The body’s inflextion: a study of stress in everyday life
Stress is a common term in our langu¬a¬ge of everyday life. This article discus¬ses the results of an empirical investiga¬tion of stress experiences in everyday life. Data were collected by means of interviews with 36 employees of a public organization. The analysis of the data was conducted in two phases: a pheno¬menological analysis of the qualitative dimensions of stress and an analysis of social and cultural aspects structuring these stress experiences. The results presented here concern the first phase whereas the second phase only is indi¬cated by an example. The phenomeno¬logical analysis yielded a distinction be¬tween three phenomenological struc¬tures, metaphorically termed, ‘fight’, ‘blocking’ and ‘boiling over’. These re¬sults are discussed in relation to such phenomenological concepts as intentio¬nality, time, subjectivity and moods. The analysis of the social and cultural aspects structuring the experiences of stress illustrates that actor’s interpreta¬tion of stress experiences is structured by the dominant discourse of stress, but resistance towards this discourse is found. In conclusion, the results of the two analytical approaches are latched together: the results of the phenomeno¬logical analysis suggest a base for the construction of a new discourse of stress in everyday life; the results of the soci¬al and cultural analysis suggest that ac¬tors might be receptive for other dis¬courses than the available discourses of stress.These results taken together urge us to develop new discourses of stress in everyday life.
