Psychology7 papers
Measuring the unmeasurable: Psychometric tools for Existential Concerns
Key psychometric instruments for measuring existential concerns: meaning in life, existential isolation, and existential anxiety.
ES
Evgeny Smirnov
All Reviews
PsychologyWorth Reading
intermediate
Paul Tillich's theory of existential anxiety: A preliminary conceptual and empirical examination
Carl F. Weems et al. (2004)
- Published
- Dec 1, 2004
- Journal
- Anxiety, Stress & Coping · Vol. 17 · No. 4
- DOI
- 10.1080/10615800412331318616
At a Glance
Introduces and validates the EAQ, a brief scale testing Tillich’s 3-domain model of existential anxiety and links it to distress
SummaryAI
This paper brings Paul Tillich’s philosophical theory of existential anxiety into testable psychological science by operationalizing his three domains — death/fate, meaninglessness/emptiness, and guilt/condemnation. The authors develop a short self-report instrument (EAQ) and show, across two diverse student samples, that it has acceptable reliability and a factor structure broadly consistent with Tillich’s model. EAQ scores are common in the population and correlate with both anxiety and depression symptoms, while also predicting identity-related distress beyond an established "purpose in life" measure. The work suggests existential concerns are measurable, prevalent, and clinically relevant, motivating longitudinal and clinical-diagnosis studies.
Method Snapshot
Scale development plus psychometric validation using confirmatory factor analysis and correlational/regression tests of convergent and incremental validity in two samples.
Background
Basic knowledge of psychology measurement (reliability/validity), factor analysis, and core existential psychology concepts (death, meaning, guilt) under Tillch's framework.
One of the first (and good!) attempt to operationalize Tillich's notions of existential (ontological) anxiety and differentiate it from the regular one. IMO more reliable (content validity) than ECQ.
— ES