Humanist/Existential Approaches
Existential concepts: focus on subjective experiences and the self - human beings are completely free and responsible for their own behaviour
Existential meaning
ACT Concepts: What is a rich and meaningful life? Taking action based on what we find meaningful and valuable
Assessment
Internal consistency (Cronbach's Alpha): how closely related a set of items are as a group
Victor Frankl (1905-1997)
Carl Rogers
The Multidimensional Existential Meaning Scale: Tripartite model
The Valued Living Questionnaire: values measure from an ACT perspective
Existential anxiety: The courage to be - to break out of blind conformity and instead strive for authenticity
Meaning in Life: the extent to which one's life is experienced as making sense
Comprehension: extent to which individuals perceive a sense of coherence and understanding regarding their lives
Purpose: extent to which life is directed and motivated by valued goals
Mattering: my existence is significant, important and of value to others
Here and Now: Focus on the present rather than distant historical causes
Person-centred: "when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change"
Humanistic approaches: people are basically good, inherent potential to have meaningful relationships, and to make good choices that are in the interests of self and others
We are all motivated by a will to meaning
Meaning comes from three sources
Purposeful work
Love
Courage in the face of difficulty
Q-Sort Methods: people are presented with lots of cards with printed statements eg I am likeable, I am anxious, and asked to sort into different piles - how I'd like to be (ideal self) and how I actually am (actual self)
An acceptable range is above .7
Should only use alpha on a defined subscale or factor, not a measure containing 2 or more factors
Assesses discrepancies between ideal and actual self
Psychological flexibility: being present in the here and now and choosing actions that are guided by your values
Cognitive fusion: when story and event become blended - thoughts are seen to represent reality
Struggle switch
Switch is on: mind chatter - "should of, could of, this must"- troublesmoe feelings snowball, acting inconsistent with values
Switch is off: anxiety comes, rises and goes - observe, don't wast time and energy struggling
Rate 10 domains based on importance and consistency over the past week
Item-total correlations not that strong - but you wouldn't expect similar scores between domains
Principal factor analysis: modest factor loadings for a single-factor model