Visio Colletiva: The Role of Joint Fantasizing in Qualitative Social Research

This study explores joint fantasizing as a valuable methodological tool in qualitative social research, emphasizing its potential to uncover hidden and sensitive content. Traditional methods, like interviews, often fail to capture authentic expressions due to social dynamics and self-presentation concerns. Joint fantasizing, involving collaborative creation of improbable scenarios, offers a unique way to access natural, unguarded dialogues, especially among marginalized groups. By enabling participants to explore complex emotions, values, and identities through absurd, imaginative narratives, it reveals how people negotiate social boundaries and construct self-concepts. Despite its strengths, joint fantasizing poses challenges due to its sporadic occurrence and the need for rapport between researchers and participants. We suggest strategies to enhance its ecological validity, including minimizing researcher influence and using naturalistic or participant-led settings. Ultimately, joint fantasizing provides a powerful means of accessing content that traditional methods might overlook, offering deeper insights into identity and group dynamics.