Existentialism In Psychology And Religion

1163 Words5 Pages
When we hear of existentialism, we tend to think philosophy (well I do at least), little do we know that it has made an influence in both psychology and in religion. The theories of Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers (often called “the Third Force”) for example express basic existential concepts. In religion we see that both Jesus and Buddha have forms of existential ideas incorporated into their teachings. Even though these three fields are very different, through existentialism they share a common idea, that is we as individual exist and through humanistic perspective we are who we are. “The Third Force” in psychology; the humanistic perspective focuses on those aspects of personality that make people who they are. It is what makes one person unique form another, personal opinion, and freedom of choice. Rogers believed that human beings are always striving to fulfill their innate capacities and capabilities and to become everything that their genetic potential will allow them to become. In other words we are born, live, and exist to be the best as we can. Self-actualizing tendency is what he called this “striving for fulfillment.” These tendencies can be help by first realizing the self-concept, or an image of oneself. Two important components of the self-concept are the real self (one’s actual perception of characteristics, traits, and abilities that form the basis of who we are) and the ideal self (the perception of what one should be or would like to be). Rogers believed that when the real self and the ideal self are very close or similar to each other, people feel proficient and capable, but when there is inequality between the real self and ideal self, anxiety and neurotic behavior can be the result. As a result, we are who we are primary from these two “selves,” and we basically live and exist to fulfill the expectations of self concept. For Rogers, a
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