Moments That Change Us: Mining Narratives of Transformative Experiences in Online Communities
Method Stream: Text Mining
ECs 14 EC thesis
Description:
Transformative experiences are events or episodes that lead to profound and lasting changes in a person’s beliefs, values, identity, or worldview (Halliday & Bockler, 2025). They often involve moments of intense emotion, insight, or transcendence that fundamentally reshape how individuals perceive themselves and the world. In philosophical and psychological literature, such experiences are described as events that can alter core preferences and understanding, leaving the person “a different self” than before the experience (Neuhoffer, 2024). Within positive psychology, transformative experiences are particularly relevant because they may foster meaning, prosocial orientation, personal growth, and shifts in life priorities. The project will combine computational text analysis with psychological theory to contribute to the growing literature on transformative experiences and well-being.
In this thesis project, you will investigate accounts of transformative experiences. You will collect and analyze publicly available posts from Reddit or similar online platforms discussing a specific type of experience of your own choice (e.g., deep nature experiences, spiritual awakenings, psychedelic experiences, or intense adventure activities).
Possible research questions include:
- How do individuals narrate the integration of transformative experiences into their daily life?
- Under which situational or contextual conditions do transformative experiences appear most likely to occur?
- How do individuals describe long-term impacts on well-being, values, or life choices?
References
Halliday, E., & Bockler, J. (2025). How Transformative Experiences Reshape Values, Worldviews, and Engagement with Sustainability: An Integral Inquiry. Challenges, 16(3), 30. https://doi.org/10.3390/challe16030030
Neuhofer, B. (2024). Transformative experiences: A conceptual analysis of the integration process. The Service Industries Journal, 44(7-8), 522-537. https://doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2024.2342295
Neuhofer, B., & Dulbecco, M. L. (2024). The phases of self in transformative experiences. Annals of Tourism Research, 107, 103771. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2024.103771
Pizzolante, M., Pelowski, M., Demmer, T. R., Bartolotta, S., Sarcinella, E. D., Gaggioli, A., & Chirico, A. (2024). Aesthetic experiences and their transformative power: A systematic review. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, 1328449. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1328449.