Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
submittedVersion
Publication Date
1-2021
Abstract
Research on meaning has begun to assess the specific facets of meaning in life. Few studies have examined the extent to which these facets distinguish meaning at the level of individual events. In the present study, participants from Singapore and the U.S. wrote about meaningful and meaningless events and rated the extent to which they experienced purpose, coherence, positive and negative implications for self and others, positive affect, and negative affect. In both samples, meaningful and meaningless events differed most in their levels of positive affect, purpose, and positive implications for the self. When entered as predictors of overall event meaningfulness, purpose and positive affect independently predicted meaning. Measures of coherence did not predict the meaningfulness of event with one exception. The extent to which an event offered a new understanding predicted meaning above and beyond purpose and PA. Implications for meaning assessment and theories of meaning are discussed.
Keywords
meaning, purpose, coherence, significance, positive affect, events
Discipline
Applied Behavior Analysis | Community Psychology | Social and Behavioral Sciences
Research Areas
Psychology
Publication
Journal of Positive Psychology
Volume
16
Issue
1
First Page
129
Last Page
136
ISSN
1743-9760
Identifier
10.1080/17439760.2019.1689426
Publisher
Taylor & Francis (Routledge): STM, Behavioural Science and Public Health Titles
Citation
TOV, William, NG, Weiting, & KANG, Soon-Hock.(2021). The facets of meaningful experiences: An examination of purpose and coherence in meaningful and meaningless events. Journal of Positive Psychology, 16(1), 129-136.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/3527
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