existential psychology

a general approach to psychological theory and practice that derives from existentialism. It emphasizes the subjective meaning of human experience, the uniqueness of the individual, and personal responsibility reflected in choice. Such an approach was pioneered by Swiss existential psychologist Ludwig Binswanger (1881–1966). See being-in-the-world; world design. See also humanistic psychology.

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Psychology term of the day

January 18th 2025

hierarchical model of personality

a model of either within-person dynamics or individual differences in personality in which some psychological constructs are viewed as high-level variables that organize or govern the functioning of other lower level variables. For example, a hierarchical model of personality traits might view the construct sociability as being at a lower level in a hierarchy than the construct extraversion: Sociability would be seen as a form or example of the higher level trait of extraversion.