Existential inquiries and pathological correlates among Indian adolescents

摘要

The recent globalization and liberalization of Indian society has led adolescents to reconsider traditional systems of belief in the light of alternative postmodern world views. Therefore, the purpose of the ex post facto investigation was to examine the relationship between Indian adolescents' propensity for existential thinking (weak, moderate, strong), type of existential orientation (atheistic, agnostic, theistic), and self-reported symptomatology. A sample (N = 567) of boys and girls between the ages of 14 and 18 years completed three scales: the Existential Thinking Scale, the Existential Orientation Scale, and the Symptom Check List-90-Revised. Results indicate that existential thinking is positively related to symptomatology. This relationship between existential thinking and symptomatology is moderate for atheists, weak for agnostics, and not significant for theists. Existential orientation, on the other hand, is unrelated to psychopathology among those with a weak and moderate propensity for existential thinking, but negatively related to psychopathology among those with a strong propensity for existential thinking. Together, the findings suggest that those with a strong propensity for existential thinking report more symptomatology if atheistic and less symptomatology if theistic.