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- Existential theory, or existentialism, is the philosophical school of thought dealing with questions of existence and how to live a meaningful life. The central theme of existentialism is that life has no predetermined or innate meaning, but people can use their free will to create identity and a sense of meaning for themselves.
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Rogers believed that each of us lives in a constantly changing private world, which he called the experiential field. Everyone exists at the center of their own experiential field, and that field can only be fully understood from the perspective of the individual. This concept has a number of important implications.
- Chris Allen
- 2020
- Self-Esteem
- Humility
- Neuroticism
- Perfectionism
- Self-Control
- Need For Closure
- Attachment Style
Self-esteem plays a central role in TMT. According to this model, self-esteem serves to protect the individual from the anxiety-provoking existential concerns at the heart of human existence (Greenberg et al. 1986). That is, self-esteem shields people from the terror induced by the awareness of our own inevitable death and decay. The aspirations, c...
Although much research suggests that self-esteem is a crucial resource in coping with existential threats and reminders of the fragility of life, some studies have highlighted the problems with such a self-centered defense mechanism. Behaviors linked to self-esteem that may result from death priming have included reduced prosocial behavior, heighte...
The personality dimension of neuroticism has been of particular interest to existential research. Neuroticism is characterized by a predisposition to feelings such as fear, anxiety, depression, and moodiness (Barlow et al. 2014). Given this tendency towards negative emotions, it is not surprising that existential concerns may be especially potent t...
Numerous studies have linked neuroticism to perfectionism. In fact, perfectionism has become known as a transdiagnostic construct that may partially mediate a range of neurotic conditions including obsessive compulsive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder and the eating disorders (see further, Shafran et al. 2010). Indeed, an overlap between Beck...
Self-control, defined as the ability to suppress one’s emotions, impulses, and personally desirable behaviors, also appears to be a key tool for managing anxiety about mortality. The personality domains of conscientiousness and agreeableness both have been shown to be conceptually linked to self-control (Ahadi and Rothbart 1994; Rothbart et al. 200...
Need for closure is another personality variable that has been the subject of existential research. Need for closure has been conceptualized as a stable dimension of individual differences involving a desire for quick and definite knowledge and a reluctance to accept new information which may undermine this (Kruglanski and Webster 1996). In additio...
Individual differences in attachment style have been shown to influence the effects of reminders of death. The attachment system is an important inner resource in the face of stress, leading people to seek proximity with others who can minimize distress, such as a parent or partner. Attachment styles represent enduring patterns of relational behavi...
- rmen9233@uni.sydney.edu.au
Aug 30, 2023 · Existential theory, or existentialism, is the philosophical school of thought dealing with questions of existence and how to live a meaningful life. The central theme of existentialism is that...
- Harry Webster
Apr 8, 2023 · Existential Theory: A Different Approach to Meaning. Existentialism has a unique perspective on meaning that sets it apart from the mainstream philosophies that preceded it – namely, that there is no inherent meaning. This is not to say that there is no meaning at all, just that there is no inherent, built-in, or “default” meaning in our world.
Oct 1, 2020 · Abstract. This article surveys the background and theory of the existential-phenomenological approach to psychology, with a particular focus on its reception in the United States. The article...
Jul 24, 2014 · Introduction. Existential psychotherapy is one of the longest-established forms of psychotherapy, dating back to the 1920s (Besora 1994; Cooper 2012; Straus 1959 ). In 1991, 3 % of APA Division 29 psychologists identified existential psychotherapy as their main theoretical orientation (Norcross et al. 1993 ).
"Existential psychoanalysis" is a trend in psychology and psychiatry best understood as a reaction against the theoretical and philosophical presuppositions of the psychologies based on natural science in general and of Freudian psychology in particular.