Agnieszka Sternak
Developmental Psychology, Volume 26 Issue 2, 2021, pp. 105-109
https://doi.org/10.4467/20843879PR.21.015.15138Agnieszka Sternak
Developmental Psychology, Volume 26 Issue 2, 2021, pp. 59-77
https://doi.org/10.4467/20843879PR.21.012.15135The article presents a qualitative study on the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic among people aged 60+, carried out in its initial stage, in Poland. Three individual, semi-structured interviews were conducted in May 2020, in order to explore how the pandemic is perceived in a cognitive, emotional and social context, and how it refers to study participants’ past experiences. Purposive sampling was used, taking into account criteria of the specific situation of people aged 60+: belonging to the group at increased risk of serious consequences of the disease and being subject to special preventive interventions. Based on the thematic analysis of the data corpus, six issues were identified: information about the coronavirus, changes in the current life, emotional and cognitive attitudes, references to the past, coping strategies and predictions. There was a large variation observed in the way of thinking about the reported events, experienced emotions and visions of the future. The pandemic phenomenon was presented on many levels, being evaluated as a difficult but perhaps valuable experience.