(Loss of Ownership of Individuals from the Perspective of Extended Self Theory in the Process of Covid-19 Pandemic)

Abstract

Purpose – In the study, it is aimed to reveal what kind of material and moral losses experienced by individuals who had the disease during the Covid-19 Pandemic process in the context of extended self theory. Design/methodology/approach – Qualitative research technique was used in this study. In-depth interviews were conducted with 11 people who had Covid-19 with a semi-structured interview form. Snowball and maximum diversity were used to determine the interviewees in the study. The interviews were recorded with the permission of the interviewees within the framework of ethical rules. The data collected in this way was analyzed by traditional content analysis. In addition, word cloud analysis was performed using the NVivo 12 program. Findings – According to the analysis, seven themes and 38 categories belonging to these themes were obtained, including psychological processes, fear, physical problems, economic losses, treatment process, pandemic management and perspective against vaccines. According to the word cloud analysis, it was determined that the most used words were disease, Covid, drug, effect and vaccine. As a result of the research, it was determined that the interviewees had fears that they did not have before during the pandemic period, they developed an obsession about hygiene, and their anxiety levels about loss of taste and smell increased. At the same time, it was observed that some of the interviewees were also affected by the economic losses in this process. It has been determined that individuals exhibit positive attitudes towards the Covid-19 vaccine during the pandemic process. Disccussions – The results of the research show similarities with other studies when the related literature is examined. It has been determined that the fear of loss of possession is high during the pandemic process, this situation harms the selves of individuals and public health is negatively affected as a chain.