نادیا خلیلی

Current educational psychology scholarship lacks critical comparisons of empirical studies using the methodology of hermeneutic phenomenology, which has been increasingly applied in psychology, education, and sociology. Unclarity and confusion in applying this methodology has negatively affected both theoretical and empirical studies that employ this method. To help fill this gap, the present paper critically compares two culturally different hermeneutic phenomenological studies by scholars from different fields: a psychological study from Iran and an educational study from Indonesia. We analyze the similarities and differences of the authors’ philosophical assumptions, including ontological, epistemological, axiological, and methodological assumptions as well as the interpretative and/or conceptual frame and rigors of the two studies. Our comparison and analysis reveal that the Iranian psychological study was stronger in applying the method but weaker in explaining the theory, while the Indonesian educational study comprehensively explained the theory without providing strong empirical evidence.

Few studies have examined the influence of cognitive therapy on schemas in women with psychological disorders. This study explores the effect of mindfulness therapy on early maladaptive schemas of behavioural mistrust and the abandonment instability of 60 women with depression who had been referred to a psychological clinic. The methodology of this study was quasi-experimental with pre-test and post-test design. All participants were randomly placed into experimental (30 individuals) and control (30 individuals) groups and answered Young's Early maladaptive schema questionnaire before and after the treatments. The experimental group received a cognitive intervention program based on mindfulness therapy during eight sessions (90 minutes). Covariance analysis was conducted, and the result indicated the positive effect of mindfulness therapy on the experimental group, not the control group. The result suggested that mindfulness treatment positively affects the early maladaptive schemas of behavioural mistrust and abandonment instability in women with depression