Giorgi, 2009; Van Manen, 1990). For instance, what is the essence of experiencing joy, pregnancy loss, or erotic power as human beings? Phenomenological researchers avoid abstraction, measurement, or prediction in pursuing these questions and instead produce research findings in the form of meaningful insights that connect people directly and viscerally with the subjective experience of living through certain human experiences. The articles in this special section make the case that art is an ideal language in which to conduct phenomenological research, because the inherent nature of artwork is to express sensual, descriptive knowledge about what it means to be human. Thus arts-based phenomenological research should be embraced as the umbrella methodology for any phenomenological research studies that incorporate art making into the research process to evoke rich insight into the essence of human experiences.

What is the significance of this special section?

This methodology revisits a broad philosophical debate within the field of psychology: Is psychology an art or a science? While acknowledging the value of art, most qualitative psychologists position their research methods firmly within the domain of the human sciences(Giorgi, 2009; Wertz, 2016). Arts-based phenomenological research can certainly be considered an empirical method of human science, because it grounds all research findings within data collected from human subjects’ descriptions of lived experience. But it is also exciting to consider the implications of positioning arts-based phenomenology as a method for the arts and humanities. This positioning lends support to the burgeoning movement toward the psychological humanities that is currently sweeping the field of psychology (Freeman, 2024; Sugarman & Martin, 2020; Teo, 2017). The pioneers of the psychological humanities propose a vision for psychology that embraces nonscientific methods of knowledge production, such as art and literature, thereby inviting “a more inclusive, pluralistic, and artful approach to exploring the psychological world in all of its potential complexity, obscurity, and beauty” (Routledge, n.d., Description section, para. 2).

Tell us about a few key takeaways.

This special section includes four case studies of arts-based phenomenological researchers who incorporate artistic creation into various aspects of their phenomenological research designs.

• Robbins et al. (2024) adapted expressive art therapy techniques to make them data collection procedures for their phenomenological study about the lived experience of joy. Their study demonstrates how inviting participants to engage in drawing, painting, and dramatic role play during the interview process can help them better describe the ineffable, implicit, and felt qualities of their lived experiences.
• McMorrow (2024) incorporated art making into data interpretation for her phenomenological study about pregnancy loss. She interviewed women about their lived experiences and created poetic drawings in response to their descriptions. She shared the artwork with participants in a manner that offered therapeutic containment and deeper insight into their lived experiences of pregnancy loss. Her study demonstrates the therapeutic implications of doing arts-based phenomenological research, wherein the artwork can facilitate healing for participants.
• Gupta (2024) incorporated artistic creation into research dissemination about the lived experience of reclaiming erotic power among South Asian women. She “published” her phenomenological research findings in the format of South Asian erotic folk paintings, which she publicly exhibited in gallery spaces for the purposes of community healing and social advocacy. Her study demonstrates how arts-based phenomenological research can be disseminated to the mainstream public as a culturally therapeutic intervention.
• Visse (2024) describes her use of arts-based phenomenological inquiry as a vehicle for self-reflexivity as a phenomenological researcher. She offers six procedural steps that all phenomenological researchers can use, regardless of their artistic skill, to embrace art making as a method of self-reflexivity that allows them to “discern, verbally and ‘before-words’ (prelinguistically), the particularities, nuances, and unique contextual variations in the research process” (Visse, 2024, p. 123). 

What are some practical implications of the articles featured in the special section?

One practical implication of this special section is that it encourages psychologists to explore the exciting possibilities of interdisciplinary collaboration between members of the fields of psychology and the arts and humanities. In the spirit of the psychological humanities, what would it be like for psychologists to collaborate on interdisciplinary arts-based phenomenological research projects with colleagues and students in the fine arts, creative writing, or film and media disciplines? A second implication of arts-based phenomenology is that it invites qualitative researchers in psychology to embrace the inherently therapeutic aspects of their research processes and findings, which have the power to generate vast creative healing for participants, researchers, and the general public alike. A third implication is that producing phenomenological research findings in the format of artwork (paintings, poetry, filmmaking) makes it accessible to a widespread audience beyond academia; therefore, it is an excellent vehicle for psychologists interested in public research dissemination for psychoeducation and social advocacy. A final implication is that this special section welcomes us as psychologists to embrace the multifaceted aspects of our own professional identities. Many of us are artists at our core. Instead of splitting off this side of ourselves from our psychological work, arts-based phenomenology encourages us to integrate the artist and the psychologist within, who can then work together synergistically for the shared purpose of honoring the beauty and complexity of the human experience.

This article is in the Core of Psychology topic area.

Freeman, M. (2024). Toward the psychological humanities: A modest manifesto for the future of psychology. Routledge.

Giorgi, A. (2009). The descriptive phenomenological method in psychology: A modified Husserlian approach. Duquesne University Press.

Gupta, N. (2024). DESI EROS: Reclaiming South Asian erotic power through arts-based phenomenology and Hindu epistemology. Qualitative Psychology, 11(1), 127–149. https://doi.org/10.1037/qup0000267

Gupta, N., & Zieske, C. (2024). Arts-based phenomenological research: Theory and praxis. Qualitative Psychology, 11(1), 95–109. https://doi.org/10.1037/qup0000285

McMorrow, D. J. (2024). Entering the womb house: Bringing visibility to women’s lived experience of pregnancy loss through an imaginal-hermeneutic method of research. Qualitative Psychology, 11(1), 165–190. https://doi.org/10.1037/qup0000278

Robbins, B. D., Lees, D., Vick, A., & Robbins, D. J. (2024). The phenomenology of joy: Insights from the imagery in movement method. Qualitative Psychology, 11(1), 150–164. https://doi.org/10.1037/qup0000284

Routledge. (n.d.). Toward the psychological humanities: A modest manifesto for the future of psychology. Retrieved April 24, 2024, from https://www.routledge.com/Toward-the-Psychological-Humanities-A-Modest-Manifesto-for-the-Future-of-Psychology/Freeman/p/book/9780367340490opens in new window

Sugarman, J., & Martin, J. (2020). A humanities approach to the psychology of personhood. Routledge.

Teo, T. (2017). From psychological science to the psychological humanities: Building a general theory of subjectivity. Review of General Psychology, 21(4), 281–291. https://doi.org/10.1037/gpr0000132opens in new window

Van Manen, M. (1990). Researching lived experience: Human science for an action sensitive pedagogy. State University of New York Press.

Visse, M. (2024). Sometimes, indirect is more direct. An aesthetic–apophatic phenomenological approach to self-reflexivity in qualitative inquiry. Qualitative Psychology, 11(1), 110–126. https://doi.org/10.1037/qup0000281

Wertz, F. J. (2016). Outline of the relationship among transcendental phenomenology, phenomenological psychology, and the sciences of persons. Schutzian Research, 8, 139–162. https://doi.org/10.5840/schutz201688opens in new window

Nisha Gupta, PhD, is an associate professor of psychology at the University of West Georgia, where she works as an arts-based phenomenological researcher, liberation psychologist, and creativity scholar. She disseminates research about lived experiences of oppression and empowerment through art for social advocacy and community healing.