Distinctions to Promote an Integrated Perspective on Meaning: Global Meaning and Meaning-Making Processes

Abstract

This article continues the dialogue begun during the First Congress on the Construction of Personal Meaning by addressing specific questions generated at the Congress. I argue that it is desirable to move toward consensus in understanding existential meaning, that it is useful to reframe the human “need for meaning” as the “need for a functional meaning system,” and that it is important to consider the functionality of individuals’ meaning systems as determining when and how they may change. I describe a model of global meaning as comprising beliefs (cognitions), goals (motivation), and a subjective sense of meaning (emotion); and meaning making as aligning one's appraisals of situations with one's global meaning. I highlight the unique role that spirituality plays in the meaning systems of many people. I conclude by strongly encouraging future researchers to develop and use strong measures of meaning-related constructs. My aim in this article is to help foster consensus and advance the science of human meaning.