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. dsalvador@up.edu.ph

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