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THELIVEDEXPERIENCEOFMAGICALMOMENTS: AHEURISTICEXPLORATION By ROMBRAFMAN ADISSERTATIONPRESENTEDTOTHEGRADUATESCHOOL OFTHEUNIVERSITYOFFLORIDAINPARTIALFULFILLMENT OFTHEREQUIREMENTSFORTHEDEGREEOF DOCTOROFPHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITYOFFLORIDA 2005 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS IwouldliketothankDr.FranzR.Eptingforagreeingtoserveasmyadvisorand dissertationcommitteechair. Iamgrateflilforhisunwaveringsupportthroughoutthis process. Dr.Epting'sconsistentencouragementandguidancewereinstrumentalinthe undertakingandcompletionofthisdissertation. Iamalsoindebtedtotheesteemed membersofmycommittee,Dr.RobertZiller,Dr.DavidSuchman,andDr.Sheldon (Shaya)Isenberg. Theirdeepcommitmenttohumanisticresearchhasallowedmeto pursuemyinterestsonthesubjectmatterofmagicalexperiencesandtocompletethis dissertationproject. Throughoutmytenureasagraduatestudent,mycommittee membershaverepeatedlymadethemselvesavailableandbentoverbackwardsto accommodatemyneeds. Iamnotexaggeratinginstatingthatwithoutthem,Iwouldnot havebeenabletoaccomplishthisresearchproject. ii TABLEOFCONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ii LISTOFTABLES v LISTOFFIGURES vi ABSTRACT vii INTRODUCTION 1 TheExplorationofMagic 1 PersonalExperiencesandReflectionsonMagic 2 REVIEWOFLITERATURE 9 METHODOLOGY 22 Participants 22 Instruments 22 Procedure 23 AnIntroductiontotheHeuristicMethod 23 PhasesintheHeuristicMethod 29 RESULTS 33 DISCUSSION 43 ImplicationsforPsychotherapy 44 CulturalDiversity 46 RelationshiptoOtherExperiences 47 FurtherImplicationsandLimitations 48 FinalComments 48 SAMPLEQUESTIONNAIRE 51 INFORMEDCONSENTAGREEMENT 52 IMMERSIONPHASE 54 iii ILLUMINATIONPHASE 58 EXPLICATIONPHASE 59 LISTOFREFERENCES 60 BIOGRAPHICALSKETCH 64 iv LISTOFTABLES Table page Table4-1. Frequenciesofthemesofmagicalexperiences 33 Table4-2. Frequenciesofthemesoffeelingdifferentlyduringamagicalexperience....38 Table4-3. Frequenciesofthemesoftheimpactofmagicalexperiences 39 ! Table4-4. Frequenciesofthemesofrecallingtheoriginalmagicalexperiences 40 V LISTOFFIGURES Figure page C-1. Whatisreal? 55 ? C-2. Harmony 56 3 C-3. Spells 57 vi AbstractofDissertationPresentedtotheGraduateSchool oftheUniversityofFloridainPartialFulfillmentofthe RequirementsfortheDegreeofDoctorofPhilosophy THELIVEDEXPERIENCEOFMAGICALMOMENTS: AHEURISTICEXPLORATION By RomBrafman August,2005 Chair: FranzEpting MajorDepartment: Psychology Thisstudyexaminedthelivedexperienceofmagicalmoments,utilizinga heuristic,qualitativemethod. Itcomparedthehistoricalperceptionsofmagicinthefield ofpsychologyanditsrelevancetoscience. Thestudyalsoexamined70questionnaires fromuniversitystudentsdescribingmagicalexperiencesandtheireffectsonthem. The investigationrevealedthatmagicalexperiencesarerelatedtoconstructsoflove, excitement,healthyhumanrelationships,andhealing. Thestudyalsoinvestigated similaritiesamongmagicalexperiences,positiveexperiences,andpeakperformances. vii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TheExplorationofMagic Thisstudyhasdevelopedandmaturedinmanyintriguingways. Attheonset, evenbeforeIknewtheprecisesubjectmatterIwantedtoexplore,IwasattractedtoClark Moustakas'heuristicmethodology(1967). Theheuristicapproachallowsascientistto inspect,analyze,andporeoveragivendomainofinquiry. Thisprocessinvolvesa detailedandfocusedexaminationthatallowstheinvestigatortointimatelydelveintoa phenomenoninordertoseekinsightsthatilluminatethesubjectmatter. Forme,themost thrillingaspectoftheheuristicmethodologyisthemagicalinvitationtoexplorescience toitsfullestdepth. Whatbettersubjecttoexaminethen,Icametorealize,thanmagic itself? Thepurposeofthisstudyistoexploretheexperienceofmagicalmomentsin people'slives. OnceIdecidedtoinvestigatethetopicofmagic,Ibegantoactivelynotice instanceswhenthewords"magic"and"magical"wereusedinlinguisticdiscoursesall aroundme. Interestingly,Iobservedthatthetermmagicisusedquitecommonly,andin diversesettings:fromthenameofaradiostation,toacorporatemotto,toadescriptionof aninspirationalpersonalaccount,magicmanifestsareoccurringandenduringpresence inourdailylives. WhenItoldpeoplethatIwasworkingonmydissertationandtheyaskedmewhat itwasabout,andtheyfoundoutthatitwasaboutmagic,mostofthemweresurprised. — Manyindividuals,aftertheirinitialsurprise oncetheymadesurethattheyactuallydid 1 2 indeedhearmecorrectly,thatIamwritingapsychologicaldissertationontheexperience ofmagic—askedmetodefinemagic. Adissertationonmagicseemssoopen-ended,so exploratory,thatitlacksarigidformalitythathasunfortimatelybecomeassociatedwith scientificexamination. PeoplewouldhavebeenlesssurprisedifIhadtoldthemIwas writingmydissertationonneurobiologicalconnections,rats'matingbehavior,couples' arguingpatterns,ormemorylossthanonthesubjectoftheexperienceofmagic. Imight haveputsomepeopleateaseif1hadanswered,falsely,thatIdefinemagicasanillusory processasWohlandEnzle(2002)did. OrIcouldhavefurnishedasatisfactoryresponse byexplainingthatIamlookingatthepsychologicalprocessesinvolvedinpeople's perceptionsofmagictricks. Butthesearenotmyareasofinterests. Iamnotlookingto controlmagic,defineit,ordissectit. Iamlookingtoexploretheexperienceofmagicin amagicalway. Employingaheuristicqualitativemethodapproachtotheexplorationofthe experienceofmagic,Ihaveexaminedtheexperiencesof70individualsfromvarious culturalbackgroundsinordertoilluminatethemesandconnectionsinoccurrencesof magicinpeople'slives. Aspartofthisresearchproject,1havealsoexaminedmyown explorationofmagicinordertofacilitatemyopennesstotheprocess. 1usedbothof thesepathstoarriveatmeaningsandcormotationsofmagic. PersonalExperiencesandReflectionsonMagic Forthepasttwoyears,sincebeginningworkonthisproject,Ihavebecome increasinglymoreattunedtothepresenceofmagicinmylife. Ihavecometorealizethat magicformestartedevenbeforeIwasbom. Theforcesthatbroughtmyparents together,theconditionsthatallowedasuccessfialbirth,allofthesearemagical. Buteven onagranderscale,thepeoplewhofoughtforthesurvivaloftheJewishpeopleandthe 3 establishmentoftheStateofIsrael,againstallodds,andbeforethatthesuccessful — evolutionaryemergenceofhumans,andbeforethatthemanifestationoflife allofthese allowedformyeventualexistence.Anydeviationalongthatprocess,ofmillionsand millionsofyears,eventhemostminuteortrivialchange,couldhavemeantacompletely — differentexistence ornoneatall. ItisbecauseofmagicthatIamhere. TheeventsinmylifethatlinedthemselvesupsothatinthisverypointintimeI — amwritingaboutmagic thatismagical. IwasbominIsraelsixmonthspriortothe YomKippurwarthatcamedangerouslyclosetoendingmylife. Therearepeoplewho foughttosavemylife,peoplewhosacrificedtheirovralife,soIcanbeherelivingmy life. Theysuccessfiillythwartedaninvasionthatwasonlyseveralmilesawayfrom potentiallyendingmylife. Theireffortsandultimatesuccesstoonceagaindefytheodds aremagic. Whocouldhavepredicted,onthatAprilnightin1973thatoneday,31years later,IwouldbeusingtheEnglishlanguagetocommunicatemythoughtsonthe experienceofmagicinthefieldofpsychology? Thewayeverythingcametogetherto makeithappenismagic. IfIhadarrivedattheUniversityofFloridaonlyayearlater,I wouldnothavebeenabletoassembleacommitteethatwouldsupportmyexploration; onlyayearlaterandthismagicprojectwouldhavehadtobedeferred,perhaps indefinitely. Allforcesintheuniversethatcametogethertomakeithappen,andto continuetomakeithappen,forcesthatImightneverfullyknowoforunderstand,or nevercompletelyrecognizethevariousimpactsthattheyhaveonmylife,allthoseare magical. Lifeitselfismagical. Withallourtechnologicaladvancementandscientific knowledge,westillcannotexplainwhatisitthatbreatheslifeintoanotherwise