Å stå i det: En Q-metodologisk studie av hvordan det oppleves for masterstudenter å møte store utfordringer

The purpose of this master’s thesis was to explore how masterstudens experience great challenges. This lead to the following research question: «How does masterstudents experience meeting great challenges?». I wanted to explore how three dimensions of skills, action, emotional and cognitiv skills, are used by masterstudents in challengeing situations. I also wanted to examine if they are aware of this use, and if the use changed depending on how they interpreted the challenges as meaningful or not. By using the Q-method, I tried to uncover various experiences of challenges. 26 masterstudents Q-sorted 36 statements concerning challenges. Three factors were discovered, which represent three possible views on how challenging situations are experienced. Factor 1 seems to enjoy great challenges and want them to be difficult and demanding so that they can grow. Factor 2 seems to want to be alone while experienceing great challenges, and lots of feelings and thoughts seems to develop. Factor 3 seems to have problems to focus their mind on anything else than the challenge, but does not seem to have a problem with asking others for help. A common trait for the factorveiws is that they all seem to interpret the challenges to be meaningful. This can be caused by the fact that the participants are all masterstudents. The factorveiws will be discussed in the veiw of relevant theory. The thesis illustrates how experienced degree of meaning and intentional activity, the perceived personal skill level and the perceived toughness of the challenges can affect the experience of great challenges. Something I could have done differently was to include other participants like those at the start of their education. That might result in different factorveiws, and could be an idea for further research on the subject