Exceptional Cases of Fusion and I-position in the Self-differentiation Framework Among the Malaysian Chinese Muslim Converts

Abstract

Murray Bowen (1978) claimed that the self-differentiation framework is universally applicable even it was developed in the Western culture. This study explores the exceptional cases of two self-differentiation constructs (a) I-position and (b) fusion with others among the Malaysian Chinese Muslim converts from the collectivistic and religious conversion perspective. It is a qualitative phenomenology study that involves five participants. The data collection method is one-to-one in-depth interviews. The interview protocol is a series of semi-structured open-ended questionnaires modified from Lam’s study (2005) to explore participants’ religious conversion experience and Gomori’s Guide Manual (1998) to explore participants’ self-differentiation experience. The data analysis method is thematic analysis. This study has shown that the Malaysian Chinese might need pseudo-I-position because of their low self-differentiation, they need another interpretation of the I-position aligned with their cultural context, and in the Islamic perspective, Muslims would regain their functionalities after fusion with God.