Life And Psychology

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Meaning in life is often considered to be a vague and abstract concept, which has been difficult to define. Usually, meaning in life has been conceptualized as a coherent sense of identity, an understanding of the self, the world, and life in general, goal-directedness, or a sense of purpose in life. It has also been described as a cognitive construct that helps in discovering significant aspects of life.

Having a sense of meaning in life has been found associated with positive emotions, increased self-esteem, lesser depressive symptoms, and a greater sense of wellbeing. Over the years, different psychologists have given their perspectives on the concept of the meaning in life. These differing perspectives help in getting a better understanding of the concept of meaning in life. It also gives an understanding of how the concept has developed throughout the years, within psychology.

Alfred Adler

In his book, Adler further emphasizes that the meaning in life lies in communication, and not being in isolation. If this does not happen then the individual has unpleasant experiences. By suggesting this, he was again giving emphasis on contributing to the life of others. He also suggested that in contributing to the life of others, the individuals develop, and enhance their skills and abilities. In order to feel significant, Adler suggested that individuals should be significant to others.

Therefore, according to Adler, meaning in life can be experienced by making a contribution to the life of others. In this regard, later on, in 1939, Adler introduced his concept of social interest, which is about helping others - being respectful and considerate - to strive for a better society.  

Rollo May

The unhealthy communal orientation, according to May, results from unhealthy individualism, which involves a lack of sense of community and hyper-competitiveness, leading to interpersonal antagonism and separation from others. This unhealthy individualism eventually leads to a feeling of emptiness, loneliness, and a sense of meaninglessness. Therefore, according to May, having a healthy communal orientation gives meaning in life and helps in avoiding the experience of meaninglessness.

Around the same time as Rollo May, the existential psychologist, Viktor Frankl suggested that meaning in life is one of the major goals that drive human behavior. He referred to this as the will to meaning. This will to meaning, according to Frankl is innate.

Victor Frankl

The third type of meaning, according to Frankl, is associated with the approach towards suffering and events that cannot be changed. In such instances, Frankl suggested that meaning could be derived from compassion or even humor. This type of meaning is the transcendental nature of human experience and is associated with the feeling of dignity in suffering. It is this derived meaning that helps individuals to survive their experience of suffering.

Frankl, further, suggested that it is the will to meaning that helps people to overcome the existential vacuum, which involves a sense of emptiness or blandness, and hopelessness in life. It is a sense of alienation and an inexplicable feeling of loneliness that a person experiences. It is from this idea that Frankl originated his logotherapy. Logotherapy is a therapeutic approach that helps individuals to find meaning in life. Logotherapy is known as the third school of Viennese psychotherapy – the first school being the approach of Sigmund Freud, and the second school being the approach of Alfred Adler.

These early perspectives of meaning in life led to the high popularity of the concept. It allowed psychologists to conduct extensive research on the notion of meaning in life. This is reflected in the more recent perspectives on meaning in life.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

The second aspect of meaning in life, according to Csikszentmihalyi, is resolution in the pursuit of the goal. This means that having purpose is not enough. Individuals should be having an expression of intentionality. Csikszentmihalyi suggested that there should be a striving for the goal that individuals have and that their intent should be transferred into some action.

Finally, the third aspect of meaning in life, according to Csikszentmihalyi, is a sense of
harmony that results from the other two aspects, that is, having purpose as well as being able to act upon it. Individuals who have purpose and work towards achieving that, have their thoughts, feelings, and actions in congruence. Such individuals, Csikszentmihalyi suggested experience a deep sense of inner harmony, which eventually gives them meaning in life.

Michael Steger

The presence of meaning is the degree to which people find their life to be significant and meaningful. It is about the extent to which people find their lives to be significant as well as the extent to which they find their life to be purposeful.

The search for meaning is the degree to which people engage themselves in the search for meaning. It is about the efforts that people put in, while they try to comprehend the significance and purpose of their lives.

With Steger suggesting two dimensions, more recently, psychologists have been emphasizing on viewing meaning in life in terms of multiple dimensions. In recent times, a tripartite view of meaning in life has emerged. According to the tripartite view, meaning in life has three distinct but related dimensions – comprehension, purpose, and mattering.

Comprehension is the extent to which people perceive a sense of coherence in their life. People who are high on comprehension have more clarity about their life and feel that their life makes sense. People who are low on comprehension experience their life as being incoherent and unclear.

Purpose is the degree to which people feel that they have valued goals and have direction in life. People who are high on purpose have a clear sense of their goals in life, they feel motivated and enthusiastic and have a greater sense of direction in life. People who are low on purpose, experience a sense of aimlessness and disengagement.

Finally, mattering is the extent to which individuals feel their existence is significant and that they are valued in the world. People who are high on mattering, feel that their significance has a lasting value. People who are low on mattering feel that their existence is of no significance and that their life matters to nobody.

The tripartite view attempts to give a better understanding of the concept of meaning in life. In 2017, social and positive psychologist Login George, along with health psychologist, Crystal Park, developed a scale to measure meaning in life, on the basis of these three dimensions. The tripartite view has, thus, helped in making the notion of meaning in life more refined.

Meaning in life is a concept that has been widely studied in psychology. In recent times, it has emerged to be a significant construct in positive psychology as well as cognitive psychology. From initially being viewed as a general, abstract concept to more recently being viewed as a multidimensional, refined construct, meaning in life has been described in many ways.

Over the years, some of the ways in which meaning in life has been suggested to be derived from are - making significant contributions to the society, being concerned about the welfare of others, being able to overcome suffering and emptiness, having purpose in life, feeling coherence, and feeling significant in life.

This article can also be found on the blog History of Psychology