Lived experiences are deeply rooted in our bodies and the physical spaces that are significant to us: they are embodied within us and embedded in our environment. Every success, crisis, joyful moment, sad moment, and moment of connection or despair leaves an imprint that lasts for a significant amount of time. Embodied and embedded experiences encapsulate the complexity of a person’s positive and negative emotions, self-regulation, and relationship processes. Recognizing the importance of understanding these complex experiences, we have developed the Emotional Map of the Home interview procedure, which allows us to delve into the self-regulation processes of family members within their own homes (Sallay et al., 2019). Building upon the foundations of systemic thinking and environmental psychology, we have further advanced the concept of experience mapping.
Our workshop introduces the experiMAP procedures, which utilize experience mapping to assess subjective, ecologically embedded experiences. By employing experiMAP, we gain insights into individuals' emotions, emotion-laden behaviors, and relational processes within specific places. Whether it be their home, workplace, or other significant life spaces, through an experiMAP-based assessment, we can evoke emotionally significant experiences through this assessment. During the workshop, participants will have the opportunity to:
(1) Acquire knowledge about the scientific background behind the qualitative interview methods based on experiMAP.
(2) Engage in firsthand experience with the experiMAP-based interview protocol, as it is employed in qualitative research.
(3) Explore real-life study examples and gain practical information on applying experiMAP-based procedures.
(4) Develop their research ideas using the experiMAP approach.
By the end of the workshop, participants will have a solid understanding of the theoretical underpinnings, practical implementation, and potential research applications of experiMAP.
Suggested reading: Sallay, V., Martos, T., Chatfield, S. L., & Dúll, A. (2019). Strategies of Dyadic coping and self-regulation in the family homes of chronically ill persons: a qualitative research study using the emotional map of the home interview method. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 403. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00403
