Power as a Foundational Consideration of the Malay Community: A Psychological Analysis of Human Traits in Humorous Malay Folk Tale Musang Berjanggut (Bearded Fox)

This current research was carried out to investigate the psychological dimensions of human character, specifically with regards to the role of character in decision-making, accepting or rejecting certain options, and making choices within the context of the literary work of Musang Berjanggut (Bearded Fox). To explicate a psychological perspective for interpreting the human psyche within the literary discourse, the narrative therapy model comprising of three core phases; externalisation, reconstruction, and re-authoring is employed. The present study employs the narrative synthesis method during the externalisation phase and the thematic analysis method in the reconstruct and re-author stages to achieve the implementation of a qualitative research design, thereby accomplishing the adaptation of narrative therapy. The domain comparison analysis of Glasser’s Choice Theory elucidates the understanding of character judgement and posits that power exerts the greatest influence on individuals’ assessments of human characters concerning their reactions to rejection, acceptance, decision-making, and choice. The findings of the study have demonstrated that within the Malay societal framework, individuals exhibit a significant preoccupation with the status and hierarchy of others. This observation is of notable interest. The present investigation has revealed that power can manifest as a psychological encumbrance, which mandates attention in the evaluation of any determination associated with an individual’s personal, familial, or communal concerns.