Construal Of Meaning Research Articles

Meaning Reconstruction in the First Two Years of Bereavement: The Role of Sense-Making and Benefit-Finding

Contemporary grief theories have highlighted the role of meaning-making in adaptation to bereavement, focusing on two major construals of meaning: making sense of the loss and finding benefit in the experience. The current investigation attempted a conceptual replication of the findings of Davis, Nolen-Hoeksema, and Larson (1998) that suggested that sense-making predicts adaptation to loss in the early period of bereavement, whereas benefit-finding primarily plays an ameliorative role as time progresses. To this end, an ethnically diverse sample of 1,022 recently bereaved college students completed the Inventory of Complicated Grief (ICG) as well as questions that assessed sense-making, benefit-finding, and the circumstances surrounding their losses. Results only partially replicated the findings of Davis and his colleagues, demonstrating that: 1) time since loss bore no relation to grief complications; 2) sense-making emerged as the most robust predictor of adjustment to bereavement; and 3) benefit finding interacted with sense making, with the fewest complications predicted when participants reported high sense, but low personal benefit, in the loss.

Modesty, Humility, Character Strength, and Positive Psychology

Modesty, Humility, Character Strength, and Positive PsychologyJohn H. Harvey and Brian G. PauwelsJohn H. Harvey1. University of Iowa.Search for more papers by this author and Brian G. Pauwels2. Doane College.Search for more papers by this authorPublished Online:June 2005https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.23.5.620.50753PDFPDF PLUS ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations AboutReferencesBushman , B., & Baumeister, R.F. (1998). Threatened egotism, narcissism, self-esteem and displaced aggression. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 219–229. Crossref, Google ScholarCarver (1998). Resilience and thriving: Issues, models, and linkages. Journal of Social Issues, 54, 245–266. Crossref, Google ScholarDavis , C.G., Nolen-Hoeksema, S., & Larson, J. (1998). Making sense of loss and benefiting from the experience: Two construals of meaning. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 561–574. Crossref, Google ScholarDiener , E., & Seligman, M.E.P. (2002). Very happy people. Psychological Science, 13, 80–83. Crossref, Google ScholarFischer, L. (1983). The essential Gandhi: His life, work, and ideas. New York: Vintage Books. Google ScholarGoldberg, L.R. (1999). A broad-bandwidth, public domain, personality inventory measuring the lower-level facets of several five-factor models. In I. Mervielde, I. Deary, F. De Fruyt, & F. Ostendorf (Eds.), Personality psychology in Europe (Vol. 7, pp. 7–28). Tilburg, The Netherlands: Tilburg University Press. Google ScholarHarvey , J.H. (2001). The psychology of loss as a lens to a positive psychology. American Behavioral Scientist, 44, 835–853. Crossref, Google ScholarHarvey, J.H. (2002). Perspectives on loss and trauma: Assaults on the self. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Google ScholarHarvey , J.H., Orbuch, T. L., Chwalisz, K.D., & Garwood, G. (1991). Coping with sexual assault: The roles of account-making and confiding. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 4, 515–531. Crossref, Google ScholarHarvey , J.H., & Pauwels, B.G. (2003). The ironies of positive psychology. Psychological Inquiry, 14, 124–127. Google ScholarLazarus , R.S. (2003). Does the positive psychology movement have legs? Psychological Inquiry, 14, 93–109. Crossref, Google ScholarPark , N., Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. (2004). Strengths of character and well-being. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 23, 603–619. Link, Google Scholar Previous article Next article FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Cited byCited by1. A meta-analysis of humble leadership: Reviewing individual, team, and organizational outcomes of leader humilityOnline publication date: Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar2. The influence of parenting on gratitude during emerging adulthood: the mediating effect of time perspectiveOnline publication date: 29 January 2021. Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar3. Unpacking humility: Leader humility, leader personality, and why they matterOnline publication date: Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar4. Engaging in narrative inquiry ethically and honorablyOnline publication date: 29 March 2021. Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar5. Online publication date: Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar6. Character Strengths by Age Groups: Comparisons of Character Strengths Among Korean Age Groups and Cultural CharacteristicsOnline publication date: Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar7. Humility as an Enabler of Organizational Growth and ChangeOnline publication date: 24 June 2019. Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar8. In their humble opinion: How expressions of humility affect superiors’ assessments of leadership potential in the US ArmyOnline publication date: 5 September 2018. Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar9. How humble is your company culture? And, why does it matter?Online publication date: Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar10. Online publication date: Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar11. Understanding Humility and Its Role in Relational TherapyOnline publication date: 12 January 2014. Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar12. The Effects of Character Strengths on Well-being and Adaptive Coping Style of AdolescentsOnline publication date: Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar13. Gifted and Thriving: A Deeper Understanding of Meaning of GTOnline publication date: Go to citation Crossref Google ScholarNansook Park, Christopher Peterson and Martin E. P. Seligman14. Strengths of Character and Well-Being: A Closer Look at Hope and ModestyOnline publication date: 1 June 2005. Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar Volume 23Issue 5Oct 2004 Information© Guilford Publications Inc.PDF download

Finding meaning in parenting a child with Asperger syndrome: correlates of sense making and benefit finding

This study explored the nature of two construals of meaning, benefit finding and sense making, in parents of a child with Asperger syndrome, and examined relations between both meaning constructs and the Double ABCX family stress model variables (initial stressor and pile-up of demands, appraisal, social support, coping strategies and adjustment) [H.I. McCubbin, J.M. Patterson, Social Stress and the Family: Advances and Developments in Family Stress Theory and Research, Haworth, New York, 1983, pp. 7–37]. A total of 59 parents completed questionnaires. Content analyses of parents’ responses to questions inquiring about gains and sense making explanations revealed 8 benefit and 12 sense making themes. Results of correlations indicated that one or more of the meaning variables were related to each of the Double ABCX model predictors of parental adjustment. The meaning variables were positively related to adaptive coping processes: social support, self-efficacy, and problem-focused and emotional approach coping strategies.

Language Use in Computer-Mediated Communication: The Role of Coordination Devices

In text-based computer-mediated communication (CMC), people's language use and task performance can be affected by whether explicit coordination devices (e.g., a turn marker) are available. Analyses of 37 dialogues that emerged in text-based, CMC environments support Clark's (1996, 1997) proposal that a communication setting that disrupts the regulation of turn-taking will both undermine higher level language processes (i.e., the construal of meaning) and increase the frequency of metacommunicative signals required to coordinate the speaker's action with the listener's attention. The results indicate that the availability of a simple, explicit turn marker in a task-oriented, text-based exchange facilitates the construal of meaning and reduces the number of verbal coordination devices required to ground communication. Measures examining alternative interpretations indicate that these effects are not easily explained by differences in volubility or speed-accuracy trade-off across the 2 conditions.

Making sense of loss and benefiting from the experience: Two construals of meaning.

Making sense of loss and benefiting from the experience: Two construals of meaning.

Making sense of loss and benefiting from the experience: two construals of meaning.

Theoretical models of the adjustment process following loss and trauma have emphasized the critical role that finding meaning plays. Yet evidence in support of these models is meager, and definitions of meaning have been too broad to facilitate a clear understanding of the psychological process involved. Using a prospective and longitudinal study of people coping with the loss of a family member, we differentiate 2 construals of meaning--making sense of the event and finding benefit in the experience--and demonstrate that both independently play roles in the adjustment process following the loss. Results indicate that making sense of the loss is associated with less distress, but only in the 1st year postloss, whereas reports of benefit finding are most strongly associated with adjustment at interviews 13 and 18 months postloss.

Plausibility and the construal of grammatical relations in illocutionary sentences by deaf and hearing children.

Abstract Groups of deaf and hearing children who had not fully mastered the rules for the assignment of the subject of the dependent verb for sentences of the form: Noun Phrase 1 (NP1) + Illocutionary Verb + Noun Phrase 2 (NP2) + to + Infinitive Verb were tested for the influence of four kinds of plausibility cues. In three sets the social power relations holding between the occupants of the respective NP's were used to construct plausible, neutral and implausible frames as judged by the tendency to construe NP2 as the subject of the dependent verb. In the fourth, implausible verb (IV), the dependent verb referred to an action difficult for others to control, and so was neutral for regular illocutionary verbs requiring NP2 as subject, but positive for NP1 construals appropriate to the irregular illocutionaly verb, promise. The hearing children proved sensitive to the plausibility cues, showing much larger differences in success with the regular and exceptional verb for the plausible than for the implausible set, with the neutral and IV sets occupying intervening positions. Deaf children did not respond to the plausibility variable. It was concluded that although it had been demonstrated that the referential meaning of individual words can influence the construal of meaning of word combinations, the strategy might not be successful with the deaf unless preceded by further training in the denotative and connotative meanings of individual words.