Paul Tillich's theory of existential anxiety: A preliminary conceptual and empirical examination

Abstract

This paper conceptually explores Paul Tillich's theory of existential anxiety and examines existing research relevant to each of Tillich's domains of existential apprehension. This paper also reports data from two initial empirical studies of Tillich's model of existential anxiety and its relation to symptoms of anxiety and depression. A self-report measure of existential anxiety, the Existential Anxiety Questionnaire (EAQ) based on Tillich's conceptualization, was developed and data were collected from two socioeconomic and ethnically diverse samples of adults (Study 1, N=225; Study 2, N=331). Results indicated that the EAQ has good test-retest and internal consistency reliability and a factor structure consistent with theory. The EAQ also demonstrated good convergent and incremental validity estimates. The data suggest that existential anxiety concerns are common and that they are associated with symptoms of anxiety and depression as well as psychological distress related to identity problems. Results are discussed with regard to their support for the viability of employing Tillich's theory in empirical research on existential anxiety and the importance of further exploring the relation between existential anxiety concerns and other facets of emotional experience such as clinical anxiety and depression.

Keywords:

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Existential anxiety
• Theory

Notes

Tillich wrote extensively on these topics; however, his view of existential anxiety is most definitively articulated in his 1952 work The Courage to be. This text is thus used as the primary source for this paper. Also see Tillich (1952b, 1961).

A three uncorrelated factor model was also tested and fit indices were worse than the one factor model.

One significant association was found between religious affiliation and EAQ scores. Individuals who identified themselves as “Catholic” (M(SD) 4.55(2.8), n=96) had significantly higher EAQ scores than those who identified themselves as “Christian” (M(SD) 5.70(2.7), n=75) (t(169)=2.74, p=0.007). However, in the absence of a priori hypotheses about these groups and considering the heterogeneity implied by the term “Christian” and the relative homogeneity implied the term “Catholic” the importance of these findings is questionable.