Psychological Predictors of Experiencing Existential Emptiness in Persons Serving Prison Sentences
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12775/PBE.2026.011Keywords
existential emptiness, sources of self-efficacy, successes, increased stress, persons serving a prison sentenceAbstract
This article addresses issues relating to the experience of existential emptiness by people serving prison sentences. The aim of the research was to identify psychological predictors that have a significant relationship with the experience of existential emptiness among prisoners. The existential emptiness is a very important aspect of human life and isolation conditions seem to intensify it through the specify of the individual’s functioning in this type of environment. The study was conducted in a group of 716 inmates incarcerated in a penitentiary unit in the Lublin Province in Poland. The statical analyses performed showed that the sources of self-efficacy, such as the level of experienced stress and achieved successes, significantly correlate with the experience of existential emptiness among prisoners. The regression analysis also indicated significant links between past successes in an individual’ life and stress experienced in the past with the level of perceived existential emptiness.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Beata Maria Nowak, Iwona Niewiadomska, Mirosław Kalinowski, Mateusz Mikołajczak, Dominika Łysiak, Mark Szejdman
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