ABSTRACT
Raising the topic of existentialism may conjure up images of the mythical Sisyphus forever pushing a rock up a hill and wondering “what is the meaning of it all?” Sisyphus, as the tale goes, was condemned to such futile strivings for his godlike arrogance; his aspiration to be so much more than his corporal nature would allow. Although not frequently shackled by the obvious monotony of Sisyphus’ plight, many of us may struggle with our own seemingly uphill battles—an endless parade of exams, or publication pressures, or relationship demands wondering as Camus (1955) did in his essay on the tragic figure, “Why am I here?”, “What is the point?” These are the type of queries often associated with existential concerns and at first blush it may not seem clear what they have to do with self-esteem, one of the most widely researched topics in social psychology. However, a central point of this chapter is that existential concerns are in fact at the core of understanding what self-esteem is all about: Why we need it, how we maintain it, and its broader contributions to living with relative psychological equanimity in a world so often beset with despair and promise, tribulation and potential, and the unanticipated suffering and unrelenting hope that reflect the realities of human existence.
