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.”

“This is the most comprehensive and useful volume on existential psychology to date. The Handbook shows how questions about mortality, freedom, meaning, and identity shape thought and behavior across nearly every area of psychology. The structure makes it easy to assign individual chapters or full sections in advanced undergraduate- and graduate-level courses on the self, moral psychology, religion, philosophy, or mental health. The writing is clear, evidence based, and intellectually serious, while still accessible to students. An ideal book for sparking discussion, building foundations in psychological theory, and connecting psychology to the real world.”

—Kurt Gray, PhD, Weary Foundation Endowed Chair in Social Psychology, The Ohio State University

“This outstanding handbook brings the rigors and sophistication of psychological science to the most profound aspects of the human predicament, including freedom, death, uncertainty, aging, and authenticity. Under the deft hands of a stellar editorial team, and with an impressive lineup of contributors, the volume explores topics that, despite being quintessentially psychological, have been left until recently to philosophers, novelists, and poets. An essential read for scholars and students interested in cutting-edge psychological insights into the mysteries of human nature and human adaptation in our quickly changing world.”

—Arie W. Kruglanski, PhD, Distinguished University Professor of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park

“Sixty-five remarkable chapters on life, death, and everything in between! Love and work, meaning and loss, knowledge and ignorance, freedom and oppression, happiness and misery, longing and anxiety, self-esteem and attachment, sex and objectification, morality and courage, acceptance and exclusion, politics and religion, aging and nostalgia, hope and despair, suicide and grief. It’s all here. The science of existential psychology is alive and well, and we need it now more than ever.”

—John T. Jost, PhD, Department of Psychology, New York University

About the Editors

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.

All titles by Jeff Greenberg

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.

Audience

Scholars and students in social and personality psychology and other psychological subdisciplines.

Course Use

May serve as a supplemental text in graduate-level courses.