Books / Humanistic, existential & experiential
The Meaning of Anxiety
Rollo May’s The Meaning of Anxiety (1950) brings together philosophical, psychological and clinical perspectives on anxiety. This entry identifies the original Ronald Press edition.
Book details
Author of listed edition: Rollo May
Edition: 1950 first edition; revised edition published in 1977
Publisher: Ronald Press
Edition year: 1950
Language and origin: English (United States)
Form and genre: Clinical & Theoretical Monograph
Level: Intermediate
Historical era: 1940–1959 · Object Relations, Existential & Client-Centred
Covers: Philosophical, psychological and cultural accounts of anxiety; May’s distinction between normal and neurotic anxiety; Clinical case material and the management of anxiety
APA 7th reference: May, R. (1950). The meaning of anxiety. Ronald Press.
What it is & historical context
Published by Ronald Press in 1950, the book surveys theories of anxiety from different fields. May later revised it; the revised edition appeared in 1977. This entry refers to the 1950 publication and identifies the later edition separately.
Core clinical themes & arguments
May considered philosophical, psychological and clinical approaches to anxiety. His distinction between normal and neurotic anxiety is a historical theoretical account; it should not be treated as a complete explanation of any individual’s experience.
Clinical practice, reception & legacy
The contents of a later revised edition list clinical case studies and a study of unmarried mothers. Such material can illustrate May’s ideas but does not establish a universal goal or outcome of psychotherapy. The source consulted for those contents is the catalogue of the revised edition, not the complete 1950 text.
Reader level & educational scope
This intermediate entry offers historical and educational context. Catalogue records, a reprint preview and the APA publisher page were consulted; neither the full first edition nor the paired book was reviewed. It does not recommend treatment or provide an individual assessment.
Paired academic and clinical scholarship
Paired work: Existential-Humanistic Therapy (2nd ed.) (Kirk J. Schneider and Orah T. Krug, 2017)
Reference: Schneider, K. J., & Krug, O. T. (2017). Existential-humanistic therapy (2nd ed.). American Psychological Association.
A later overview of existential-humanistic therapy by Schneider and Krug. The publisher’s description was consulted; the full book was not reviewed.
Source-mapped claims and evidence notes
Claim 1: May brought together theories of anxiety from several fields and sought common ground for further inquiry. (Based on the description reproduced in the 1950 catalogue record; the full first edition was not reviewed.) [Source 1: May, R. (1950). The meaning of anxiety. Ronald Press. Google Books catalogue and description.]
Claim 2: May distinguished normal and neurotic anxiety in his theoretical account. (An existential account of anxiety, not an established diagnostic division for every person.) [Source 5: University of Prince Edward Island. The phenomenon of anxiety: Exploring pathology through medicine, psychology, and existentialism. Arts Review.]
Sources and inspection notes
May, R. (1950). The meaning of anxiety. Ronald Press. Google Books catalogue and description.
Supports: Bibliographic record for the 1950 Ronald Press edition and the reproduced description of its comparative aim; the full book was not reviewed.
Galveston College Library. The meaning of anxiety: Revised edition catalogue record.
Supports: Catalogue and contents for a 2015 printing of the revised edition, originally published in 1977; the record does not establish the 1950 book’s page references.
May, R. The meaning of anxiety. Reprint preview.
Supports: Reprint preview includes the author’s 1950 preface and table of contents; the full first edition was not reviewed.
Supports: Publisher record identifying the authors, 2017 second edition and general subject; the full book was not reviewed.
Supports: Discussion attributing a normal/neurotic anxiety distinction to May; a secondary interpretation, not evidence of a universal diagnostic division.