Handbook of the Science of Existential Psychology

by Vail, Kenneth E.; Van Tongeren, Daryl R.; Schlegel, Rebecca J.; Greenberg, Jeff; King, Laura A.; Ryan, Richard M.

• ISBN13: 9781462560226
• ISBN10: 1462560229
• eBook ISBN(s): 9781462560233
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2026-03-26
• Publisher: The Guilford Press
• More Book Details

Summary

Showcasing cutting-edge research in a dynamic area, this authoritative volume explores how people navigate psychological experiences that are fundamentally about the nature of existence. In 65 compelling chapters, preeminent editors and contributors describe the field's conceptual foundations, methods, and contemporary findings. The Handbook is focused on issues of "being and becoming" in mental and social life, including: time, aging, and death; freedom, authenticity, and moral responsibility; isolation, uncertainty, and shared reality; culture, the self, and identity; the quest for meaning and purpose; religion and spirituality; and awe, personal growth, and what comprises the "good life." 

Author Biography

Kenneth E. Vail III, PhD, is Associate Professor of Psychology and Director of the Social Psychology and Existential Attitudes Research Laboratory at Cleveland State University (CSU). Dr. Vail’s research focuses on existential psychology, including the consequences of humans’ awareness of their own mortality, autonomy, and choice freedom, and the influence of these existential concerns on cultural activity, personal growth, and both physical and mental health. He is cofounder and president of the International Society for the Science of Existential Psychology. Dr. Vail is a recipient of the Rising Star Award from the Association for Psychological Science, as well as research, teaching, mentoring, and service awards from CSU. 

Daryl R. Van Tongeren, PhD, is Associate Professor of Psychology and Director of the Frost Center for Social Science Research at Hope College. He addresses “big questions” humans face by conducting multimethod research from an existential perspective. His recent research foci include the causes and consequences of religious deidentification and the costs and benefits of intellectual humility in the face of existential challenges. With over 200 publications, Dr. Van Tongeren is a recipient of the Rising Star Award from the Association for Psychological Science and of Early Career Awards from the Society for the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality (Division 36 of the American Psychological Association) and the International Society for the Science of Existential Psychology.

Rebecca J. Schlegel, PhD, is Professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Texas A&M University (TAMU), Co-Principal Investigator in the TAMU Existential Psychology Collaboratory, and Interim Director of the TAMU Institute for Technology Infused Learning. Her research focuses on issues related to self/identity, authenticity, and meaning in life, particularly on the idea of a “true self” and the ways in which people use beliefs surrounding their avowed true self to imbue their life with meaning. In recent years, Dr. Schlegel has worked with education researchers, computer scientists, and engineers in an interdisciplinary effort to develop and test interventions that aim to foster an academic sense of self among students in elementary, middle, and high school. 

Jeff Greenberg, PhD, is Regents Professor of Psychology and College of Science Fellow at the University of Arizona. His work has contributed to understanding self-serving biases, how motivation affects cognition, the effects of ethnic slurs, the role of self-awareness in depression, cognitive dissonance, existential isolation, and how concerns about death contribute to prejudice, self-esteem striving, and many other aspects of social behavior. Cocreator of terror management theory, Dr. Greenberg is a recipient of honors including the Distinguished Career Contributions Award from the International Society for the Science of Existential Psychology, the Career Contribution Award from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, and the Outstanding Lifetime Career Award from the International Society for Self and Identity.

Laura A. King, PhD, is Curators’ Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Director of the Personality Dynamics Lab at the University of Missouri–Columbia. Her research focuses primarily on the experience of meaning in life, embedding that experience in everyday life. She has also examined the existential benefits of worldviews, such as right-wing authoritarianism, and the existential challenge of pluralism. Dr. King is a recipient of the Jack Block Award for Distinguished Research in Personality from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, among other research and teaching awards. She has served in many editorial and leadership roles in personality and social psychology. A member of the LGBTQ+ community, Dr. King has advocated for diversity and inclusion in these various roles. 

Richard M. Ryan, PhD, is Professor at the Institute for Positive Psychology and Education at the Australian Catholic University. He is also Distinguished Professor in the College of Education at Ewha Womans University, Republic of Korea; Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of Rochester; and Visiting Professor at Imperial College London, United Kingdom. The co-developer of self-determination theory, Dr. Ryan is a therapist, consultant, and cofounder of Motivation Works, an organizational research and intervention firm. He is the most-cited psychologist in the world today and has authored over 450 papers and books. Dr. Ryan has been honored with four lifetime achievement awards for his work on motivation, personal meaning, self and identity, and existential psychology.

Table of Contents

Introduction 
I. Philosophical Roots, Scientific Methods 
1. The Role of Death in Becoming Subjective and Cultivating Meaning in Kierkegaard, Sophie Höfer & Adam Buben
2. A Sense of Freedom: Free Will in Contemporary Analytic Philosophy and Sartre’s Being and Nothingness, Stephen Kearns & Alfred R.Mele
3. Determination and Transcendence: An Existentialist Account of Our Freedom to Shape Ourselves in a Deterministic World, Derk Pereboom
4. The Failure of Science and the Science of Failure: Toward a Black Existential Psychology, Timothy J. Golden
5. Research Methods in the Science of Existential Psychology, Matthew Vess
II. Death, Aging, and Time 
6. Back to the Future: Terror Management Theory--Review and Preview, Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg, & Tom Pyszczynski
7. The Nature Problem: Wilderness, Animals, and the Human Body, Uri Lifshin, Sarah Elizabeth Wolfe, Lauren Keira Marie Smith, Stylianos Syropoulos, Immo Fritsche, & Fabian M. Hess
8. Near-Death Experiences: An Overview and Implications for Mortality, Natasha Ann Tassell-Matamua, Bruce Greyson, & Philip J. Cozzolino
9. Death Anxiety and Mental Health, Rachel Menzies
10. Health in the Spotlight and Shadow of Death: The Terror Management Health Model, Emily P. Courtney, Jamie L. Goldenberg, & Jamie Arndt
11. Suicide: The Fatal Withdrawal from Life, Joseph Hayes & Robert W.G. Tupper
12. Existential Neuroscience: Bridging Philosophy, Psychology, and the Brain, Markus Quirin & Georg Northoff
13. Time, Scarcity, and Savoring the Moment, Jaime L. Kurtz & Ryan Murphy
14. Nostalgia: The Existential Value of Temporal Longing, Constantine Sedikides & Tim Wildschut
15. An Existential Perspective on Aging into Older Adulthood, Molly Maxfield
III. Freedom, Authenticity, and Moral Responsibility 
16. Developmental Research on Children’s Understanding of Choice and Constraints, Xin Zhao
17. How the Existential Agent Functions: Free Will and Self-Regulation, Roy F. Baumeister
18. From Authenticity to I–Thou Relationships: Self-Determination Theory as a Framework for the Study of Existential-Phenomenological Psychology, William S. Ryan & Richard M. Ryan
19. Solving the Existential Problem of Choice: Sartre, Free Will, Goal Breakthroughs, Courage, Autonomy, and Self-Concordance, Kennon M. Sheldon
20. Authenticity and True Selves, Rebecca J. Schlegel & Grace N. Rivera
21. Don’t Tread on Me: Freedom and Reactance to Autonomy Threat, Benjamin David Rosenberg, Thomas Bernhard Coulson, Christopher M. Falco, & Jason T. Siegel
22. The Tyranny of Freedom: Choice Overload, Decision Fatigue, and the Meaning of Choice, Nathan N. Cheek
23. The Art of Choosing: Navigating the Benefits and Costs of Choice, Elena Reutskaja & Raffaella Misuraca 
24. Belief in Free Will, Moral Responsibility, and Personal Agency, Elizabeth Seto
25. Morality, the Self, and Self-Conscious Emotions, Jessica L. Tracy, Gabrielle C. Ibasco, & Ian Hohm 
IV. Isolation, Uncertainty, and Shared Reality 
26. Existential Isolation and I-Sharing: Theoretical and Empirical Contributions, Elif Bilal & Peter J. Helm 
27. Shared Reality, Matteo Masi & Gerald Echterhoff 
28. Navigating Uncertainty: Cognitive Closure, Information Processing, Epistemic Authority in the Pursuit of Knowledge, Karolina Bonarska, Jakub Cacek, Malgorzata Kossowska, & Ewa Szumowska 
29. Uncertainty and Social Identity, Benjamin J. Anjewierden, Kathryn M. Kincaid, Amber M. Gaffney, & David E. Rast 
30. How Meaningful Values Supplant Reactive Approach Motivation for Hostile Worldview Extremes, Ian McGregor
31. An Attachment Perspective on the Management of Existential Concerns and Cultivation of Personal Growth, Mario Mikulincer & Phillip R. Shaver 
32. Ostracism as an Existential Threat, Sydney G. Wicks, Sarah Mohammadi, Natasha R. Wood, & Andrew H. Hales 
33. Existential Loneliness and Aging, Phoebe E. McKenna-Plumley & Jenny M. Groarke
V. Culture, Self, and Identity 
34. The Cultural Pursuit of Meaning, Steven J. Heine & Michael B. Mask 
35. Metaphor Shapes Existential Cognition, Mark Landau, Amy P. Kenny, & Young-Ju Ryu
36. Cultural–Existential Psychology: The Societal Roots of Threat and Defense, Daniel Sullivan, Alexis N. Goad, Roman Palitsky, Harrison J. Schmitt, & Isaac F. Young
37. A Hero’s Wrath: Taming the Sense of Chaos and Cultivating a Meaningful Sense of Self Through Moral Outrage, Zachary K. Rothschild & Lucas A. Keefer 
38. Life in Plastic, Not So Fantastic: A Barbie-Informed Feminist Existential Perspective on the Objectification of Women, Jamie L. Goldenberg, Tomi-Ann Roberts, & Roxanne N. Felig
39. State Authenticity as Identity-Based Fit to Environment: The SAFE Model, Constantine Sedikides & Toni Schmader 
40. Narrative Identity, Dan P. McAdams & Sebnem Ture
41. How and Why Does Personality Change across the Lifespan?, Muchen Xi & Joshua J. Jackson 
VI. Meaning and Purpose 
42. Commonplace Meaning in Life, Erica A. Holberg & Laura A. King 
43. Dynamic Variation in Finding Meaning and Purpose in Daily Life, David B. Newman & Paul K. Lutz 
44. The Existential Dynamics of Politics: Understanding the Links between Political Beliefs, Well-Being, and Meaning in Life, Jake Womick, Julianna Ochoa-Peralta, Kevin Flores, Sarahi Lopez Amaro, & Andre Martinez, Jr.
45. Science and Religion: Meaning-Making Tools Competing to Explain the World, Natalia Zarzeczna & Roosa Haimila 
46. Making Life Matter: The Role of Sociocultural and Experiential Significance, Lydia M. Needy, Michael Austin Day, Xiaobo Xu, & Joshua A. Hicks 
47. From Conscious Wishes to Nonconscious Actions, Gabriele Oettingen
48. Boredom and Meaning: Managing Everyday Existential Dread, Eric Raymound Igou, Wijnand Adriaan Pieter van Tilburg, Andrew Bryan Moynihan, & Muireann Kate O'Dea
49. Pathways to Meaning and Meaning Maintenance in an Ever-Changing World, Pninit Russo-Netzer & Stefan E. Schulenberg 
50. Making Meaning of Adversity: A Conceptual and Empirical Overview, Crystal L. Park
51. The Search for Meaning: A Review of Research and Theory, Michael F. Steger & Dylan R. Marsh
VII. Religion and Spirituality 
52. Death Awareness and Religious Faith, Kenneth E. Vail III, Madhwa S. Galgali, Ashley D. Seeling, & Caroline C. Lapish
53. Agency, Free Will Beliefs and Religion: Implications for Meaning Making, Self-Regulation, Well-Being, and Attributional Thinking, Jeffrey D. Green, Stephanie Anne Barrientos Barrientos, & Isabella L. Di Lauro 
54. Facing the Existential Chasm: The Nonreligious Quest for Meaning and Existential Security, Daryl R. Van Tongeren 
55. Nonreligious Paths to Existential Fulfillment, Luke Galen
56. Religious and Spiritual Struggles: A Brief Overview Highlighting Links with Existential Topics, Julie J. Exline & Kenneth I. Pargament 
57. Guided by the Glimpse: The Psychology of Meaning from Anomalous Experience, Ralph W. Hood, Jr. & Jonathan Dinsmore 
VIII. Awe, Growth, and the Good Life 
58. Awe, Megan E. Edwards & Patty Van Cappellen 
59. The Transformative Self: How the Narrative Architecture of Identity Frames Humane Flourishing and Authenticity, Jack J. Bauer 
60. Familiarity Seeking: Growing and Learning from Repeat Experiences, Yuji Katsumata Winet & Ed O'Brien 
61. The Pursuit of Happiness: Toxic Positivity or an Existentially Worthy Goal in Life, Frank Martela 
62. Exploring Psychological Richness and Its Implications for a Good Life, Elizabeth A. Janey & Shigehiro Oishi 
63. Tangled Integration: Weaving Together Philosophy, Science, and Practice to Advance Existential Ideas, Kevin Aho, Natalie Fraser, & Carol Ryff 
64. Existential–Humanistic Psychotherapy: An Integrative, Multicultural Perspective, Kirk J. Schneider, Theopia Reness Jackson, & Louis Hoffman 
65. Courage amid Suffering: A Model of Existential Hope, Daryl R. Van Tongeren & Sara A. Showalter Van Tongeren
Author Index
Subject Index