Religion, Existential Anxiety, and the Search for Lifes Meaning: A Humanistic Psychology Approach in Religious Societies
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53915/jbki.v5i2.635Keywords:
Existential Anxiety, Religion, Humanistic Psychology, Meaning of Life, Islamic CounselingAbstract
This study advances Islamic counseling scholarship by proposing a model that respects clients religious worldviews while empowering them to find personal meaning, emotional resilience, and spiritual fulfillment. In a time when religious identity and psychological well-being are closely intertwined, particularly in Muslim-majority societies, integrating Islamic values with evidence-based humanistic techniques is not only beneficial but also essential. Existential anxiety is a profound form of psychological distress triggered by confronting fundamental questions of death, purpose, and the meaning of existence. This study explores the role of religion in helping individuals in religious societies cope with existential anxiety and pursue life meaning through a humanistic psychological lens. Using a qualitative phenomenological approach, data were collected via in-depth interviews with 12 adult Muslim participants who had experienced existential crises. Thematic analysis yielded three core themes: (1) religious narratives as existential anchors; (2) rituals as buffers against death anxiety and meaninglessness; and (3) spiritual reflection as a path to inner reconciliation. Findings suggest that religion serves not only as a spiritual coping mechanism, but also as a comprehensive framework for meaning-making that integrates humanistic values such as self-actualization and transcendence within a divine context. These insights contribute to the development of meaning-centered Islamic counseling models that blend logotherapeutic techniques with Islamic spiritual principles.
References
Abdullah, M. A. (2010). Psikologi Islam: Solusi Islam atas Problem-problem Psikologis. Yogyakarta: Pustaka Pelajar.
Abu-Raiya, H., & Pargament, K. I. (2011). Empirically based psychology of Islam: Summary and critique of the literature. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 14(2), 93–115. https://doi.org/10.1080/13674676.2010.510829
Al-Karam, C. Y. (2018). Exploring spiritual healing within Islamic contexts: A humanistic-existential perspective. Journal of Muslim Mental Health, 12(2), 3–18.
Ano, G. G., & Vasconcelles, E. B. (2005). Religious coping and psychological adjustment to stress: A meta-analysis. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 61(4), 461–480.
Batthyany, A., & Russo-Netzer, P. (Eds.). (2014). Meaning in Positive and Existential Psychology. New York: Springer.
Becker, E. (1973). The Denial of Death. New York: Free Press.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
Camus, A. (1991). The Myth of Sisyphus (J. O'Brien, Trans.). New York: Vintage Books. (Original work published 1942)
Creswell, J. W. (2013). Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing Among Five Approaches (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Emmons, R. A. (2005). Striving for the sacred: Personal goals, life meaning, and religion. Journal of Social Issues, 61(4), 731–745.
Flynn, T. R. (2014). Existentialism: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Frankl, V. E. (1966). Self-transcendence as a human phenomenon. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 20(2), 252–261. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.psychotherapy.1966.20.2.252
Frankl, V. E. (1985). Man's Search for Meaning. New York: Washington Square Press.
Hamdan, A. (2008). Cognitive restructuring: An Islamic perspective. Journal of Muslim Mental Health, 3(1), 99–116.
Koenig, H. G. (2009). Research on religion, spirituality, and mental health: A review. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 54(5), 283–291.
Koenig, H. G. (2012). Religion, Spirituality, and Health: The Research and Clinical Implications. ISRN Psychiatry, 2012, 1–33. https://doi.org/10.5402/2012/278730
Koltko-Rivera, M. E. (2006). Rediscovering the later version of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: Self-transcendence and opportunities for theory, research, and unification. Review of General Psychology, 10(4), 302–317.
Maslow, A. H. (1971). The Farther Reaches of Human Nature. New York: Viking.
Morrison, M. A. (2018). Increasing the meaningfulness of work with motivational self-transcendence. International Journal of Existential Psychology and Psychotherapy, 7(1), 1–13. https://www.meaning.ca/web/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/233-13-562-1-10-20181006.pdf
Nasr, S. H. (1993). The Need for a Sacred Science. Albany: SUNY Press.
Newberg, A., & Waldman, M. R. (2009). How God Changes Your Brain: Breakthrough Findings from a Leading Neuroscientist. New York: Ballantine Books.
Pargament, K. I. (2007). Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy: Understanding and Addressing the Sacred. New York: Guilford Press.
Pargament, K. I., Smith, B. W., Koenig, H. G., & Perez, L. (1998). Patterns of positive and negative religious coping with major life stressors. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 37(4), 710–724.
Park, C. L. (2005). Religion as a meaning-making framework in coping with life stress. Journal of Social Issues, 61(4), 707–729.
Schneider, K. J., Bugental, J. F. T., & Pierson, J. F. (2015). The Handbook of Humanistic Psychology: Theory, Research, and Practice (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Watts, G. (2016). The personal politics of spirituality: On the lived relationship between contemporary spirituality and social justice among Canadian millennials (Doctoral dissertation).
Wong, P. T. P. (2012). Toward a dual-systems model of what makes life worth living. In P. T. P. Wong (Ed.), The Human Quest for Meaning (2nd ed., pp. 3–22). New York: Routledge.
Wong, P. T. P. (2016). From Viktor Frankl’s logotherapy to the four defining characteristics of self-transcendence. Positive Psychology, 4(1), 1–10. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/352992213
Wong, P. T. P. (2016). Self-transcendence: A paradoxical way to become your best. International Journal of Existential Psychology and Psychotherapy, 6(1), 1–11.
Wong, P. T. P. (2021). The Frankl cure for the 21st century: Why self-transcendence is the key to mental health and flourishing. The International Forum for Logotherapy. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/351802014
Yusuf, M. (2012). Integrasi psikologi dan Islam dalam praktik konseling. Psympathic: Jurnal Ilmiah Psikologi, 1(1), 1–10.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Muhimmatul Hasanah
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.
