Deck 14: Existential Psychoanalysis Rollo May

Question 1

According to existentialists such as May,knowledge is

A) the accumulation of objective facts throughout the life span.
B) the ability to apply logic to novel problems.
C) defined by doing rather than thinking.
D) the ability to ponder and discuss existential issues.

Answer 1

 C

Question 2

According to May,powerlessness leads to impotence and apathy,which in turn can lead to a

A) desire to take effective action.
B) preoccupation with one's self.
C) stoic attitude.
D) violent and hostile posture.

Answer 2

 D

Question 3

May believed that the concept of stress

A) does not adequately describe anxiety.
B) should be used in lieu of the term anxiety.
C) is distinctly bound to consciousness and subjectivity.
D) is useful because it is directly quantifiable.

Answer 3

 A

Question 4

May stated that we need to adopt which kind of values?

A) New ones that fit our present situation
B) Old-fashioned, traditional ones
C) Religious, spiritual ones
D) Technological ones that reflect our power over nature

Question 5

Existentialism is most closely associated with which personality theorist?

A) Rogers
B) Maslow
C) Beck
D) May

Question 6

Which statement best describes the existentialist attitude toward empiricism?

A) Existentialism suggests that we need to simplify complex empirical data.
B) Existentialism criticizes contemporary psychology for being too empirical.
C) Existentialism seeks to be less empirical by first developing an abstract concept of what it means to be human.
D) Existentialism seeks to be more empirical by looking at the whole human being.

Question 7

Existentialists believe that psychologists' concern with lawfulness and predictability

A) is antiscientific.
B) is their greatest contribution to understanding human nature.
C) should be tempered in the direction of greater objectivity.
D) stands in the way of their understanding of the real person.

Question 8

Dr.Lopez is a clinical psychologist whose belief about sickness is similar to that of Rollo May.Therefore,Dr.Lopez believes that

A) sickness is a strategy whereby an individual seeks to preserve his or her being.
B) individuals are lured into the sick role because it is sanctioned by our modern society.
C) sickness inevitably leads to suicide.
D) sickness is a byproduct of genetic or biological dysfunctions.

Question 9

In 1977,May defined _________ as "the apprehension cued off by a threat to some value that the individual holds essential to his or her existence as a person."

A) powerlessness
B) the daimonic
C) anxiety
D) stress

Question 10

In his definition of anxiety,May suggested that anxiety

A) is the same thing as stress.
B) sharply delineates the distinction between self and object.
C) enhances the security base of an activity.
D) is an inevitable characteristic of being human.

Question 11

What did May believe about consciousness of self?

A) It cannot be studied.
B) It develops automatically throughout the lifespan.
C) It comes at the risk of anxiety and inner conflict.
D) It is not limited to the human species.

Question 12

May believed that the central problem we faced in the second half of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first century is

A) the increasing world population.
B) a pervasive feeling of powerlessness.
C) repressed sexuality.
D) environmental pollution.

Question 13

What does the existential approach in psychology focus on?

A) Understanding human beings in terms of classical and operant conditioning
B) The human being as he or she is emerging and becoming
C) The interaction of id, ego, and superego
D) The death instinct in human beings

Question 14

According to May,what is the reason for the intensification of anxiety in contemporary times?

A) Alienation and isolation
B) Hypercompetitiveness
C) Economic uncertainty
D) The globalization of society

Question 15

Existentialists point out that a law can be true and still not

A) apply equally to males and females.
B) be fair.
C) be real.
D) apply equally to the young and the old.

Question 16

Two major trends that Rollo May's work brings together are

A) psychoanalysis and existentialism.
B) existentialism and cognitive theory.
C) learning theory and psychoanalysis.
D) learning theory and cognitive theory.

Question 17

Dr.Young is a psychology professor whose research focuses on psychotherapy.She is currently involved in a study in which she is surveying the types of problems presented by clients to psychotherapists.According to May's theories regarding the most pervasive problems faced in modern society,Dr.Young should expect issues involving ______ to be most prevalent.

A) feelings of powerlessness
B) adjustment to changing gender roles
C) hallucinations and delusions
D) financial stressors

Question 18

Existentialism and psychoanalysis are alike because both

A) originated in the same era.
B) take a teleological perspective.
C) try to understand anxiety, despair, and alienation.
D) emphasize the ontological state of human beings.

Question 19

Which of the following would be the closest to the posture of an existentialist?

A) The jockey in a horse race
B) The horse's owner
C) The judge who decides which horse came in first
D) The spectators in the stands

Question 20

According to May,the source of our current problem lies in

A) our denial of the value of individual competition.
B) the loss of the center of values of society.
C) our inability to empathize with others.
D) our emphasis on global cooperation.

Question 21

May places the problem of determination and freedom on a deeper level by focusing on the concept of

A) love.
B) intentionality.
C) the daimonic.
D) power.

Question 22

Ronald represses all of his angry impulses and,as a result,has become consumed by them.The term that May would use to describe to Ronald's anger is

A) daimonic.
B) paradox.
C) existence.
D) intentionality.

Question 23

The business of social networking depends most on the changing views of

A) consciousness
B) gender and sexuality
C) altruism
D) privacy and self-disclosure

Question 24

According to May,we cannot know the truth until we have

A) listened to the opinion of others.
B) looked at it with detached objectivity.
C) taken a stand on it.
D) tested it experimentally.

Question 25

Regarding feelings,May believed that

A) people should recognize that they play an active role in creating their own feelings.
B) feelings are less important than the behaviors to which they lead.
C) feelings are more universal and less idiosyncratic than most individuals recognize.
D) the accumulation of positive and negative feelings is typically equivalent over the course of the life span.

Question 26

Regarding sex,May argued that

A) we should strive to increase the separation of sex and Eros.
B) the sexual freedom established during the 1960s and 1970s has led to more positive results than were expected at the time.
C) emotion has become separated from reason and the body is used as a machine.
D) the premature awakening of sex so prevalent in our time also leads to awakening at other levels.

Question 27

In his existential analysis of personality,May sought to dissolve the traditional dualism of ________ that has pervaded Western thought since Descartes.

A) science and philosophy
B) object and subject
C) war and peace
D) I and thou

Question 28

According to May,the ingredient that is missing from human relationships in today's society is

A) care.
B) objectivity.
C) power.
D) sexual freedom.

Question 29

According to May,what is the main question in the Oedipal drama?

A) Why was Oedipus exiled as a baby?
B) Will Oedipus recognize what he has done?
C) Will Oedipus be punished?
D) Why did Oedipus murder his father?

Question 30

Why does May believe that love has become a problem in today's society?

A) Because people feel guilty about having sex
B) Because sex and Eros have become one
C) Because we have sex without relating to one another
D) Because the sexual revolution has brought happiness without love

Question 31

May believed that Freud's concept of determinism is useful in discussing

A) inanimate objects.
B) neurotics.
C) only male patients.
D) any human being.

Question 32

Despite her clear understanding that it is wrong,two-year-old Amanda is forever attempting to climb objects to reach a colorful,glass sculpture that sits on a high shelf in the living room.Amanda is demonstrating which state of consciousness?

A) Creative consciousness of self
B) Ordinary consciousness of self
C) Stage of innocence
D) Stage of rebellion

Question 33

Why is suicide accorded a central place in existentialist philosophy?

A) Because awareness of one's responsibility for one's life enables one to confront life and death
B) Because existentialism has an inherently pessimistic point of view that sees suicide as a viable alternative to overwhelming demands
C) Because existentialists believe that all humans actively gravitate toward self-destruction
D) Because one cannot enjoy life without entertaining thoughts of the paradoxical condition of death

Question 34

Which of the following couplings might best be posited in a paradox?

A) Gold and silver
B) Loud and quiet
C) Smooth and round
D) Violent and hostile

Question 35

Which statement accurately describes May's attitude toward feelings?

A) May encourages us to ascribe feelings to machines and computers.
B) May believes most of us have a clear idea of our feelings.
C) May points out that being aware of our desires implies acting on them.
D) May sees a need for us to rediscover our feelings.

Question 36

Which of the following is not among May's four stages of consciousness of self?

A) Stage of innocence
B) Creative consciousness of self
C) Ordinary consciousness of self
D) Stage of paradox

Question 37

In 1969,May defined __________ as "any natural function which has the power to take over the whole person."

A) creative consciousness
B) myth
C) the daimonic
D) anxiety

Question 38

May believed that myths

A) perpetuated untruths that increased existential angst.
B) were essential for psychological health.
C) robbed individuals of the opportunity to assign meaning to their lives.
D) were created by individuals whose values represented a societal norm.

Question 39

Which of May's four states of consciousness of self is analogous to Maslow's peak experience?

A) Creative consciousness of self
B) Ordinary consciousness of self
C) The stage of rebellion
D) The stage of innocence

Question 40

According to May,the worst thing about television viewing is that it

A) breeds bravado.
B) cultivates passivity.
C) inhibits self-reliance.
D) promotes imitation.

Question 41

Like Rollo May,________ emphasized the search for meaning as a primary task of life.

A) B. F. Skinner
B) Aaron Beck
C) Viktor Frankl
D) John Dollard

Question 42

Describe the central predicament that human beings face,according to May.

Question 43

Discuss the existentialist approach to scientific methodology.

Question 44

Research to identify the types of people who use social media have revealed that

A) introverts are more likely than extroverts to become involved in online social networks.
B) social media users are more conscientious than non-users.
C) characteristics such as neuroticism, loneliness, shyness, and narcissism are reflected in the preferences for specific features.
D) Facebook users usually do not present accurate reflections of their personalities in their profiles.

Question 45

Show how May confronted the paradoxes involved in each of the following goals of integration: love,intentionality,the daimonic,courage and creativity,power,freedom,and destiny.

Question 46

May wanted to develop new myths that are characterized by

A) equality between men and women.
B) hyperindividualism.
C) patriotism and the new nationalism.
D) women seen in the context of their relationships with men.

Question 47

Identify two major traditions that Rollo May combines.

Question 48

Discuss what is involved in rediscovering selfhood.

Question 49

Dr.Griffith is a psychotherapist who was strongly influenced by the existential theories of Rollo May.Dr.Griffith is most likely to believe that the central task of the psychotherapist is to

A) understand the patient's mode of being and nonbeing.
B) penetrate the patient's defenses.
C) moderate the administration of drugs.
D) develop more effective techniques to strengthen the ego.

Question 50

Discuss the source of the human dilemma,according to May.

Question 51

Which of the following changes did May urge in psychological research on personality?

A) More rigorous scientific studies
B) More investigations into the positive aspects of human nature
C) More emphasis on ontological questions of what it means to be
D) More emphasis on causation

Question 52

Describe the philosophy of existentialism.

Question 53

Explain how May conceived of anxiety.How is anxiety intensified in contemporary culture?

Question 54

Evaluate May's theory in terms of its function as philosophy,science,and art.

Question 55

To what extent do you agree with the existentialist attitude that "there is no truth or reality for us as human beings except as we participate in it,are conscious of it,and have some relation to it"?

Question 56

How do May's concepts of freedom and destiny compare to the behavioral concept of utopia expressed in Skinner's Walden II?

Question 57

Describe May's methods of assessment and research,and describe Victor Frankl's contributions to existential personality theory.

Question 58

Describe the four ontological assumptions May makes concerning human beings and explain how they can give us a structural basis for a science of personality.

Question 59

Explain how May defined myth,why he believed we need new myths,and the types of myths he believed were currently needed.

Question 60

Describe the existentialist approach to psychotherapy.

Question 61

How might cultural variables influence an individual's experience of powerlessness or anxiety in contemporary culture?

Question 62

How does May's conceptualization of anxiety differ from the modern definition as manifest in anxiety disorder diagnoses (for example,phobias,obsessive-compulsive disorder)?

Question 63

For what types of problems is existential psychotherapy most ideally suited? For which types of problems is it most poorly suited?