M2. Lesson 3: Existential Psychology

Question 1

What is the main basic tenet of existentialism?

Answer 1

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

Question 2

What is the second basic tenet or assumption of existentialism?

Answer 2

A second assumption is that people are both subjective and objective: that is, they are thinking as well as acting beings.

Question 3

What are people motivated to do according to existentialism?

Answer 3

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

Question 3

What are people motivated to do according to existentialism?

Answer 3

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

Question 4

What do people have an equal degree of?

Answer 4

People have an equal degree of both freedom and responsibility.

Question 5

What is Dasein?

Answer 5

The unity of people and their phenomenological world is expressed by the term Dasein, or being-in-the-world.

Question 6

What are the three modes of Dasein?

Answer 6

Three modes of being-in-the-world are Umwelt, one’s relationship with the world of things; Mitwelt, one’s relationship with the world of people; and Eigenwelt, one’s relationship with oneself.

Question 7

What is nonbeing?

Answer 7

Nonbeing, or nothingness, is an awareness of the possibility of one’s not being, through death or loss of awareness.

Question 8

When do people experience anxiety according to existentialism?

Answer 8

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.

Question 9

What is normal anxiety?

Answer 9

Normal anxiety is experienced by everyone and is proportionate to the threat.

Question 10

What is neurotic anxiety?

Answer 10

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

Question 11

Why do people experience guilt?

Answer 11

People experience guilt as a result of their (1) separation from the natural world, (2) inability to judge the needs of others, and (3) denial of their own potentials.

Question 12

What is intentionality?

Answer 12

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

Question 13

What is love (in the perspective of existential psychology)?

Answer 13

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

Question 14

What is sex (in the perspective of existential psychology)?

Answer 14

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

Question 15

What is eros (in the perspective of existential psychology)?

Answer 15

Eros, a higher form of love, seeks an enduring union with a loved one.

Question 16

What is philia (in the perspective of existential psychology)?

Answer 16

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

Question 17

What is agape (in the perspective of existential psychology)?

Answer 17

Agape, the highest form of love, is altruistic and seeks nothing from the other person.

Question 18

What is freedom (in the perspective of existential psychology)?

Answer 18

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

Question 19

What is existential freedom?

Answer 19

Existential freedom is freedom of action, freedom to move about, to pursue tangible goals.

Question 20

What is essential freedom?

Answer 20

Essential freedom is freedom of being, freedom to think, to plan, to hope.

Question 21

What are cultural myths?

Answer 21

Cultural myths are belief systems, both conscious and unconscious, that provide explanations for personal and social problems

Question 22

When did existential psychology begin to spread?

Answer 22

Shortly after World War II, a new psychology—existential psychology—began to spread from Europe to the United States.

Question 23

What is existential psychology rooted in?

Answer 23

Existential psychology is rooted in the philosophy of Søren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger, Jean-Paul Sartre, and other European philosophers.

Question 24

Who were the first existential psychologists and psychiatrists?

Answer 24

The first existential psychologists and psychiatrists were also Europeans, and these included Ludwig Binswanger, Medard Boss, Victor Frankl, and others.

Question 25

Who was the foremost spokesperson for existential psychology in the US?

Answer 25

For nearly 50 years, the foremost spokesperson for existential psychology in the United States was Rollo May.

Question 26

What did May evolve during his time as a psychotherapist?

Answer 26

During his years as a psychotherapist, May evolved a new way of looking at human beings.

Question 27

What was May’s approach based in?

Answer 27

His approach was not based on any controlled scientific research but rather on clinical experience.

Question 28

How did May see people?

Answer 28

He saw people as living in the world of present experiences and ultimately being responsible for who they become.

Question 29

What made May popular as a writer?

Answer 29

May’s penetrating insights and profound analyses of the human condition made him a popular writer among laypeople as well as professional psychologists.

Question 30

What did May believe about neurotic people and psychologically healthy people respectively?

Answer 30

Many people, May believed, lack the courage to face their destiny, and in the process of fleeing from it, they give up much of their freedom. Having negated their freedom, they likewise run away from their responsibility. Not being willing to make choices, they lose sight of who they are and develop a sense of insignificance and alienation. In contrast, healthy people challenge their destiny, cherish their freedom, and live authentically with other people and with themselves. They recognize the inevitability of death and have the courage to live life in the present.