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Meaning in Life at the Cross-Roads of Personal Processes and Cultural Crisis.
Abstract
This chapter summarizes the unique perspectives and contributions in this volume, to offer insights regarding search for meaning in life in a post-modern socio-cultural context. We suggest that instead of major overarching cultural schemes, institutions or narratives for meaning in life which were prominent and dominant in the past, such as religion, contemporary societies in the post-modern era offer a large variety of narratives, termed here 'master narratives of meaning'. Individuals adopt and adapt such narratives to fulfil their need for meaning in life and to have clarity and stability, and specifically to satisfy their need for comprehension, purpose and mattering. Exploring illustrative case studies within the Israeli scene, we identified several broad dimensions of the search for meaning that might be relevant in other cultures as well, such as, the mix and match quality of the narratives, the centrality of spirituality both within and outside established religions, the centrality of legitimation of a variety of narratives versus their de-legitimation and adoption of a rigid dogma, and a self-focused process versus the focus on belonging to a community or becoming a 'citizen of the world' with responsibility to make it a better place. These master narratives of meaning weave cultural characteristics and contextual imperatives with personal processes of meaning-making and appear to also highlight broader processes of search for meaning around the globe.
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A dominant discourse in the social sciences theorizes that religious diversity puts individuals’ health at risk via interreligious hostility. However, this discourse overlooks the different subtypes of religious diversity and the moderation of political institutions. To better understand the issue of diversity and health, in this study, we distinguish between two subtypes of religious diversity—polarization and fractionalization—and argue that their impacts on health are heterogeneous. Using a sample of 67,399 individuals from 51 societies drawn from the 2010–2014 wave of the World Values Survey, our multilevel analyses show that religious polarization is negatively associated with individual health, whereas the health effects of religious fractionalization are positive. Moreover, the associations between religious polarization/fractionalization and individual health are found to depend on the democratic level of the state. In more democratic countries, the negative effects of polarization on health are mitigated, and the positive effects of fractionalization are stronger.
Experiencing both positive emotions and meaning is fundamental to human flourishing. The present study aimed to build and expand upon recent attempts to assess prioritizing positivity, which involves habitual ways of incorporating positive emotions in daily life (Catalino, Algoe and Fredrickson 2014), by assessing the prioritization of meaning in daily life and its associations with well-being. Results from two studies, employing adult community samples (N=107 and N=251) demonstrated coherent, replicable factor structure and good internal reliability for the 12-item scale of prioritizing meaning. Prioritizing meaning was positively associated with life satisfaction, happiness, positive emotions, sense of coherence, gratitude and presence of meaning, beyond the effect of prioritizing positivity, thus demonstrating the possibility that prioritizing meaning makes a distinctive contribution to well-being.
Process mediation models showed that prioritizing meaning is associated with the experience of meaning which in turn mediates the beneficial effects of prioritizing meaning on a variety of well-being indicators. Prioritizing meaning was also directly associated with well-being indicators underscoring its potential role in affecting well-being. Furthermore, prioritizing meaning was found to significantly mediate the effect of search for meaning on all indicators of well-being other than sense of coherence. The findings suggest the importance of prioritizing meaning and hold significant conceptual and practical implications for understanding processes of meaning making and their potential effects on individuals’ well-being.
Two distinct approaches to meaning-experimental lab-based research on meaning and its maintenance in response to situational cues and observational field research on meaning-focused coping following highly stressful or traumatic situations-have both produced important insights into the mechanics underlying responses to meaning-relevant threats. It has been suggested that although these 2 approaches focus on different, specific aspects of meaning, they converge on common underlying phenomena. The present article considers how lab-based and field-based approaches align and diverge on their answers to 4 questions: (1) How is meaning defined in the context of meaning violation and restoration? (2) What are threats to meaning? (3) How do people respond to these threats? and (4) Why does meaning restoration matter? Our comparison of these lab- and field-based approaches suggests that they share considerable commonalities in conceptualization, but they diverge in important ways in terms of emphasis and empirical considerations. We conclude that lab- and field-based approaches to meaning violation and restoration may be focusing on the same phenomena studied at different levels, but with some qualitative differences, and we offer suggestions for how lab- and field-based approaches can better inform one another. Considering these two approaches conjointly provides a more holistic and comprehensive understanding of the fundamental phenomena of meaning threat and restoration. (PsycINFO Database Record
In this paper we propose a model for examining personal identity development that moves attention from a relatively exclusive examination of the individual to an examination of the intersection between self and society. We propose that a master narrative model of identity development allows researchers to: (a) align the study of culture and individual on the same metric of narrative, (b) investigate the processes of negotiating personal and cultural narratives, the latter of which are embedded within the structures of society, and (c) investigate the internalization of those structures in personal identities. In laying out this model we define a narrative approach to identity development , five principles for defining master narratives (ubiquity, utility, invisibility, rigidity, and their compulsory nature), three types of master narratives (life course, structural, and episodic), and case examples of each type. This model brings attention to the interaction between self and society, as well as to the constraints on individual agency to construct a personal identity. We conclude by raising questions that emerge out of this framework that we hope will inspire future work on the relationship between self and society in the study of identity development.
To advance meaning in life (MIL) research, it is crucial to integrate it with the broader meaning literature, which includes important additional concepts (e.g., meaning frameworks) and principles (e.g., terror management). A tripartite view, which conceptualizes MIL as consisting of 3 subconstructs—comprehension, purpose, and mattering—may facilitate such integration. Here, we outline how a tripartite view may relate to key concepts from within MIL research (e.g., MIL judgments and feelings) and within the broader meaning research (e.g., meaning frameworks, meaning making). On the basis of this framework, we review the broader meaning literature to derive a theoretical context within which to understand and conduct further research on comprehension, purpose, and mattering. We highlight how future research may examine the interrelationships among the 3 MIL subconstructs, MIL judgments and feelings, and meaning frameworks.
Not only do humans spend their lives in a densely woven web of meanings, but they also need and want meaning. Although there are a variety of reasons for why this is the case, the current chapter focuses on the function of meaning as an existential anxiety buffer. We argue that the relentless search for meaning is motivated, to a significant extent, by the uniquely human awareness of mortality. As our review of the literature reveals, meaning, at different levels of abstraction, effectively assuages the potential terror born from this awareness.
The main purpose of this chapter is to introduce Viktor Frankl’s logotherapy to the twenty-first century, especially to positive psychologists interested in meaning research and applications. Frankl’s radically positive message of re-humanizing psychotherapy is much needed in the current technological culture. More specifically, I explain the basic assumptions of logotherapy and translate them into a testable meaning-seeking model to facilitate meaning research and intervention. This model consists of five hypotheses: (1) The Self-Transcendence Hypothesis: The will to meaning is a spiritual and primary motivation for self-transcendence; thus, it predicts that spiritual pathways (e.g., spiritual care, self-transcendence) will enhance meaning in life and well-being, even when other pathways to well-being are not available. (2) The Ultimate Meaning Hypothesis: It predicts that belief in the intrinsic meaning and value of life, regardless of circumstances, is more functional than alternative global beliefs. It also predicts that belief in ultimate meaning facilitates the discovery of meaning of the moment. (3) The Meaning Mindset Hypothesis: A meaning mindset, as compared to the success mindset, leads to greater meaningfulness, compassion, moral excellence, eudaemonic happiness, and resilience. (4) The Freedom of Will Hypothesis: People who believe in the inherent human capacity for freedom and responsibility, regardless of circumstances, will show higher autonomy and authenticity than those without such beliefs. (5) The Value Hypothesis of Discovering Meaning: Meaning is more likely to be discovered through creative, experiential, and attitudinal values that are motivated by self-transcendence rather than by self-interest. Together, they capture the complexity and centrality of meaning seeking in healing and well-being. In sum, Viktor Frankl emphasizes the need for a radical shift from self-focus to meaning-focus as the most promising way to lift up individuals from the dark pit of despair to a higher ground of flourishing. This chapter outlines the differences between logotherapy and positive psychology and suggests future research to bridge these two parallel fields of study for the benefit of psychology and society.
Despite growing interest in meaning in life, many have voiced their concern over the conceptual refinement of the construct itself. Researchers seem to have two main ways to understand what meaning in life means: coherence and purpose, with a third way, significance, gaining increasing attention. Coherence means a sense of comprehensibility and one’s life making sense. Purpose means a sense of core goals, aims, and direction in life. Significance is about a sense of life’s inherent value and having a life worth living. Although some researchers have already noted this trichotomy, the present article provides the first comprehensible theoretical overview that aims to define and pinpoint the differences and connections between these three facets of meaning. By arguing that the time is ripe to move from indiscriminate understanding of meaning into looking at these three facets separately, the article points toward a new future for research on meaning in life.
This chapter summarizes the work of Veronika Huta and researchers who have used her measure of eudaimonic and hedonic orientations. Huta collaborated with Waterman to classify definitions of eudaimonia and hedonia into four categories – orientations/motives/values, behaviors, experiences/feelings, and functioning/habits/abilities. In an ongoing study of various measures, Huta performed preliminary analyses showing that hedonic experiences (e.g., positive affect, carefreeness) formed a separate factor from eudaimonic experiences (e.g., feelings of meaning/value, accomplishment, interest); eudaimonic and hedonic orientations also formed distinct factors. Recently, Huta developed an expanded characterization of eudaimonia and hedonia in all four definition categories, including the cell that has heretofore been neglected – healthy hedonic functioning – to complement Ryff’s theory of eudaimonic functioning. In the HEMA scale developed by Huta (Hedonic and Eudaimonic Motives for Activities), eudaimonia is defined as an orientation toward authenticity, meaning/broad concerns, excellence/morality, and growth/maturity; hedonia is defined as an orientation toward pleasure/satisfaction and comfort/ease. HEMA eudaimonic and hedonic orientations have correlated with somewhat different niches of personal well-being experience, need satisfaction, health behavior, and functioning; the combination of eudaimonic and hedonic orientations related to higher scores on well-being than either pursuit alone. Eudaimonic pursuits were linked with more positive contributions to others, society, and the environment. Only a eudaimonic orientation related to abstract thinking and future time perspective. Finally, only eudaimonia related to having parents who were responsive and demanding. The chapter concludes with philosophical thoughts on why eudaimonia and hedonia are both good, and how one pursuit is higher while the other is more fundamental.
The purpose of this article is to test hypotheses that meaning in life can be a mediator in the relations between religiousness expressed in terms of a meaning system and subjective well-being. Previous research on religion and well-being has left some questions unanswered. Associations of the religious meaning system and subjective well-being turn out to be complex and suggest the possibility of meaning-oriented mediators in their relations. The results obtained in the current study demonstrated that personal meaning and presence of meaning were partial mediators between the religious meaning system and the cognitive dimension of subjective well-being (i.e., life satisfaction). In contrast, search for meaning did not have a significant mediational role in those relations and there were no direct or indirect relationships between the religious meaning system and the affective dimension of subjective well-being (i.e., positive and negative affect). The findings suggest indirect relations between religiousness and well-being which are partially mediated by structures of meaning and purpose.
The desire for meaning is recognized as a central human motive. Yet, knowing that people want meaning does not explain its function. What adaptive problem does this experience solve? Drawing on the feelings-as-information hypothesis, we propose that the feeling of meaning provides information about the presence of reliable patterns and coherence in the environment, information that is not provided by affect. We review research demonstrating that manipulations of stimulus coherence influence subjective reports of meaning in life but not affect. We demonstrate that manipulations that foster an associative mindset enhance meaning. The meaning-as-information perspective embeds meaning in a network of foundational functions including associative learning, perception, cognition, and neural processing. This approach challenges assumptions about meaning, including its motivational appeal, the roles of expectancies and novelty in this experience, and the notion that meaning is inherently constructed. Implications for constructed meaning and existential meanings are discussed.
http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=search.displayRecord&UID=1998-06124-006
Interest in eudaimonia (e.g., growth, meaning, authenticity, excellence) and its distinction from hedonia (e.g., pleasure, enjoyment, comfort, absence of distress) is growing rapidly, as researchers recognize that both concepts are central to the study of well-being. Yet research on these concepts faces challenges as well: findings based on different operationalizations can be quite discrepant; definitions of eudaimonia and hedonia sometimes fall into different categories of analysis (e.g. when eudaimonia is described as a way of functioning, hedonia as an experience); and the terms eudaimonia and hedonia are sometimes defined vaguely or applied to concepts that may be mere correlates. To aid in addressing these challenges, we propose the following terminology and classification for discussing conceptual and operational definitions: (1) degree of centrality – differentiating concepts that are core (i.e., definitional), close-to-core (i.e., given some attention but not central), and major correlates; (2) category of analysis– identifying which of the following categories a definition represents: (a) orientations (orientations, values, motives, and goals), (b) behaviors (behavioral content, activity characteristics), (c) experiences (subjective experiences, emotions, cognitive appraisals), (d) functioning (indices of positive psychological functioning, mental health, flourishing); and (3) level of measurement – identifying whether a definition is used for trait and/or state comparisons. The work of scholars with a program of research on eudaimonia or the distinction between eudaimonia and hedonia is reviewed and discussed within the framework of the proposed classification; several points of convergence and divergence across definitions are highlighted; and important questions and directions for future research are identified.
Biological and cultural inheritance deeply influence daily human behavior. However, individuals actively interact with bio-cultural information. Throughout their lives, they preferentially cultivate a limited subset of activities, values, and personal interests. This process, defined as psychological selection, is strictly related to the quality of subjective experience. Specifically, cross-cultural studies have highlighted the central role played by optimal experience or flow, the most positive and complex daily experience reported by the participants. It is characterized by high involvement, deep concentration, intrinsic motivation, and the perception of high challenges matched by adequate personal skills. The associated activities represent the basic units of psychological selection. Flow can therefore influence the selective transmission of bio-cultural information and the process of bio-cultural evolution.
This unique theory-to-practice volume presents far-reaching advances in positive and existential therapy, with emphasis on meaning-making as central to coping and resilience, growth and positive change. Innovative meaning-based strategies are presented with clients facing medical and mental health challenges such as spinal cord injury, depression, and cancer. Diverse populations and settings are considered, including substance abuse, disasters, group therapy, and at-risk youth. Contributors demonstrate the versatility and effectiveness of meaning-making interventions by addressing novel findings in this rapidly growing and promising area. By providing broad international and interdisciplinary perspectives, it enhances empirical findings and offers valuable practical insights. Such a diverse and varied examination of meaning encourages the reader to integrate his or her thoughts from both existential and positive psychology perspectives, as well as from clinical and empirical approaches, and guides the theoretical convergence to a unique point of understanding and appreciation for the value of meaning and its pursuit.
This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to clarify the associations between meaning in life and physical health using random effects models. Conceptualization of meaning (order in world vs purpose in life), type of health indicators, participants’ health status, and age issues were investigated as moderators. Systematic searches of six databases resulted in inclusion of k = 66 studies (total N = 73,546). Findings indicated that meaning in life and physical health formed weak-to-moderate associations (the overall estimate of the average effect = 0.258). Conceptualization of meaning, participants’ health status, and their age did not moderate these associations. Operationalization of health moderated the relationship between meaning in life and health. The strongest associations were found for subjective indicators of physical health. Significant albeit weak associations between meaning in life and objective indices of health were found. Furthermore, stronger effects were observed when the measures of meaning combined items referring to meaning in life and meaning-related sense of harmony, peace, and well-being, compared to measures focusing solely on meaning in life. Overall, the results point to the potential role of meaning in life in explaining physical health.
This chapter includes a discussion of the concept of meaning and meaning-finding processes in Terror Management Theory (TMT). Although TMT theorists (e.g., Pyszczynski et al. 2004a, b) recognize the importance of growth processes, meaning striving is treated in TMT as a defensive mechanism, anchored in self-esteem striving, and intimately connected to the social-cultural context that is the provider of meaning. Thus, the experience of meaning is perceived as a means to enhance a sense of self-worth and, by doing so, helps to protect us against the existential terror of death. Beliefs in symbolic immortality, symbolic or even literal, are treated from the same defensive posture. In a typical TMT study increasing the salience of death (the mortality salience manipulation) has the effect of making the persons subjected to the manipulation less tolerant vis-à-vis a hypothetical other who challenged their value system. There is, however, empirical evidence that suggests a different approach, one based on growth motivation. For example, it was shown that focusing on the concept of an ideal (meaningful) death may eliminate mortality salience manipulation effects (Rogers 2011). Similarly, Florian, Mikulicer, and Herschnberger (Florian et al. 2002) have shown that focusing on relationships that provide meaning cancels the effects of mortality salience manipulations. In this chapter, in addition to providing such evidence, we argue that a modified view based on growth motivation is consistent with Becker’s description of “twin ontological motives” in the Denial of Death (Becker 1973), as well as with other critiques of the TMT (e.g., Deci and Ryan 2000; Wong 2008; Wong and Tomer 2011) and with the finding of an increased death acceptance in older adults. Such a view is based on the idea that meaning construction may affect the way life and death are viewed and that, as a consequence, the need for existential defenses may be diminished, if not completely eliminated. Moreover, a conclusion from this discussion concerns the necessity to construct an integrated theory that considers, in addition to anxiety, other death attitudes such as avoidance and different types of acceptance.
The Handbook of Spiritual Development in Childhood and Adolescence breaks new ground by articulating the state of knowledge in the area of childhood and adolescent spiritual development. Featuring a rich array of theory and research from an international assortment of leading social scientists in multiple disciplines, this book represents work from diverse traditions and approaches – making it an invaluable resource for scholars across a variety of disciplines and organizations.
According to John Adair, the most important word in the leader's vocabulary is "we" and the least important word is "I". But if this is true, it raises one important question: why do psychological analyses of leadership always focus on the leader as an individual - as the great "I"? One answer is that theorists and practitioners have never properly understood the psychology of "we-ness". This book fills this gap by presenting a new psychology of leadership that is the result of two decades of research inspired by social identity and self-categorization theories. The book argues that to succeed, leaders need to create, champion, and embed a group identity in order to cultivate an understanding of 'us' of which they themselves are representative. It also shows how, by doing this, they can make a material difference to the groups, organizations, and societies that they lead. Written in an accessible and engaging style, the book examines a range of central theoretical and practical issues, including the nature of group identity, the basis of authority and legitimacy, the dynamics of justice and fairness, the determinants of followership and charisma, and the practice and politics of leadership. The book will appeal to academics, practitioners and students in social and organizational psychology, sociology, political science and anyone interested in leadership, influence and power.
We present four needs for meaning that humans seek to fulfill in order to view their lives as meaningful - purpose, value justification, self-efficacy, and self-worth. We discuss the shift in sources of meaning, arguing that the erosion of the societal influence of religion - traditionally the central source for meaning in people's lives - has led to a value gap which modern society has attempted to fill. The successes and failures society has encountered in this attempt are discussed. Lastly, we discuss the consequences this value gap may have for society moving forward. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht. All rights reserved.
With the rapid growth of knowledge concerning ethnic and national group differences in human behaviors in the last two decades, researchers are increasingly curious as to why, how, and when such differences surface. The field is ready to leapfrog from a descriptive science of group differences to a science of cultural processes. The goal of this book is to lay the theoretical foundation for this exciting development by proposing an original process model of culture. This new perspective discusses and extends contemporary social psychological theories of social cognition and social motivation to explain why culture matters in human psychology. We view culture as a loose network of imperfectly shared knowledge representations for coordinating social transactions. As such, culture serves different adaptive functions important for individuals' goal pursuits. Furthermore, with the increasingly globalized and hyper-connected multicultural space, much can be revealed about how different cultural traditions come into contact.
To the founding fathers of psychology, spiritual phenomena represented critically important topics for psychological study. Since the early part of the twentieth century, however, psychologists have tended to (a) ignore spirituality; (b) view spirituality as pathological; or (c) treat spirituality as a process that can be reduced to more basic underlying psychological, social, and physiological functions. Fortunately, this situation has begun to change (Weaver, Pargament, Flannelly, & Oppenheimer, 2006), for several good reasons. First, spirituality is a "cultural fact" (cf. Shafranske & Malony, 1996): the vast majority of Americans believe in God (90%), engage in prayer (90%), and feel that religion is very important or fairly important to them (84%) (Gallup, 2004; Poloma & Gallup, 1991). Second, as we will see, empirical studies have linked spirituality to a number of aspects of human functioning. Finally, in a more practical vein, the American Psychological Association has defined religiousness as a "cultural diversity" variable. Although it has received relatively less attention than other diversity variables, psychologists are no less ethically obligated to attend to this dimension and reduce potential biases in their professional work with clients of diverse religious backgrounds (see Principle D, Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct of APA, 1992).
What makes us human? Why do people think, feel, and act as they do? What is the essence of human nature? What is the basic relationship between the individual and society? These questions have fascinated people for centuries. Now, at last, there is a solid basis for answering them, in the form of the accumulated efforts and studies by thousands of psychology researchers. We no longer have to rely on navel-gazing and speculation to understand why people are the way they are; we can instead turn to solid, objective findings. This book not only summarizes what we know about people; it also offers a coherent, easy-to-understand though radical, explanation. Turning conventional wisdom on its head, the author argues that culture shaped human evolution. Contrary to theories that depict the individual's relation to society as one of victimization, endless malleability, or just a square peg in a round hole, he proposes that the individual human being is designed by nature to be part of society. Moreover, he argues that we need to briefly set aside the endless study of cultural differences to look at what most cultures have in common; because that holds the key to human nature. Culture is in our genes, although cultural differences may not be. This core theme is further developed by a tour through the main dimensions of human psychology. What do people want? How do people think? How do emotions operate? How do people behave? And how do they interact with each other? The answers are often surprising, and along the way, the author explains how human desire, thought, feeling, and action are connected.
The authors first discuss the nature of meaning with a focus on three broad functions of meaning and two levels of meaning. Next, the authors discuss the need for meaning with a focus on the four needs for meaning (Baumeister 1991). Finally, the authors discuss some myths related to meaning, particularly the expectation that everything in life does (or will) make sense and have a reason. Throughout the chapter, the authors discuss ideas where the existential perspective and positive psychology perspective differ and could be integrated. Meaning in life likely serves several different functions. First, meaning helps individuals detect patterns in their environment. Such patterns can exist in the physical or social environment. The second function is communication. The third function is related to self-control. Meaning enables one to refer to cultural standards and think about long-term goals and therefore facilitates self-control. Meaning can exist on multiple levels (Vallacher and Wegner 1985). A high level of meaning involves complex and abstract relationships that span out across a large time frame. A low level of meaning is concrete and is in the present moment. The implications of moving to and from different levels of meaning are also discussed. The authors break down the need for meaning in life into four basic needs: purpose, values, efficacy, and self-worth. If all four needs are satisfied it will engender a sense of meaning in life. If one or more of the four needs is unfulfilled, one will be motivated to adjust their life in such a way that all four needs are covered. These four needs can be seen as unique motivations that facilitate making sense of and finding meaning in life.
Contemporary U.S. religion is shaped by a new emphasis on bodily and trance experience. This article describes the learning process through which evangelical congregants come to use language and bodily experiences in particular ways, which I call here "metakinesis." Through this process, congregants build remarkably intimate relationships with God.
Generativity is an adult's concern for and commitment to promoting the development and well-being of future generations. A growing body of research has shown that individual differences in generativity are associated with particular patterns of parenting, social support, and religious and civic involvement. Research has also suggested that highly generative American adults tend to construct self-defining life stories (narrative identities) that feature the psychological theme of redemption—the deliverance from suffering to an enhanced status or position in life. Through stories of redemption, narrators often articulate how they believe they experienced a "second chance" in life. Redemptive life stories told by highly generative American adults may also incorporate themes of (a) childhood advantage, (b) early awareness of the suffering of others, (c) moral clarity and steadfastness, (d) the conflict between power and love, and (e) future growth and fulfillment. Redemptive narratives function to support and justify a highly generative approach to life in the middle-adult years. At the same time, these individual life stories told by highly generative American adults affirm, work through, and sometimes call into question broader cultural narratives in American history and heritage.