PERTANIKA JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted everyone’s routines, including frontline workers, causing psychological distress and lowering their quality of life. As a result, this research was conducted to determine the meaning of life and the courage of Malaysian COVID-19 frontliners. Using purposive and snowball sampling, twenty-one frontliners from Kuala Lumpur and Selangor were recruited for this interpretative phenomenology study. The findings indicate that Malaysian frontliners derive meaning from the human connection in their professional and personal lives, which instills a feeling of dedication as they contribute to social welfare, particularly during this critical period. In addition, they engage in spiritual activities and maintain a positive attitude to achieve life satisfaction, which is regarded as a component of their life’s meaning. Furthermore, frontline workers are courageous in fighting the pandemic because it is their obligation, and they have a strong family and coworkers’ support system. While frontliners must maintain their psychological well-being, they are subjected to work hazards daily, contributing to their impression of courage. The findings could provide an outreach program organized by the government through webinars. In that manner, it would allocate a sense of reassurance to the frontliners. Therefore, it is necessary to identify the perception of meaning in life and the courage of the Malaysian COVID-19 frontliners to rekindle their work spirit despite experiencing an overwhelming workload objectively.

• Afthanorhan, A., Awang, Z., & Fazella, S. (2017). Developing the patients’ loyalty model for medical tourism industry: The case of Malaysia. International Journal of Society Systems Science, 9(2), 139-164. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJSSS.2017.085710

• Bockorny, K., & Youssef-Morgan, C. M. (2019). Entrepreneurs’ courage, psychological capital, and life satisfaction. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, Article e789. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00789

• Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa

• Cheng, C., & Huang, X. (2016). An exploration of courage in Chinese individuals. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 12(2), 141-150. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2016.1163406

• Cheung, T., Fong, T. K. H., & Bressington, D. (2020). COVID‐19 under the SARS cloud: Mental health nursing during the pandemic in Hong Kong. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpm.12639

• Comer, D. R., & Sekerka, L. E. (2018). Keep calm and carry on (ethically): Durable moral courage in the workplace. Human Resource Management Review, 28(2), 116-130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2017.05.011

• Connelly, L. M. (2008). Pilot studies. Medsurg Nursing, 17(6), 411-412.

• Costin, V., & Vignoles, V. L. (2020). Meaning is about mattering: Evaluating coherence, purpose, and existential mattering as precursors of meaning in life judgments. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 118(4), 864-884. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000225

• Day, M. (2020). Covid-19: Identifying and isolating asymptomatic people helped eliminate virus in Italian village. BMJ, 368, Article e1165. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m1165

• Elengoe, A. (2020). COVID-19 outbreak in Malaysia. Osong Public Health and Research Perspectives, 11(3), 93-100. https://doi.org/10.24171/j.phrp.2020.11.3.08

• Fan, J., Zhou, M., Wei, L., Fu, L., Zhang, X., & Shi, Y. (2020). A qualitative study on the psychological needs of hospitalized newborns’ parents during COVID-19 outbreak in China. Iranian Journal of Pediatrics, 30(2). Article e102748. https://doi.org/10.5812/ijp.102748

• Gavin, B., Hayden, J., Adamis, D., & McNicholas, F. (2020). Caring for the psychological well-being of healthcare professionals in the Covid-19 pandemic crisis. Irish Medical Journal, 113(4), 51-53.

• Gin, L. L., Syasyila, K., & Zhooriyati, S. M. (2021). The psychological states of beggars in Malaysia: Happiness, subjective well-being, and gratitude. Journal of Cognitive Sciences and Human Development, 7(2), 26-46. https://doi.org/10.33736/jcshd.3661.2021

• Grossman, S. A. (2020). The day after COVID-19. The American Journal of Emergency Medicine, 44, 328-329. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajem.2020.04.029

• Häyry, M. (2020). The COVID-19 pandemic: A month of bioethics in Finland. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0963180120000432

• Heylighen, A., & Dong, A. (2019). To empathise or not to empathise? Empathy and its limits in design. Design Studies, 65, 107-124. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.destud.2019.10.007

• Kassymova, G. К., Tokar, O. V., Tashcheva, A. I., Slepukhina, G. V., Gridneva, S. V., Bazhenova, N. G., Shpakovskaya, E., & Arpentieva, M. R. (2019). Impact of stress on creative human resources and psychological counseling in crises. International Journal of Education and Information Technologies, 13(1), 26-32.

• Keefer, A. (2019). The meaning of life in Ecclesiastes: Coherence, purpose, and significance from a psychological perspective. Harvard Theological Review, 112(4), 447-466. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0017816019000233

• Khodabakhshi-koolaee, A. (2020). Living in home quarantine: Analyzing psychological experiences of college students during Covid-19 pandemic. Journal of Military Medicine, 22(2), 130-138. https://doi.org/10.30491/JMM.22.2.130

• Khor, V., Arunasalam, A., Azli, S., Khairul-Asri, M. G., & Fahmy, O. (2020). Experience from Malaysia during the COVID-19 movement control order. Urology, 141, 179-180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.urology.2020.04.070

• Koo, T. K., & Li, M. Y. (2016). A guideline of selecting and reporting intraclass correlation coefficients for reliability research. Journal of Chiropractic Medicine, 15(2), 155-163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcm.2016.02.012

• Krok, D. (2017). When is meaning in life most beneficial to young people? Styles of meaning in life and well-being among late adolescents. Journal of Adult Development, 25(2), 96-106. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10804-017-9280-y

• Lee, J., Cho, D., & Suh, Y. J. (2017). Purpose and meaning in life and job satisfaction among the aged. The International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 85(4), 377-402. https://doi.org/10.1177/0091415016688305

• Martela, F., & Steger, M. F. (2016). The three meanings of meaning in life: Distinguishing coherence, purpose, and significance. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 11(5), 531-545. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2015.1137623

• Martinez, W., Bell, S. K., Etchegaray, J. M., & Lehmann, L. S. (2016). Measuring moral courage for interns and residents. Academic Medicine, 91(10), 1431-1438. https://doi.org/10.1097/acm.0000000000001288

• Pappa, S., Ntella, V., Giannakas, T., Giannakoulis, V. G., Papoutsi, E., & Katsaounou, P. (2020). Prevalence of depression, anxiety, and insomnia among healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 1-26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2020.05.026

• Persson, I., & Savulescu, J. (2017). The moral importance of reflective empathy. Neuroethics, 11(2), 183-193. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12152-017-9350-7

• Prochniak, P. (2017). Wilderness Courage Scale (WCS). Journal of Human Performance in Extreme Environments, 13(1), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.7771/2327-2937.1086

• Rijamampianina, R. (2018). Leaders and decision making: A study of the drivers of courage. Problems and Perspectives in Management, 16(1), 320-329. https://doi.org/10.21511/ppm.16(1).2018.31

• Sassenrath, C., Pfattheicher, S., & Keller, J. (2016). I might ease your pain, but only if you’re sad: The impact of the empathized emotion in the empathy-helping association. Motivation and Emotion, 41(1), 96-106. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-016-9586-2

• Serbulea, M. (2020). Bioethics gone viral: How to protect ourselves from any virus. Eubios Journal of Asian and International Bioethics, 30(3), 66-69.

• Sim, B. L. H., Chidambaram, S. K., Wong, X. C., Pathmanathan, M. D., Peariasamy, K. M., Hor, C. P., Chua, H. J., & Goh, P. P. (2020). Clinical characteristics and risk factors for severe COVID-19 infections in Malaysia: A nationwide observational study. The Lancet Regional Health - Western Pacific, 4, Article e100055. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanwpc.2020.100055

• Steger, M. F., Frazier, P., Oishi, S., & Kaler, M. (2006). The meaning in life questionnaire: Assessing the presence of and search for meaning in life. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 53(1), 80-93. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.53.1.80

• Sumner, R. C., & Kinsella, E. L. (2021). Grace under pressure: Resilience, burnout, and wellbeing in frontline workers in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, Article e3757. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.576229

• Taylor, S., & Asmundson, G. J. (2020). Life in a post-pandemic world: What to expect of anxiety-related conditions and their treatment. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 72, Article e102231. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2020.102231

• Vohs, K. D., Aaker, J. L., & Catapano, R. (2019). It’s not going to be that fun: Negative experiences can add meaning to life. Current Opinion in Psychology, 26, 11-14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2018.04.014

• Williams, S., Armitage, C. J., Tampe, T., & Dienes, K. (2020). Public perceptions and experiences of social distancing and social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic: A UK-based focus group study. medRxiv. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.04.10.20061267

• Womick, J., Atherton, B., & King, L. A. (2020). Lives of significance (and purpose and coherence): Subclinical narcissism, meaning in life, and subjective well-being. Heliyon, 6(5), Article e03982. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e03982

• Zhang, J., Litvinova, M., Liang, Y., Wang, Y., Wang, W., Zhao, S., Wu, Q., Merler, S., Viboud, C., Vespignani, A., Ajelli, M., & Yu, H. (2020). Changes in contact patterns shape the dynamics of the COVID-19 outbreak in China. Science, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abb8001

• Zhooriyati, S. M., & Despois, D. Y. (2022). Spillover-crossover effects of work-life conflict among married academicians in private university. Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 30(1), 139-157. https://doi.org/10.47836/pjssh.30.1.08