Dari Hampa Menjadi Bermakna: Studi Fenomenologi Existential Emptiness Dan Meaning In Life Pada Ibu Rumah Tangga Muslimah

Abstract

Not all women find meaning in married life. Some instead experience existential emptiness, which gives rise to a renewed search for meaning in life. This study aims to describe the experiences of existential emptiness and meaning in life among Muslim housewives. Although this phenomenon has been widely discussed in existential psychology, studies describing the subjective experiences of existential emptiness and meaning in life among Muslim housewives remain limited. This study employed a qualitative approach involving four Muslim housewives as participants selected through convenience sampling. Data were collected through semi structured in-depth interviews, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using a descriptive phenomenological approach to generate themes representing the participants' lived experiences. The findings revealed four major themes: the transition to the role of a housewife, existential emptiness, meaning in life, and religious coping. Experiences of existential emptiness were characterized by feelings of emptiness, loss of life direction, identity confusion, loneliness, boredom, and discrepancies between personal expectations and the realities of life. These experiences became points of reflection in the participants' process of rediscovering meaning in life through embracing their roles as wives and mothers, fostering family relationships, engaging in self-development, contributing to others, and strengthening their spiritual closeness to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Various forms of religious coping also became an integral part of the participants' process of confronting existential emptiness and reconstructing the meaning of their lives. This study demonstrates that existential emptiness is part of the lived experiences of Muslim housewives and may serve as a point of reflection in the process of discovering meaning in life. The findings enrich the field of Islamic psychology by advancing the understanding of existential emptiness and meaning in life among muslim housewives.