Daily experience and psychological well-being of older people in Vietnam : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Science in Psychology at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand

Abstract

This thesis is an exploration of Vietnamese older people’s perspective of psychological well-being. Although well-being in later adulthood is a developing field in psychology which attracts the focus of many researchers, the body of research on this area in Vietnam is limited. Daily experiences and insights of 10 Vietnamese older people were collected and analysed using the phenomenological approach and thematic analysis. Three themes emerged from the interviews. “A mindful state of being” consists of the awareness and acceptance of physical dimensions in the participants’ life. “The value of self” is the participants’ assertion of their autonomy and existential meaning. Meanwhile, “interdependence” shows how the elderly’s lives harmoniously intertwined with their social relationships. These results depict Vietnamese older people’s psychological well-being as an integration of Eastern and Western perspectives. It involves older people’s awareness of their role as an autonomous individual as well as an integrated part of society.