The quest for meaning: Religious affiliation differences in the correlates of religious quest and search for meaning in life.

Religious traditions are considered to provide their members with a way to integrate their experiences into a coherent, comprehensible whole; functioning as a meaning system. Given that religious traditions vary in certain ways, the meaning systems they provide to their members might also differ from one another. The present study was concerned with whether seeking existential meaning in religion and life is compatible with other expressions of religiousness across denominations. Using a multigroups application of path analysis, we investigated whether the relations of two forms of existential seeking, secular (search for meaning in life) and sacred (religious quest), with several religious and psychological well-being measures differed as a function of denomination in a sample of Catholic and Protestant young adults (Study 1; N = 284) and a sample of Catholic, Evangelical, and Non-Evangelical Protestant young adults (Study 2; N = 454). Although comparisons across studies are difficult because the “Protestant” category in Study 1 could have included both Evangelical and non-Evangelical Protestants, one consistent pattern did emerge: there were no denomination-based differences in any of the relations of search for meaning with any of the religiousness variables in either study. Also, in both studies, Catholics demonstrated a positive relation of search for meaning with religious quest and negative relations of search for meaning with presence of meaning in life and overall religiousness. Results for religious quest appeared unstable across studies, raising possible questions about its measurement qualities. Implications for the study of cultural and existential factors and religion are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Exploring existential meaning: Optimizing human development across the life span.

Reviews the book, Exploring existenial meaning: Optimizing human development across the life span by Gary T. Reker and Kerry Chamberlain (2000). The form of personal meaning that constitutes the main focus for the volume is existential meaning, characterized by the editors in terms of "attempts to understand how events in life fit into a larger context," which involves both "a sense of coherence (order, reason for existence) and a sense of purpose (mission in life, direction)" (p. 1). This is a remarkably well integrated collection of essays, given the usual standards for edited volumes. The contributed chapters, sandwiched between the editors' brief Introduction and their longer integrative chapter at the end, are organized into distinct sections addressing, respectively, theoretical and conceptual issues, empirical research, and applications and interventions. This volume not only provides a comprehensive survey of recent work on existential meaning but is likely to have a broader appeal as well. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Meaning in Life: One Link in the Chain From Religiousness to Well-Being.

Meaning in life has been identified as a potential mediator of the link between religiousness and psychological health. The authors tested this hypothesis in 2 studies, using multiple methods and measures of religiousness and well-being. In the studies, meaning in life mediated the relation between religiousness and life satisfaction (Study 1A), as well as self-esteem and optimism (Study 1B). In addition, using an experience sampling method, the authors found that meaning in life also mediated the relation between daily religious behaviors and well-being (Study 2). The authors discuss these findings and suggest that meaning in life may be an effective conduit through which counselors and clients can discuss "ultimate" matters, even when they do not share similar perspectives on religion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Exploring the existential function of religion: The effect of religious fundamentalism and mortality salience on faith-based medical refusals.

Decisions to rely on religious faith over medical treatment for health conditions represent an important but understudied phenomenon. In an effort to understand some of the psychological underpinnings of such decisions, the present research builds from terror management theory to examine whether reminders of death motivate individuals strongly invested in a religious worldview (i.e., fundamentalists) to rely on religious beliefs when making medical decisions. The results showed that heightened concerns about mortality led those high in religious fundamentalism to express greater endorsement of prayer as a medical substitute (Study 1) and to perceive prayer as a more effective medical treatment (Study 2). Similarly, high fundamentalists were more supportive of religiously motivated medical refusals (Study 3) and reported an increased willingness to rely on faith alone for medical treatment (Study 4) following reminders of death. Finally, affirmations of the legitimacy of divine intervention in health contexts functioned to solidify a sense of existential meaning among fundamentalists who were reminded of personal mortality (Study 5). The existential importance of religious faith and the health-relevant implications of these findings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Nostalgia as a repository of social connectedness: The role of attachment-related avoidance.

Individuals who are low (compared with high) in attachment-related avoidance rely on social bonds to regulate distress, and the authors hypothesized that nostalgia can be a repository of such social connectedness. Studies 1–3 showed a positive association between loneliness and nostalgia when attachment-related avoidance was low, but not when it was high. Study 4 revealed that low-avoidance individuals derived more social connectedness from nostalgia than did high-avoidance individuals. Study 5 extended these findings and demonstrated that, in addition to being a source of social connectedness, nostalgia increased participants’ perceived capacity to provide emotional support to others. As in the case of social connectedness, this beneficial effect of nostalgia was significantly stronger when attachment-related avoidance was low (compared with high). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Life Attitude Profile (LAP): A multidimensional instrument for assessing attitudes toward life.

Describes the development of LAP, a multidimensional measure designed to assess the degree of existential meaning and purpose in life and the strength of motivation to find meaning and purpose. Principle component factor analyses performed on the responses of 219 undergraduates to the 56-item, 7-point Likert scale resulted in the extraction of 7 primary dimensions of life attitudes (life purpose, existential vacuum, life control, death acceptance, will to meaning, goal seeking, and future meaning to fulfill) and 3 higher order factors. The normative data showed that males scored significantly higher on the death acceptance dimension and on the total LAP compared to females. Age was significantly related to a number of the LAP factors for males but not for females. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Nostalgia and identity in song lyrics.

The content of original song lyrics was manipulated to explore the relationship of nostalgia to identity and social connectedness. A sample of 96 undergraduates rated six attributes of four sets of lyrics and completed measures of identity exploration, styles of maintaining identity, nostalgia for their past, and nostalgia for a general historical past. Lyrical nostalgia was not a function of how happy, sad, meaningful or liked the lyrics were, but was characterized by the irretrievability of the past. More active identity exploration was associated with higher ratings of lyrical nostalgia. The more actively participants were exploring their identity, the more closely they related to and found meaningful lyrics that emphasize the influence of the past on identity. Consistent with the greater social connectedness of individuals prone to personal nostalgia, nostalgia for one's past was related to reliance on the standards of others in defining identity, and higher ratings of liking, meaning, and relevance for other-directed lyrics. By contrast, participants more nostalgic for an historical past rely less heavily on others to define their identity, and they related more closely to the solitary identity lyrics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Positive affect and the experience of meaning in life.

Six studies examined the role of positive affect (PA) in the experience of meaning in life (MIL). Study 1 showed strong relations between measures of mood, goal appraisals, and MIL. In multivariate analyses, PA was a stronger predictor of MIL than goal appraisals. In Study 2, the most consistent predictor of the experience of meaning in a day was the PA experienced that day. Later, global MIL was predicted by average daily PA, rather than average daily MIL. Study 3 demonstrated no prospective relations between measures of MIL and PA over 2 years. In Study 4, priming positive mood concepts enhanced MIL. In Study 5, manipulated positive mood enhanced ratings of MIL for those who were not given an attributional cue for their moods. In Study 6, PA was associated with a high level of distinction between meaningful and meaningless activities. Results indicate that positive moods may predispose individuals to feel that life is meaningful. In addition, positive moods may increase sensitivity to the meaning-relevance of a situation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An existential function of enemyship: Evidence that people attribute influence to personal and political enemies to compensate for threats to control.

Perceiving oneself as having powerful enemies, although superficially disagreeable, may serve an important psychological function. On the basis of E. Becker’s (1969) existential theorizing, the authors argue that people attribute exaggerated influence to enemies as a means of compensating for perceptions of reduced control over their environment. In Study 1, individuals dispositionally low in perceived control responded to a reminder of external hazards by attributing more influence to a personal enemy. In Study 2, a situational threat to control over external hazard strengthened participants’ belief in the conspiratorial power of a political enemy. Examining moderators and outcomes of this process, Study 3 showed that participants were especially likely to attribute influence over life events to an enemy when the broader social system appeared disordered, and Study 4 showed that perceiving an ambiguously powerful enemy under conditions of control threat decreased perceptions of external risk and bolstered feelings of personal control. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Life experience and mode of coping: Relation to moral judgment in adulthood.

Two studies examining Gibbs's (1977, 1979) hypothesis on the relation between mode of coping with human needs and moral development in adulthood are presented. It was hypothesized that mature levels of moral reasoning would be related to affirmative coping, whereas conventional reasoning would be related to abortive coping. In Study 1, 70 adults (M?=?44.3 years of age) were given the Defining Issues Test (DIT) and classified as either principled or conventional moral reasoners. From this original sample, 13 principled and 15 conventional women were administered an Existential Coping Interview (ECI), designed to assess affirmative and abortive coping with human needs (after Fromm, 1955) arising from an experience of loss. Results indicated that conventional moral reasoners dealt abortively with Fromm's existential needs, whereas principled reasoners exhibited affirmative coping strategies. In Study 2, 75 adults 20 to 78 years of age were administered the ECI; measures of moral reasoning (DIT), openness to experience, and coping; and an impact of life events scale. A positive relationship was demonstrated between existential coping and principled reasoning, openness to experience, and problem-focused coping strategies. Discussion focuses on the cognitive definition of life experience and situational and contextual variability influencing moral development in adulthood. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Strategies used in coping with a cancer diagnosis predict meaning in life for survivors.

The search for meaning in life is part of the human experience. A negative life event may threaten perceptions about meaning in life, such as the benevolence of the world and one's sense of harmony and peace. The authors examined the longitudinal relationship between women's coping with a diagnosis of breast cancer and their self-reported meaning in life 2 years later. Multiple regression analyses revealed that positive strategies for coping predicted significant variance in the sense of meaning in life--feelings of inner peace, satisfaction with one's current life and the future, and spirituality and faith--and the absence of such strategies predicted reports of loss of meaning and confusion (ps     

Existentialism, psychology, and psychotherapy.

The basic elements of existentialism and its relevance to psychology and psychotherapy are considered. "Existentialists are concerned with the meaning of life… . The existential analysts emphasize the study of the experiencing individual. Events are looked at in terms of their meaning for the individual… . In an attempt to get at the patient's inner universe of experience, the existential analyst studies how the phenomenological coordinates of time, space, causality, and materiality are experienced… . Logotherapy focuses upon the search for meaning in human existence." If it is approached as an area representing possible suggestions for further study "existentialism may have much to offer and psychology considerable to gainp" (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What's left behind: Identity continuity moderates the effect of nostalgia on well-being and life choices.

Previous research has demonstrated that nostalgia for the past can have positive consequences for individuals' psychological well-being and their perceived ability to cope with challenges in the present (Wildschut, Sedikides, Arndt, & Routledge, 2006). We propose that this effect is limited to circumstances in which individuals have maintained identity continuity between the past and the present. Support for this moderation hypothesis is obtained in a longitudinal survey (Study 1) and two experiments (Studies 2 and 3) among students entering university. Whereas previously observed positive effects of nostalgia were confirmed when identity continuity had been maintained, feeling nostalgic about the past in the context of lower identity continuity had negative consequences for well-being (Studies 1 and 3), perceived ability to cope with challenges (Studies 1 and 2), and interest in new opportunities (Studies 2 and 3) rather than focusing on familiar experiences (Study 3). Taken together, results indicate that the extent to which individuals view the present as linked to the past has important implications for the outcome of their nostalgia. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The dynamics of death and meaning: The effects of death-relevant cognitions and personal need for structure on perceptions of meaning in life.

Do reminders of mortality increase or decrease perceptions of life’s meaning? The authors propose that death-relevant thought has divergent effects on meaning perceptions depending on individuals’ personal need for structure (PNS) or dispositional desire for structured knowledge. In prior research, high-PNS individuals primed with mortality-related stimuli were found to employ clearly structured conceptions of reality. Consequently, these individuals were expected to show stable or even bolstered perceptions of meaning when death thought was heightened. Low-PNS individuals did not show this tendency and were therefore expected to show decreased meaning under heightened death-thought activation. The results of Studies 1a–1d supported these hypotheses. Studies 2 and 3 sought to identify how low-PNS individuals might reaffirm meaning and found that death thought increased their willingness to explore novelty. Studies 4 and 5 directly tested the meaning-conferring function of novelty seeking among low-PNS individuals, showing that the consideration of novel interpretations of the world and their experiences affirmed a sense of meaning in life following reminders of death. Discussion focuses on the relationship between meaning and death and the unique ways low-PNS individuals respond to mortality concerns. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Facets of spirituality as predictors of adjustment to cancer: Relative contributions of having faith and finding meaning.

Spirituality is a multidimensional construct, and little is known about how its distinct dimensions jointly affect well-being. In longitudinal studies (Study 1, n = 418 breast cancer patients; Study 2, n = 165 cancer survivors), the authors examined 2 components of spiritual well-being (i.e., meaning/peace and faith) and their interaction, as well as change scores on those variables, as predictors of psychological adjustment. In Study 1, higher baseline meaning/peace, as well as an increase in meaning/peace over 6 months, predicted a decline in depressive symptoms and an increase in vitality across 12 months in breast cancer patients. Baseline faith predicted an increase in perceived cancer-related growth. Study 2 revealed that an increase in meaning/peace was related to improved mental health and lower cancer-related distress. An increase in faith was related to increased cancer-related growth. Both studies revealed significant interactions between meaning/peace and faith in predicting adjustment. Findings suggest that the ability to find meaning and peace in life is the more influential contributor to favorable adjustment during cancer survivorship, although faith appears to be uniquely related to perceived cancer-related growth. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anxiety as an existential phenomenon. An existential analytic approach to understanding and therapy of anxieties

From the existential analytical point of view, anxiety is considered to be a basic theme of existence. The experience of being threatened is most commonly related to the physical and material aspects of life. But on a deeper level anxiety deals with the search for foundational and supporting structures for existence. When one loses the sense of safety of being held and of having shelter in a world that does not offer ultimate securities, one is prone to anxiety. Anxiety can therefore be perceived as a subjective parameter of feeling threatened in the existential structures. This paper gives an outline of an existential analytical approach to the understanding of fear and anxiety, a basic classification of anxieties, and an overview of the following specific methods of an existential treatment search for foundational structures of existence, personal position-taking, dereflexion (Frankl) and paradoxical intention (Frankl).     

Longitudinal study of social support and meaning in life.

The purpose of this study was to see whether 3 types of social support (enacted support, negative interaction, and anticipated support) are associated with change in meaning in life. Data from a nationwide longitudinal survey of older people suggested that greater anticipated support (i.e., the belief that others will provide assistance in the future if needed) is associated with a deeper sense of meaning over time. The same was true with respect to emotional support received from family members and close friends. In contrast, the findings revealed that, at least initially, negative interaction lowers an older person's sense of meaning in life. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On misattributing good remembering to a happy past: An investigation into the cognitive roots of nostalgia.

Reflections on the past are often accompanied by an experience of nostalgia, or positive sentiments about some prior stage of one's life. In the current study, we provide evidence suggesting that nostalgic experiences may occur because of positive feelings that accompany the act of successful recall, rather than reflecting the true nature of the past. In a series of experiments, we employed an encoding manipulation to cause some words to support more detailed recollections than others. In turn, we measured the effect of these manipulations on judgments of both pleasantness and the emotional valence of a prior stimulus encounter. We demonstrate that recollections rich in meaning are unique in biasing people to judge having previously seen a stimulus in an emotionally positive context. In contrast, pleasantness judgments appear to be guided primarily by perceptual fluency. Overall, our results are consistent with the notion that the subjective experience of nostalgia represents a misattribution of successful remembering to a pleasant past. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Meta-analytic investigation of the effectiveness of self-regulatory components in the treatment of adult problem behaviors

The main purpose of this study was to understand the part played by clinical diagnosis in relation to persons with suspected dementia. Interviews were held with eight persons who had been evaluated clinically because of suspected dementia. A phenomenological-hermeneutic analysis inspired by Ricoeur's philosophy was performed. The findings revealed the overall meaning of "making sense" of early experiences of memory loss in terms of a clinical diagnosis by which participants are provided with a means of interpreting and ascribing some meanings to the changes in themselves. When a meaning cannot be established and the future is unknown, these experiences are found to pose an existential threat that projects into future existence. The study suggests that understanding how an informed diagnosis is comprehended by the client becomes essential when evaluating persons due to suspected dementia.