Existential Authenticity

Abstract

One hundred three research participants completed questionnaires pertaining to four propensities for existential authenticity: the propensity to question the meaning of existence, the propensity to experience the meaninglessness of existence, the propensity to integrate meaninglessness into life, and the propensity to actualize self-created meaning. A factor analysis of scores on one questionnaire, the No Meaning Scale, and a factor analysis of scores on the other questionnaires plus factor scores on the No Meaning Scale revealed the same three factors: an "existential insignificance" factor, an "existential futility" factor, and an "existential absurdity" factor. The possibility that the four propensities and three factors reflect a trajectory for the development of existential authenticity is discussed.

The Existential Nihilism Scale (ENS): Theory, Development, and Psychometric Evaluation

“…These items appear to be tapping into something like existential despair. Finally, it is unclear which items belong to each factor proposed by Kunzendorf et al (2016). For example, of the eighteen items on the NoM (Zunzendorf et al, 2016), one item simultaneously loaded onto all three factors (≥.35 factor loading), twelve items simultaneously loaded onto two of the factors (≥.35 factor loading), and only five items cleanly loaded onto only one factor (≥.35 factor loading), raising concerns about the scale's structure.…”