Exploring the phenomenological structure of existential anxiety as lived through transformative life experiences

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Phenomenology
• Existential Psychology

Background:

• Existential anxiety arises from awareness of universal concerns: death, meaninglessness, freedom, and loneliness.
• Transformative Life Experiences (TLEs) are significant events that can profoundly reorganize an individual's life.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically explore existential anxiety through a phenomenological lens.
• To investigate the subjective experience of existential concerns in the context of TLEs.

Main Methods:

• Conducted in-depth interviews with 150 adults who reported experiencing a TLE.
• Analyzed interview data using a hermeneutic phenomenology paradigm, focusing on lifeworld existentials (temporality, spatiality, corporality, relationality).

Main Results:

• Developed a heuristic model to connect the theoretical concept of existential anxiety with its subjective manifestation.
• The model facilitates understanding how individuals articulate existential concerns through their TLE narratives.

Conclusions:

• The developed model offers a framework for identifying dominant existential concerns, even when not explicitly stated.
• Findings have implications for clinical practice and future research on existential anxiety and TLEs.