Existential Psychology: Meaning in Life

Meaning in Life

• Meaning of life vs. meaning in life:
  • Meaning of life is a theological question (e.g., Why are we here?).
  • Meaning in life is a psychological and individual question (e.g., What makes our lives meaningful?).
• Frankl (1963) is a forerunner in the study of meaning.
  • Surviving a Nazi concentration camp, he recognized that finding meaning and purpose helped endure.
  • He developed logotherapy (1986) an approach focusing on meaning.
• Steger (2012) and Wong (2012a) built on Frankl's ideas, developing the concept of meaning-in-life theoretically and empirically.
  • Wong (2012b) created the Meaning-Centred Counselling and Therapy model.
• Meaning in life is a fundamental topic in existential psychology.
  • Included as a key component in positive psychology wellbeing models.
• Defined as the degree to which one's life feels meaningful, guided by worthy goals and impacting the world. (King, Heintzelman, & Ward, 2016)
  • Three components:
    • Comprehension: Cognitive facet, sense of coherence.
    • Purpose: Behavioural component, life directed by goals.
    • Mattering: Emotional component, feeling one's existence matters.

The Need to Assign Meaning

• Frankl (1986) argued that people have an innate need to assign meaning.
• Terror Management Theory (Becker, 1973) suggests meaning is related to death anxiety.
• Meaning helps manage death anxiety, leading to psychological security.
  • Meaning gives us feelings of value, specialness and usefulness, fostering symbolic immortality.

The Quest for Meaningful Life

• Meaning in life is a dynamic and changing experience.
  • Existential crises often trigger the search (Wong, 2010).
• The act of finding meaning is inherently subjective.
• A meaning mindset (Wong, 2010) involves reflection, self-awareness, and self-evaluation.
  • Dissatisfaction can trigger a renewed search for meaning.

Sources of Meaning

• Sources include:
  • Achievement/fulfillment
  • Relationships/Intimacy
  • Religion/Spirituality
  • Self-Transcendence/Altruism
  • Self-Acceptance
  • Fairness/Respect
• Socioeconomic status can affect meaningfulness (Ward & King, 2016).
• Meaning in life is positively correlated with resources (education, finances).

Benefits of Meaning in Life

• High meaning in life correlates with well-being.
  • Happiness, wellbeing, vitality, high morale.
  • Sense of control, autonomy, environmental mastery.
  • Positive world perceptions, religious affiliation, spirituality.
• Lack of meaning correlates with negative outcomes.
  • Negative affect, rumination, adverse life events.
  • Hassles/grief, stress, hostility.
  • Mental illness (depression, suicidal ideation).

Health and Longevity

• High meaning in life is linked to physical health benefits.
  • Improved immune function, lower cholesterol, better glucose control.
  • Better cardiovascular health, health behaviours, reduced health services reliance.
  • Quicker recovery from illness and better adjustment to chronic conditions (Cross, Hofschneider, Grimm, & Pressman, 2018).

Relationships

• Meaning in life positively relates to relational aspects.
  • Degree to which needs for relatedness, belonging, closeness, support (family), and social appeal are met.
  • Social connectedness supports meaningfulness (Steger, 2017).

Viktor Frankl

• Frankl's perspective on fate:
  • During concentration camps, a detached curiosity followed by strategies for survival.
  • Faced with hunger and injustices, he found solace from the images of loved ones, religion, and the beauty he observed.
• Importance of having a "why":
  • "He who has a why to live can bear almost any how."
• Importance of choice:
  • All familiar goals are lost yet the last freedom remains in choosing one's attitude.

Logotherapy

• Focuses on the future:
• Meaning to be fulfilled
• Less retrospective, in contrast to psychoanalysis.
• Reorienting patients toward the meaning of their lives.
• Helps to overcome neurosis.
• Meaning is found in what one needs to fulfil in the future. Focuses on the meaning of human existence.
• The will to meaning is primary, contrasted with the pleasure principle or will to power.
• Focus: The will to discover a meaning to life.

Logotherapy Studies

• Student survey: Importance of personal meaning (Hopkins University)
• Case: A diplomat struggling with career dissatisfaction, had unconscious father images affecting decisions which was addressed through therapy.

Logotherapy - Meaning of Life

• Meaning is specific to each person and moment.
• Similar to a chess game, no universal "best" solution.
• Abstract meaning is not the goal. The goal is discoverable in tasks.
• Each person has a unique vocation or mission to fulfill. Meaning is found in unique tasks and experiences.

Logotherapy - Essence of Existence

• Being human involves purposeful direction towards others.
• The greater one directs oneself toward others, the more fulfilled one becomes.

Logotherapy - Meaning of Love

• Love helps grasp the essence of another.
• Love reveals potential and enables growth.
• It makes the other person realize their potential.

Logotherapy - Meaning of Suffering

• Suffering can lead to meaning in life if one can find a way to transform it.
• Meaning in suffering is about overcoming the personal tragedy; making difficult situations strengths.

Criticism of Logotherapy

• Some critique the therapy as authoritarian, offering one solution to all problems.