Understanding the Search for Meaning in Life: Personality, Cognitive Style, and the Dynamic Between Seeking and Experiencing Meaning

Meaning in life in chronic pain patients over time: associations with pain experience and psychological well-being

We explored the relationship between meaning in life and adjustment to chronic pain in a three-wave, 2 year, longitudinal study of 273 Belgian chronic pain patients. We examined the directionality of the relationships among the meaning in life dimensions (Presence of Meaning and Search for Meaning) and indicators of adjustment (depressive symptoms, life satisfaction, pain intensity, and pain medication use). We found that Presence of Meaning was an important predictor of well-being. Secondly, we used a typological methodology to distinguish meaning in life profiles, and the relationship of individual meaning in life profiles with indicators of adjustment. Five meaning in life profiles emerged: High Presence High Search, High Presence Low Search, Moderate Presence Moderate Search, Low Presence Low Search, and Low Presence High Search. Each meaning in life profile was associated with a unique adjustment outcome. Profiles that scored high on Presence of Meaning showed more optimal adjustment. The profiles showed little change over time and did not moderate the development of adjustment indicators, except for life satisfaction. Practical implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

How Search for Meaning Interacts with Complex Categories of Meaning in Life and Subjective Well-Being?

This study sought to assess how the search for meaning interacts with crisis of meaning and with different categories of meaning in life (meaningfulness, crisis of meaning, existential indifference, and existential conflict). Furthermore, the moderation role of search for meaning between the relation of categories of meaning and subjective well-being (SWB) was also evaluated. Participants included 3,034 subjects (63.9% women) ranging in age from 18 to 91 (M = 33.90; SD = 15.01) years old from 22 Brazilian states. Zero-order correlations and a factorial MANOVA were implemented. Positive low correlations were found for search for meaning and crisis of meaning (r = .258; p < .001). Search for meaning presented a small-effect size moderation effect on the relation of the different categories of meaning with subjective happiness, F(6, 3008) = 2.698, p < .05; η2 = .004, but not for satisfaction with life, F(6, 3008) = .935, p = .47; η2 = .002. The differences on the levels of subjective happiness of those inserted in existential indifferent and conflicting categories differ depending on the levels of search for meaning. Further directions for future studies are proposed.

Personality, Effective Goal-Striving, and Enhanced Well-Being

In a three-wave, year-long, large-sample dataset ( N = 755), 10 candidate “personality strengths” (Grit, Gratitude, Curiosity, Savoring, Control Beliefs, Meaning in Life–Presence, Strengths Use, and Engagement, Pleasure, and Meaning-Based Orientations Toward Happiness) were compared as predictors of 6-month increases in goal attainment, and as moderators of goal attainment effects upon boosted subjective well-being (SWB). Seeking internal replication, we tested our models twice, both during T1-T2 and during T2-T3. We also examined whether any Personality × Attainment moderator effects upon change in SWB at T2 still persisted at T3. Grit was the only candidate strength that predicted increased goal attainment from T1 to T2 and from T2 to T3, and Curiosity was the only candidate strength that moderated attainment effects on well-being from T1 to T2 and from T2 to T3. T2 Goal attainment effects on SWB were best sustained at T3 when Meaning Orientation increased from T1 to T2. Implications for identifying keystone constructs in personality (and positive) psychology are discussed.

Judgments of Meaning in Life, Religious Beliefs, and the Experience of Cognitive (Dis)Fluency

The primary aim of the current studies was to test whether religiousness interacted with self-reported levels of meaning in life (MIL) to predict the ease or difficulty in judging one's MIL, the search for meaning itself, and religious doubt. Undergraduate students in Study 1 (N = 111) and adult participants recruited online in Study 2 (N = 206) completed measures of religious beliefs, MIL, cognitive fluency related to MIL, and related variables. Study 3 merged these data sets. In Study 4 (N = 255), online participants completed measures of religious beliefs, cognitive fluency related to religious beliefs, and MIL. Studies 1 and 2 showed that highly religious people with lower MIL reported greater difficulty making their MIL judgments than other people. Study 3 showed that they were also more likely to search for MIL and that disfluency mediated this effect. Study 4 demonstrated that they also reported more difficult judgments of religious beliefs and more religious doubts than their religious peers with high MIL. The current studies demonstrate that the experience of ease or difficulty associated with MIL judgments represents an important yet largely unexamined aspect of MIL. Our findings have implications for understanding the cognitive mechanisms underlying responses to meaning threats.

Meaning in life: an important factor for the psychological well-being of chronically ill patients?

PURPOSE

This study aimed to investigate 2 dimensions of meaning in life--Presence of Meaning (i.e., the perception of your life as significant, purposeful, and valuable) and Search for Meaning (i.e., the strength, intensity, and activity of people's efforts to establish or increase their understanding of the meaning in their lives)--and their role for the well-being of chronically ill patients.

RESEARCH DESIGN

A sample of 481 chronically ill patients (M = 50 years, SD = 7.26) completed measures on meaning in life, life satisfaction, optimism, and acceptance. We hypothesized that Presence of Meaning and Search for Meaning will have specific relations with all 3 aspects of well-being.

RESULTS

Cluster analysis was used to examine meaning in life profiles. RESULTS supported 4 distinguishable profiles (High Presence High Search, Low Presence High Search, High Presence Low Search, and Low Presence Low Search) with specific patterns in relation to well-being and acceptance. Specifically, the 2 profiles in which meaning is present showed higher levels of well-being and acceptance, whereas the profiles in which meaning is absent are characterized by lower levels. Furthermore, the results provided some clarification on the nature of the Search for Meaning process by distinguishing between adaptive (the High Presence High Search cluster) and maladaptive (the Low Presence High Search cluster) searching for meaning in life.

CONCLUSIONS

The present study provides an initial glimpse in how meaning in life may be related to the well-being of chronically ill patients and the acceptance of their condition. Clinical implications are discussed.

Factor structure of the Chinese version of the Meaning in Life Questionnaire among Hong Kong Chinese caregivers

This study examines the factor structure of the Chinese version of the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (C-MLQ) in a sample of Hong Kong Chinese caregivers of patients with chronic illness (N = 223). Confirmatory factor analysis was performed to examine the factor structure. Findings confirm that, identical to the original version, C-MLQ showed the same two-factor structure: Presence and Search. Correlation between Presence and Search was found to be positive and moderate (r = .47). This study establishes empirically the same factor structure as the original version of MLQ among caregivers in Hong Kong. The relationship between Presence and Meaning is discussed in the contexts of Chinese culture and caregiving. Results suggest caregivers' continuing need for meaning in life. Medical social workers may help caregivers to integrate their caregiving experience with their sense of meaning in life and search for meaning in life to sustain their caregiving role.

Seeking and experiencing meaning: Exploring the role of meaning in promoting mental adjustment and eudaimonic well-being in cancer patients

Objective:

The present study is the result of theory-driven research investigating the role of the search for and presence of meaning in enhancing both mental adjustment and eudaimonic well-being in cancer patients.

Method:

A cross-sectional study involved 266 cancer patients currently in the treatment and management phase of their illness. Data were collected by a written questionnaire. The search for meaning was assessed with the Seeking of Noetic Goals Test, and the presence of meaning was assessed using the Purpose in Life Test. Mental adjustment to a cancer diagnosis was assessed by two subscales of the Italian version of the Mini-Mental Adjustment to Cancer Scale, and eudaimonic well-being was assessed with the Psychological Well-Being Scale. Correlation and mediation analyses based on five thousand bootstrapping samples were performed.

Results:

The mediation analyses showed that the presence of meaning totally or partially mediated the effect of the search for meaning on both mental adjustment and eudaimonic well-being. Further correlation analyses showed a high negative correlation between eudaimonic well-being and hopelessness.

Significance of results:

Our results appear relevant from both the theoretical and clinical points of view. They support a deeper understanding of the combined contribution of the search for and presence of meaning in promoting well-being in cancer patients. Simultaneously, they are consistent with suggestions from recent studies on the clinical psychology of posttraumatic growth and emphasize the relevance of eudaimonic well-being as a protective factor for hopelessness.

Meaning in Life in Emerging Adulthood: A Person-Oriented Approach

The present study investigated naturally occurring profiles based on two dimensions of meaning in life: Presence of Meaning and Search for Meaning. Cluster analysis was used to examine meaning-in-life profiles, and subsequent analyses identified different patterns in psychosocial functioning for each profile. A sample of 8,492 American emerging adults (72.5% women) from 30 colleges and universities completed measures on meaning in life, and positive and negative psychosocial functioning. Results provided support for five meaningful yet distinguishable profiles. A strong generalizability of the cluster solution was found across age, and partial generalizability was found across gender and ethnicity. Furthermore, the five profiles showed specific patterns in relation to positive and negative psychosocial functioning. Specifically, respondents with profiles high on Presence of Meaning showed the most adaptive psychosocial functioning, whereas respondents with profiles where meaning was largely absent showed maladaptive psychosocial functioning. The present study provided additional evidence for prior research concerning the complex relationship between Presence of Meaning and Search for Meaning, and their relation with psychosocial functioning. Our results offer a partial clarification of the nature of the Search for Meaning process by distinguishing between adaptive and maladaptive searching for meaning in life.

The effects of trait self-esteem and death cognitions on worldview defense and search for meaning

Terror management theory asserts that attaining self-esteem by adhering to the standards of meaning-providing worldviews helps manage death concerns. Research has shown that mortality salience (MS) increases worldview defense, however, there are conflicting results concerning how trait self-esteem moderates this effect. Studies 1 and 2 demonstrated that MS increases worldview defense for high, but not low, trait self-esteem individuals. These studies raised the question as to whether those with low trait self-esteem engage in efforts to find meaning in response to MS. Study 3 showed that MS increased the search for meaning for low, but not high, trait self-esteem individuals.

A meaningful life is worth living: meaning in life as a suicide resiliency factor

Given the high rate of suicide worldwide, it is imperative to find factors that can confer resiliency to suicide. The goal of the present study was to examine the search for and the presence of meaning in life as possible resilience factors. We hypothesized that the presence of, but not the search for, meaning in life would predict decreased suicidal ideation over an eight-week time period and decreased lifetime odds of a suicide attempt. We also examined a subsidiary hypothesis that the presence of, but not the search for, meaning in life would mediate the relationship between the two variables associated with the interpersonal psychological theory of suicide (i.e., perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness) and suicidal ideation. Our results were generally in support of our hypothesis: presence of meaning in life predicted decreased suicidal ideation over time and lower lifetime odds of a suicide attempt. Surprisingly, search for meaning in life also predicted decreased suicidal ideation over time. Finally, the search for, but not presence of, meaning in life mediated the relationship between the interpersonal psychological theory variables and suicidal ideation. These findings suggest that interventions that target meaning in life may be useful to attenuate suicide risk in individuals.

An Empirical Investigation of Viktor Frankl’s Logotherapeutic Model

The purpose of this study was to investigate the logotherapeutic model as described by Frankl that explains the relationships among the search for meaning in life, the presence of meaning in life, existential vacuum, existential frustration, noogenic neurosis, will-to-power, and will-to-pleasure. A sample of college students from a large Mid-Atlantic university ( N = 750) completed paper-and-pencil instruments for the variables. Structural equation modeling was used to test and compare four competing alternative models of the relationships among the aforementioned constructs. Two models exhibited excellent fit, one model good fit, and the fourth model poor fit. Of the two best models, one treated will-to-power and will-to-pleasure as outcomes of noogenic neurosis and the other treated them as causes of noogenic neurosis. Limitations, suggestions for future research, and implications for clinical practice are also discussed.

Differences on adolescent life goal profile scale between a clinical and non-clinical adolescent sample

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to determine similarities and differences on perceived importance and perceived attainability of life goals between a clinical and non-clinical adolescent sample.

METHOD

244 students and 54 adolescent patients completed the Adolescent Life Goal Profile Scale (ALGPS). The ALGPS measures perceived importance and perceived attainability of four main life goal categories: Relations, Generativity, Religion, and Achievements. As a control, we used five measures of mental health, quality of life, and personality.

RESULTS

There were no differences on perceived importance on the Generativity, Religion, and Achievement life goal factor, but patients perceived relation-oriented goals less important than non-patients. Perceived attainability of life goals factors was lower for patients on all life goals except for Generativity. Compared to non-patients, patients were less happy and satisfied and had lower sense of coherence and self-efficacy. Patients were also less emotionally stable, had lower conscientiousness, but higher intellect.

CONCLUSIONS

Though patients appear less content with life in general than non-patients, chances are that they uphold their concern and care for others, remain devoted in their religious stand, and stay committed to their achievement-related goals. The lower perceived importance of relations within the patient group should be awarded clinical attention.

Expectancy violations and the search for meaning among breast cancer survivors

A number of theoretical perspectives suggest that expectancy violations (EVs) threaten a person's sense of meaning and prompt efforts to reinstate meaning. Yet, little to no research has explicitly examined whether EVs predict actual efforts to search for meaning. The current research redresses this gap in the literature among a sample of breast cancer survivors. The results revealed that EVs, but not life satisfaction, positively predicted the search for meaning. By comparison, the presence of meaning was predicted by both EVs and life satisfaction. Further, EVs predicted an increased search for meaning among participants who simultaneously believed that their life had high levels of meaning. Thus, personal EVs may offer a compelling framework for understanding what prompts searches for meaning.

The potential role of meaning in life in the relationship between bullying victimization and suicidal ideation

Adolescent bullying is a common problem in schools across America. The consequences of bullying are significant, and can include severe psychological trauma and suicide. A better understanding of the mechanisms that link bullying and suicidal ideation is needed in order to develop effective prevention and intervention initiatives. Meaning in life is a potential mechanism that has not been studied in this context. It was hypothesized that meaning in life could serve as both a mediator and a moderator of the relationship between bullying victimization and suicidal ideation. As a mediator, meaning in life is considered to explain why bullying victimization leads to suicidal ideation. As a moderator, meaning in life is considered to buffer the ill effect of bullying victimization on suicidal ideation. Data collected from an ethnically diverse sample of 2,936 (50% female), 6th-12th grade students from one urban school district in the Northeastern US were used to examine the hypotheses. The model for girls was consistent with mediation (i.e., meaning in life may explain how victimization leads to suicidal ideation). The model for boys was consistent with moderation (i.e., the ill effect of victimization on suicidal ideation was attenuated as meaning in life increased). Implications for prevention are discussed.

Associations among aspects of meaning in life and death anxiety in young adults

This investigation explored the relationship between two aspects of meaning in life, presence of meaning in life and search for meaning in life, and the fear of death and dying in young adults. A community sample of participants (N = 168) completed measures of meaning in life and death anxiety. A multivariate analysis of variance was performed using the search for meaning and presence of meaning as independent variables and fear of death and dying as dependent variables. Results indicated that only the search for meaning in life was significantly associated with fear of dying and death in young adults.

Matching reality in the arts: self-referential neural processing of naturalistic compared to surrealistic images

How are works of art that present scenes that match potential expectations processed in the brain, in contrast to such scenes that can never occur in real life because they would violate physical laws? Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we investigated the processing of surrealistic and naturalistic images in visual artworks. Looking at naturalistic paintings leads to a significantly higher activation in the visual cortex and in the precuneus. Humans apparently own a sensitive mechanism even for artistic representations of the visual world to separate the impossible from what potentially matches physical reality. The observation reported here also suggests that sensory input corresponding to a realistic representation of the visual world elicits higher self-referential processing.

When does meaning making predict subjective well-being? Examining young and older adults in two cultures

Two studies in different cultures (Study 1: USA, N=174, Study 2: Trinidad, N=167) examined whether meaning making, (i.e., both searching for meaning, and directing behaviour) is positively related to subjective well-being (SWB) by age (younger, older adults). In both studies, participants self-reported engagement in meaning making, and SWB (e.g., affect, future time perspective, psychological well-being). In Study 1, young Americans (compared to older) more frequently used their past to direct behaviour but doing so was unrelated to SWB. In older Americans, both types of meaning making were positively associated with SWB. In Study 2, Trinidadian younger adults were again more likely than older adults to engage in meaning making. Unlike in the American sample, however, directing behaviour was positively related to SWB for both young and older adults. The studies demonstrate that whether meaning making shows benefits for SWB may depend on type of meaning, age and culture. Note that although meaning making was sometimes unrelated to SWB, no detrimental relations to meaning making were found. The discussion focuses on the role of moderators in understanding when meaning making should lead to benefits versus costs to SWB.

The effects of psychotherapy on psychological well-being and diurnal cortisol patterns in breast cancer survivors

BACKGROUND

Neuroendocrine dysregulation influenced by psychosocial stress is related to breast cancer recurrence. Very few studies examine the impacts of psychotherapy on diurnal cortisol patterns among breast cancer survivors.

METHODS

Forty-eight breast cancer patients who completed active cancer treatment were randomly assigned to receive either 8 weekly body-mind-spirit (BMS) group therapy sessions or 1 educational (EDU) session. Self-report measures included the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), and the Meaning in Life questionnaire (MLQ) including two subscales: MLQ-Presence and MLQ-Search. Salivary cortisol levels were collected by the subjects in their homes at the time of awakening, 30 and 45 min after awakening, and at 12.00, 17.00, and 21.00 h. Measurement time points include baseline, the 2nd month (completion of BMS therapy), the 5th month, and the 8th month.

RESULTS

There were no significant differences in BDI-II scores (p>0.05) and MLQ-Presence scores (p >0.05) between BMS and EDU groups at baseline or across the three follow-ups. Nevertheless, greater MLQ-Search scores were found in the BMS group compared to the EDU group during the 5th month of follow-up (p <0.01). The higher level of cortisol at 21.00 h (p < 0.01) and a flatter diurnal cortisol pattern were more likely to occur in EDU than in BMS participants (p < 0.05) at the 8th month of follow-up.

CONCLUSION

BMS group therapy likely contributed to enhancing an active search for meaning in life toward more opportunities for personal growth and to maintaining stable cortisol responses to everyday life stress for breast cancer survivors.

Adaptability: Conceptual and Empirical Perspectives on Responses to Change, Novelty and Uncertainty

Adaptability is proposed as individuals’ capacity to constructively regulate psycho-behavioral functions in response to new, changing, and/or uncertain circumstances, conditions and situations. The present investigation explored the internal and external validity of an hypothesised adaptability scale. The sample comprised 2,731 high school students. In terms of internal validity, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (EFA and CFA) suggested a reliable higher order adaptability factor subsumed by a reliable first order cognitive-behavioural factor and a reliable first order affective factor. Multi-group CFA indicated invariance in factor structure as a function of gender, age, and language background. Further, age (younger adolescents), language background (non-English speaking), and parents’ education (higher levels) predicted higher order adaptability, while gender (males) predicted first order affective adaptability. In terms of external validity, consistent with hypotheses, higher and first order adaptability was differentially associated with cognate/aligned factors (personality, implicit theories of ability, buoyancy) and also with psycho-educational wellbeing ‘outcome’ factors (achievement, enjoyment of school, meaning and purpose, life satisfaction). Findings hold theoretical and empirical implications for researchers and practitioners seeking to better understand the constructive regulation of individuals confronted with situations involving novelty, change, and uncertainty.

Flexibility in Existential Beliefs and Worldviews

Being open to questioning and changing one’s own existential beliefs and worldviews is an understudied epistemological tendency we call “existential quest.” We found that existential quest is a specific construct that can be distinguished from related constructs such as searching for meaning in life, readiness to question proreligious beliefs (i.e., religious quest), need for closure, and dogmatism. In five studies, we tested the psychometric qualities of a newly developed 9-item scale and the relationship of existential quest with individual difference variables reflecting ideological and epistemological needs (such as authoritarianism or regulatory focus) and behavioral tendencies (myside bias in an argument generation task). Existential quest showed incremental validity over and above established constructs regarding the prediction of relevant cognitive biases and empathy. The findings indicate the relevance of existential quest as an epistemological construct that seems particularly interesting for research in the developing field of existential psychology.

Meaning in life: is it a protective factor for adolescents' psychological health?

BACKGROUND

Searching for a coherent meaning in life has long been proposed to be a protective factor in adolescent development.

PURPOSE

The present study aimed to examine meaning in life as a protective factor in a largely unstudied population: Romanian adolescents. Additionally, we sought to provide a novel, multidimensional assessment of several health-related variables (substance abuse, health risk behaviors, psychological health). Potential gender differences were explored regarding the role of life meaning in adolescent health.

METHOD

Data were collected in 2006 from students enrolled in the secondary schools of the Middle Transylvanian Region, Romania (n = 1,977). Self-administered questionnaires were used as a method of data collection including items of life meaning and psychological health.

RESULTS

Meaning in life played a protective role with regard to health risk behaviors except smoking and binge drinking. Among males, meaning in life was found to be correlated only to illicit drug and sedative use, whereas among females, meaning in life was associated with binge drinking, unsafe sex, and lack of exercise and diet control. Psychological health was strongly related to meaning in life.

CONCLUSION

In Romanian adolescents, meaning in life is a protective factor against health risk behaviors and poor psychological health.

Social Threats, Happiness, and the Dynamics of Meaning in Life Judgments

Four studies examined social relatedness and positive affect (PA) as alternate sources of information for judgments of meaning in life (MIL). In Studies 1 through 3 (total N = 282), priming loneliness increased reliance on PA and decreased reliance on social functioning in MIL judgments. In Study 4 ( N = 138), daily assessments of PA, relatedness needs satisfaction (RNS), and MIL were obtained every 5 days over 20 days. Multilevel modeling showed that on days when RNS was low, PA was strongly related to MIL. Results suggest the dynamic ways that social relationships and PA inform judgments of MIL. Informational and motivational accounts of these results are discussed.

Meaning as Magnetic Force

The authors report on data indicating that having a strong sense of meaning in life makes people more appealing social interactants. In Study 1, participants were videotaped while conversing with a friend, and the interactions were subsequently rated by independent evaluators. Participants who had reported a strong sense of meaning in life were rated as desirable friends. In Study 2, participants made 10-s videotaped introductions of themselves that were subsequently evaluated by independent raters. Those who reported a strong sense of meaning in life were rated as more likeable, better potential friends, and more desirable conversation partners. The effect of meaning in life was beyond that of several other variables, including self-esteem, happiness, extraversion, and agreeableness. Study 2 also found an interaction between physical attractiveness and meaning in life, with more meaning in life contributing to greater interpersonal appeal for those of low and average physical attractiveness.