What is unique about rollo may theory?

May used some traditional existential terms in a slightly different fashion than others, and he invented new words for traditional existentialist concepts. Destiny, for example, could be "thrownness" combined with "fallenness"? the part of our lives that is determined for us, for the purpose of creating our lives. He also used the word "courage" to signify resisting anxiety.

He defined certain "stages" of development:

Innocence ? the pre-egoic, pre-self-conscious stage of the infant.
An innocent is only doing what he or she must do. However, an innocent does have a degree of will in the sense of a drive to fulfill needs.
Rebellion ? the rebellious person wants freedom, but does not yet have a good understanding of the responsibility that goes with it.
Decision ? The person is in a transition stage in their life such that they need to be more independent from their parents and settle into the "ordinary stage". In this stage they must decide what to do with their life, and fulfilling rebellious needs from the rebellious stage.
Ordinary ? the normal adult ego learned responsibility, but finds it too demanding, and so seeks refuge in conformity and traditional values.
Creative ? the authentic adult, the existential stage, beyond ego and self-actualizing. This is the person who, accepting destiny, faces anxiety with courage.[citation needed]
These are not "stages" in the traditional sense. A child may certainly be innocent, ordinary or creative at times; an adult may be rebellious. The only association with certain ages is in terms of importance: rebelliousness is relatively more important for a two year old or a teenager.

May perceived the sexual mores of the 1960s and 1970s, as well as commercialization of sex and pornography, as having influenced society such that people believed that love and sex are no longer associated directly. According to May, emotion has become separated from reason, making it acceptable socially to seek sexual relationships and avoid the natural drive to relate to another person and create new life. May believed that sexual freedom can cause modern society to neglect more important psychological developments. May suggests that the only way to remedy the cynical ideas that characterize our times is to rediscover the importance of caring for another, which May describes as the opposite of apathy.

His first book, The Meaning of Anxiety, was based on his doctoral dissertation, which in turn was based on his reading of the 19th century philosopher Søren Kierkegaard. His definition of anxiety is "the apprehension cued off by a threat to some value which the individual holds essential to his existence as a self". He also quotes Kierkegaard: "Anxiety is the dizziness of freedom". In 1956, he edited the book Existence with Ernest Angel and Henri Ellenberger. Existence helped introduce existential psychology to the US.

The following terms and concepts make up May?s theory of personality:



Dasein (literally, to be there): all-hereness; an individual?s experiences and interpretations of the world right here, right now; the person is a ?being-in-the-world?; caught up in the world, taking a stand on one?s life, active and engaged at all times. This dynamic process of choosing, valuing, accepting, rejecting, means that humans are constantly becoming something different.

Modes of Existence: umwelt, mitwelt, eigenwelt: a familiar concept among existentialists. Our existence consists of these three categories: the physical aspects of both the internal and external environments, the personal relationships of the individual, and the individual?s consciousness. Each of us lives in all three worlds simultaneously.

Alienation: one?s estrangement from some aspect of his or her existence (nature, others, or self), resulting in loneliness, emptiness, and despair.

Freedom: the most important principle of existentialism: freedom to choose allows each of us to transcend the immediate circumstances of our lives; we do not have to be victimized by nature, others or self, unless, of course, this freedom is underdeveloped or denied.

Responsibility: With freedom comes the assumption of full responsibility for what we have become. Nothing or no one can be blamed for who we are. Freedom and responsibility are inseparable.

Ontology: the study of existence; what it means to be. Each of us may begin an ontological analysis of our experiences in nature, with relationships, and with ourselves. Two ontological questions: What does it mean to be a human being? What does it mean to be me?

Phenomenology: the study of what is given in human consciousness: the person?s consciousness and levels of awareness are studied in order to find meaning in that person.

Authenticity: the fully-functioning person; the self-actualizing person; living in positive relationships, creating challenges for personal growth, minimizing anxiety: these are the criteria for authenticity.

Death: ?To grasp what it means to exist, one needs to grasp the fact that he might not exist.? The inevitability of death should be a major incentive to live the full and meaningful life. Your years on earth are not a dress rehearsal. This is all you get. What are you going to do with the time that you have here? Death can be literal, but one can also die symbolically by not leading the authentic life.

Thrownness: the givens in life; our own personal limitations that characterize a person?s existence over which he or she has no control: one is born, one dies; nature destroys through earthquakes and volcanoes; genetic factors; thrownness determines the conditions under which we exercise our personal freedom. Thrownness cannot be changed, but we can interpret, value and act on these facts any way we want. May refers to these facts as our destiny, or ?the pattern of limits and talents that constitute the ?givens? in life.?

The following terms and concepts relate to May?s specific applications of existential philosophy to psychology:

Human Dilemma: the fact that humans can view themselves as both the subject and the object at the same time. Humans can see themselves as an object to which things happen; we are continually influenced by stimuli presented to us (Skinner?s theory); whether we respond or not to the stimuli depends on our rationality (Rogers? theory); our ability to self-relate is what distinguishes us from the rest of nature; ?man?s ability to stand outside himself?; we can view ourselves viewing, a metacognitive skill.

Intentionality: the means by which the dichotomy between subject and object is partially overcome; all emotional and mental experiences must relate to (intend) objects or events outside the person; the human capacity to perceive selectively and to assign meaning to objects and events in the world; the relationship between the thinking person and the outside world. Both the individual?s will (movement in a certain direction to fulfill specific goals) and wish (the imaginative playing with the possibility of future courses of action) are related to his/her intentionality. Intentionality, will, and wish are three of the most important concepts in May?s theory. Through these three cognitive constructs the person experiences his identity, exercises his freedom and senses his being.

Normal and Neurotic Anxiety: anxiety and freedom always go together. Anxiety is defined as the resulting response to anything that threatens our freedom. May?s definition of normal anxiety: ?the apprehension cued off by a threat to some value which the individual holds essential to his existence as a self.? Anxiety is necessary for growth and expansion of self; moving forward into the unknown is anxiety producing, an unfortunate companion of freedom of choice. Healthy anxiety should be recognized and accepted as inevitable. Neurotic anxiety is the feeling that comes when one decides to conform, accept conditions of worth of others, and give up possible personal growth, all in the name of safety and security. Neurotic anxiety, leading to psychological stagnation and intense feelings of guilt, is the subject of therapy.

Normal and Neurotic Guilt: normal guilt comes when one doesn?t live up to his/her potential as a human being; it is part of the human condition, like anxiety; normal guilt can be used constructively when it is recognized and consciously reduced by appropriate action; neurotic guilt is the result of giving up and taking no risks for growth and expansion of self.

Values: what we deem important and meaningful. In infancy: love, care, nourishment; in childhood and adolescence: approval, success, status among peers and autonomy from parents; in adulthood: those which transcend the immediate situation in time and encompass past and future, extending outward toward the good of the community and the larger world; holding mature values is more important than satisfying those values, i.e. search for beauty and truth is more important that actually finding it. Without functional values, we are alienated from the world and lose our sense of identity, worth, and significance; there is a sense of helplessness and aimlessness; ?if you don?t stand for something, you?ll fall for anything?: values and commitment go hand in hand; mature values allow a person to deal effectively with reality, to empathize with others, and to form meaningful interpersonal relationships, and to be future-oriented; without an adequate system of values, people depend on things outside themselves to indicate worth and significance?status, income, possessions, prestige.

Love: the authentic love relationship must have these four types of love:

Sex: biological drive, satisfied by intercourse; goal is termination, gratification, relaxation

Eros: the desire for union with another person; goal is to continue the experience, and to seek wholeness or interrelatedness among our experiences with others

Philia: friendship or brotherly love; acceptance of the other person and enjoyment of him/her; an expansion of eros; a relaxation in the presence of the other

Agape: unselfish giving of one?s self to another, without concern for reciprocity; unconditional positive regard

Daimonic: from Greek, meaning both divine and diabolic; any natural function that has the power to take over the whole person?sex, eros, anger, rage, craving for power or achievement; may be either creative and healthy or destructive, or usually both. The desire to achieve is a kind of affirmation of self, but if it becomes an obsession, it takes over the whole person without regard for the person?s well-being or the well-being of others; all of life is a constant search for the optimal level of each of our personality traits.

Psychotherapy: the goal is to convert neurotic anxiety and guilt to normal anxiety and guilt; to help the client actualize his/her potentialities. What is the client trying to express by the presenting problems?; to help the client find meaning in circumstances s/he would otherwise find meaningless or hopeless. Therapy should be an encounter between two selves coming together and sharing their existence; empathy for the client is a key ingredient.

Importance of Myth: May agreed with Jung that myths give expression to the universal truths of human nature, and guide human existence; these are narratives that make sense in a senseless world; myths provide universal themes to the individual regarding birth, death, love, marriage, good (Christ), evil (Satan), freedom, independence; memory and myth are inseparable; our earliest memories become our personal myths, that influence our perceptions about the world, others and self. Great literature gives expression to all-important aspects of human nature. Myths serve four purposes in our lives, according to May:



They give us a sense of personal identity

They give us a sense of community

They support our moral values

They allow us to deal with the mysteries of creation

Some myths are exclusive to some cultures, and therefore may cause possible friction between people from those cultures. Zenophobia is explained by the fact that an outsider may not share one?s myths and is therefore to be feared.

Some myths are undesirable because they don?t encourage kinship. An example is the American?s myth of rugged individuality whose goal is to live isolated from others and needing no one. May believes that this myth has resulted in narcissism, loneliness, and violence.