Buytendijk, Frederik Jakob

Born Apr. 29, 1887, in Breda. Dutch psychologist, a professor at the University of Groningen from 1925 and at the University of Utrecht from 1946.

Endeavoring to apply the principles of existentialism to psychology, Buytendijk regards the purpose of psychology as being to expose the specific ways in which men and animals exist in this world. According to Buytendijk, it is through the mode of existence, not through causal relationships, that the meaning of each mental phenomenon can be ascertained. His best-known experimental work has been his research into animal behavior from an ethological standpoint. He has also worked out a general theory of human poses and gestures and made a phenomenological analysis of the psychology of women and the psychology of play, smiling, pain sensation, the feeling of shame, the “encounter” situation, and so on. He is the author of about 300 works.