Citation: Andersen, Aida Hougaard, Dorte T. Viftrup, and Mads Bank. 2023. Being and Becoming among Young People Revealed through the Experience of COVID-19. Religions 14: 47. https://doi.org/10.3390/ rel14010047 Academic Editor: Christine A. James Received: 3 November 2022 Revised: 12 December 2022 Accepted: 21 December 2022 Published: 28 December 2022 Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). religions Article Being and Becoming among Young People Revealed through the Experience of COVID-19 Aida Hougaard Andersen 1, * , Dorte T. Viftrup 2 and Mads Bank 1 1 Department of Psychology, The Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Southern Denmark, 5230 Odense, Denmark 2 Department of Public Health, The Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Southern Denmark, 5230 Odense, Denmark * Correspondence: ahandersen@health.sdu.dk Abstract: The lockdown of society arising out of COVID-19 can be viewed as a microscope exposing the existential conditions and challenges of young people’s lives and their manner of dealing with crises. This study employs a qualitative research methodology using semi-structured interviews of 19 young people, aged 16–17 years, after the second COVID-19 lockdown in Denmark, March 2021. An analytical strategy was applied using reflexive methodology taking concepts from Søren Kierkegaard, Martin Buber, and Martin Heidegger to interpret the participants’ experiences of existential themes important to them, such as identity. Drawing on Kierkegaard’s idea of different “interpretive spheres” of life, we suggest that crisis revealed a disruption of the young peoples’ performance-oriented approach to life that made it possible to reflect and relate to themselves through aesthetic, ethical and self-transcending spheres. We suggest that the relationship to the other—as an ethical obligation, as an affective Being-with, and as something bigger than themselves—is crucial to the ways in which young people handle and relate to existential challenges and the experience of being and becoming themselves. The findings contribute to education and well-being, pointing out mental challenges among young people and stressing an existential focus as a priority in educational practice. Keywords: existential well-being; young people; COVID-19; existential health; existential phenomenology; education; relationship; prevention 1. Introduction This study aims to contribute to knowledge about young people’s existential condi- tions and well-being. We examine Danish young people’s existential experiences in relation to the changed conditions of life caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In Denmark, the COVID-19 pandemic first led to a lockdown of society from 11 March 2020 and again from January 2021. The restrictions limited the amount of physical contact outside the household, required the wearing of a mask in public spaces, the lockdown of schools and leisure activities, and made working from home obligatory for all companies where possible (Nyhederne TV2 2020; Sundhedsstyrelsen [National Board of Health] 2020). One of the main arguments for the restrictions made by the government was the need to show social responsibility towards the wider community and vulnerable people under the motto: “Together, separately” (Clotworthy et al. 2021; Sørensen 2020). Although some young people experienced positive consequences such as an increased sense of gratitude and empathy (Beames et al. 2021; Kerekes et al. 2021), the consequences for the mental health of young people in general have been negative (Meherali et al. 2021; Nearchou et al. 2020). Lockdown in particular with the lack of social contact and the challenges related to online schooling generally seem to have had an impact on young people’s well-being (Almeida et al. 2021; Kutsar and Kurvet-Käosaar 2021; Scott et al. 2021). In Denmark, it was the second wave of COVID-19 that particularly affected young people in a negative way (Würtzen et al. 2021). Religions 2023, 14, 47. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14010047 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/religions