"Re-authoring Life Scripts": A Study on the Intervention Mechanisms of Improvisational Narrative Theatre on the "Utilitarian Anxiety" of Financial Institution Students

Abstract

In the face of a highly competitive social environment, "utilitarian anxiety," characterized by "GPA-worship," "internship involution," and "refined egoism," has become a prominent issue affecting the mental health and value orientation of students in financial institutions. Traditional psychological interventions often focus on cognitive or emotional relief, rarely touching upon the existential roots and social narratives behind such anxiety. This study aims to explore the intervention mechanisms of a group intervention model integrating improvisational theatre and narrative therapy—"Improvisational Narrative Theatre"—on the "utilitarian anxiety" of students in financial institutions. Employing a qualitative research paradigm, this study collected and analyzed the experiential materials of 15 finance major students who participated in an "Improvisational Narrative Theatre" workshop over three months, using methods of participatory observation, focus group interviews, and in-depth individual narrative interviews. The study found that the effectiveness of this intervention model does not stem from a linear effect of single therapeutic factors, but rather through four intertwined, spiraling mechanisms: 1. Discourse Externalization and Deconstruction: Participants used dramatized "problem externalization" techniques to objectify "anxiety," thereby separating it from the rigid identity of "I = my achievements." 2. Resetting and Accepting "Failure": The "here and now" and "Yes, and..." philosophies of improvisational theatre provided a "psychologically safe" space with high fault tolerance, allowing participants to reset their catastrophic cognition of "failure" through "embodied play." 3. Collective Witnessing and Empowerment of "Unique Outcomes": The group acted as an "appreciative audience," discovering and amplifying participants' "unique outcomes" (e.g., altruism, passion, cooperation) that existed outside the mainstream "utilitarian" narrative, thus enriching the diversity of their life scripts. 4. Embodied Reconstruction of "Being by Doing": Through theatre forms like "Future Self-Portraits," participants were able to "rehearse" a non-utilitarian, more integrated version of themselves. This "embodied action" promoted a profound shift from the cognitive to the existential level, achieving the "re-authoring" of their life scripts. This study reveals the intervention pathway of Improvisational Narrative Theatre as a form of "reflection-in-action" and "healing-in-relation," providing an operable, localized practical solution for mental health education in a new era of higher education, especially for value guidance and mindset cultivation for students in specific majors.