The humanistic existential therapies postulate that psychological distress arises from ______
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → feelings of loneliness and alienation and inability to find meaning in life
Option (1) faulty parental expectations — Incorrect. The humanistic-existential view places the cause of distress in the present, not in the past or in what parents expected. The therapies that look back to childhood speak of unfulfilled desires and unresolved fears, not of parents’ expectations.
Option (2) feelings of loneliness and alienation and inability to find meaning in life — Correct. The existential therapies hold that questions about the meaning of one’s life and existence cause psychological problems. It is the current feelings of loneliness, alienation and a sense of futility of one’s existence that bring the distress.
Option (3) intrapsychic conflicts — Incorrect. Intrapsychic conflicts, the conflicts present within the psyche, are the source of problems in psychodynamic therapy; they arise from unfulfilled desires and unresolved fears of childhood.
Option (4) faulty learning — Incorrect. Faulty learning of behaviours and cognitions is the cause given by behaviour therapies, which treat it by changing the faulty patterns of behaviour.
NCERT (2025-26): “1. What is the cause, which has led to the problem? … Psychodynamic therapy is of the view that intrapsychic conflicts, i.e. the conflicts that are present within the psyche of the person, are the source of psychological problems. According to behaviour therapies, psychological problems arise due to faulty learning of behaviours and cognitions. The existential therapies postulate that the questions about the meaning of one’s life and existence are the cause of psychological problems. 2. How did the cause come into existence? In the psychodynamic therapy, unfulfilled desires of childhood and unresolved childhood fears lead to intrapsychic conflicts. The behaviour therapy postulates that faulty conditioning patterns, faulty learning, and faulty thinking and beliefs lead to maladaptive behaviours that, in turn, lead to psychological problems. The existential therapy places importance on the present. It is the current feelings of loneliness, alienation, sense of futility of one’s existence, etc., which cause psychological problems.…” “2. How did the cause come into existence? … The existential therapy places importance on the present. It is the current feelings of loneliness, alienation, sense of futility of one’s existence, etc., which cause psychological problems.…” |