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Inner Sustainability: Exploring Experiences of Needs, Satisfaction, and Frustration in Sustainable Lifestyle Practices

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Inner Sustainability: Exploring Experiences of Needs, Satisfaction, and Frustration in Sustainable Lifestyle Practices Inner Sustainability: Exploring experiences of needs, satisfaction, and frustration in sustainable lifestyle practices by Anna Melnik BES, University of Waterloo, 2008 A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS in the School of Environmental Studies ! Anna Melnik, 2012 University of Victoria All rights reserved. This thesis may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without the permission of the author. ii Supervisory Committee Inner Sustainability: Exploring experiences of needs, satisfaction, and frustration in sustainable lifestyle practices by Anna Melnik BES, University of Waterloo, 2008 Supervisory Committee Dr. Karena Shaw, School of Environmental Studies Supervisor Dr. Peter Stephenson, School of Environmental Studies Departmental Member iii Abstract Supervisory Committee Dr. Karena Shaw, School of Environmental Studies Supervisor Dr. Peter Stephenson, School of Environmental Studies Departmental Member Sustainable development and sustainable living, a key pursuit of our times, must be premised on human well-being in order to be truly sustainable. Although many have speculated on the possible interaction between sustainable lifestyle practices and the well-being, or satisfaction, of practitioners, there has been limited empirical study of this connection. The purpose of this study was to explore how people experience satisfaction and frustration in conjunction with the practice of a sustainable lifestyle. Semi-structured interviews were completed with six sustainable lifestyle practitioners associated with Transition Victoria, a community resilience initiative in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Interview transcripts were synthesized into explanatory narratives highlighting experienced outcomes of a sustainable lifestyle practice. A further thematic analysis was completed to identify themes to which participants attributed meaning and potential satisfaction. The results of this analysis were interpreted to draw conclusions about the sorts of satisfying and frustrating experiences that were related to sustainable lifestyle practices for these participants. Results of the study revealed twenty-six salient themes of important, potentially satisfying phenomena anticipated and experienced by participants. These included needs for food, shelter, transportation, money, health, well-being, relationships, connection, communication, support, recognition, legitimacy, effectiveness, autonomy, action, enjoyment, knowledge, interest, nature, meaning, and identity, and also needs to pursue certain values. Various actions, relationships, and contexts constituting sustainable lifestyles had implications for both satisfying and frustrating essential needs for security, belonging, esteem, competence, knowledge, creativity, leisure, and autonomy. In addition, the pursuit of a sustainable lifestyle was related to the need for and satisfaction of meaning. The results of this study suggest that, for this small group of participants, sustainable lifestyles hold multiple opportunities for satisfaction and frustration of various needs. Groups wanting to support sustainable lifestyle practitioners might consider ways to maximize opportunities for satisfaction and meaning, and minimize sources of frustration. It is recommended to conduct further research with a larger sample of participants, to extend these findings to more general conclusions about human experiences with sustainable living. Keywords: sustainable lifestyles, needs satisfaction, qualitative analysis iv Table of Contents Supervisory Committee...................................................................................................ii Abstract......................................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents ...........................................................................................................iv List of Tables .................................................................................................................vi List of Figures...............................................................................................................vii Acknowledgments........................................................................................................viii Dedication......................................................................................................................ix Introduction.....................................................................................................................1 1 Defining Sustainable Lifestyles and Exploring Evidence for Satisfaction......................5 Sustainable Lifestyles..................................................................................................5 Global Policy Attention on Sustainable Lifestyles..................................................12 Human Needs Satisfaction and Motivation ................................................................13 Speculation and Evidence for Sustainable Satisfaction...............................................21 Review of Empirical Studies..................................................................................26 2 Conducting a Narrative Inquiry on Sustainable Living Experiences............................43 Study Design.............................................................................................................43 Study Procedures.......................................................................................................45 Interview Framework.............................................................................................48 Narrative Analysis.....................................................................................................51 Qualitative Thematic Analysis...................................................................................56 3 Results of Narrative Analysis - Six Stories of Sustainable Lifestyle Practice...............59 Introduction to Narrative Results ...............................................................................59 Geoff’s Story.............................................................................................................60 Vivian’s Story ...........................................................................................................70 John’s Story...............................................................................................................78 Tanis’ Story...............................................................................................................89 Charles’ Story............................................................................................................98 Dorothy’s Story.......................................................................................................111 Conclusion ..............................................................................................................132 4 Themes of Practice, Needing, Satisfaction and Frustration........................................133 Objective Sustainability of Lifestyle Practices.........................................................134 Needs and Attributions of Satisfaction and Meaning................................................138 Intention Needs....................................................................................................142 Process Needs......................................................................................................150 Outcome Needs ...................................................................................................160 Discussion of Findings ............................................................................................169 Gender and Age Patterns .....................................................................................169 Themes of Accepted Frustration, Sacrifice, and Tension......................................175 How can engagement in a sustainable lifestyle practice satisfy needs?.................179 Conclusion ..............................................................................................................196 5 Final Discussion and Conclusions.............................................................................199 Theoretical Implications of Results..........................................................................201 Implications for Practice..........................................................................................209 Limitations, Distinctiveness, and Recommendations for Future Research ................214 v References...................................................................................................................221 Appendix A Consent Form..........................................................................................225 Appendix B Intuitive correlation of emergent ‘needs’ with theorized needs................227 Appendix C Executive Summary.................................................................................228 vi List of Tables Table 1 Comparing three theories on categories of human needs ...................................16 Table 2 Interview framework.........................................................................................49 Table 3 Participants’ environmental impact-reducing practices....................................135 Table 4 Impact-reducing practices engaged in by each participant...............................136
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