Chapter 11. May: Existential Psychology

Question 1

A basic tenet of existentialism is that _________, meaning that what people do is more important than what they are.

Answer 1

existence precedes essence

Question 2

True or False. People are either subjective or objective: meaning, they are either thinking or acting beings.

Answer 2

False. People are BOTH subjective and objective: that is, they are thinking as well as acting beings.

Question 3

True or False. People are motivated to search for answers to important questions regarding the meaning of life.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

True or False. People have an equal degree of both freedom and responsibility.

Answer 4

True

Question 5

The unity of people and their phenomenological world is expressed what term?

Answer 5

Dasein, or being-in-the-world

Question 6

3 modes of being-in-the-world:

Answer 6

1. Umwelt
2. Mitwel
3. Eigenwelt

Question 7

One’s relationship with the world of things

Answer 7

Umwelt

Question 8

One’s relationship with the world of people.

Answer 8

Mitwelt

Question 9

One’s relationship with oneself.

Answer 9

Eigenwelt

Question 10

It is an awareness of the possibility of one’s not

being, through death or loss of awareness.

Answer 10

Nonbeing or nothingness

Question 11

True or False. People experience anxiety when they are aware of the possibility of their nonbeing as well as when they are aware that they are free to choose.

Answer 11

True

Question 12

It is experienced by everyone and is proportionate to the threat.

Answer 12

Normal anxiety

Question 13

It is disproportionate to the threat, involves repression, and is handled in a self-defeating manner.

Answer 13

Neurotic anxiety

Question 14

People experience guilt as a result of their:

Answer 14

1) separation from the natural world
2) inability to judge the needs of others
3) denial of their own potentials.

Question 15

What is the underlying structure that gives meaning to experience and allows people to make decisions about the future?

Answer 15

Intentionality

Question 16

It means taking delight in the presence of the other person and affirming that person’s value as much as one’s own.

Answer 16

Love

Question 17

___, a basic form of love, is a biological function that seeks satisfaction through the release of sexual tension.

Answer 17

Sex

Question 18

It is a higher form of love that seeks an enduring union with a loved one.

Answer 18

Eros

Question 19

_______ is the form of love that seeks a nonsexual friendship with another person.

Answer 19

Philia

Question 20

_______ is the highest form of love; is altruistic and seeks nothing from the other person.

Answer 20

Agape

Question 21

This is gained through confrontation with one’s destiny and through an understanding that death or nonbeing is a possibility at any moment.

Answer 21

Freedom

Question 22

What is the freedom of action, freedom to move about, to pursue tangible goals?

Answer 22

Existential freedom

Question 23

What is the freedom of being, freedom to think, to plan, to hope.

Answer 23

Essential freedom

Question 24

________ are belief systems, both conscious and unconscious, that provide explanations for personal and social problems.

Answer 24

Cultural myths