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Abstract
Sehnsucht (life longings) refers to thoughts and feelings about missing something in life that would make it complete or perfect. Using a life-span–theoretical approach, we posit that life longings have important developmental functions, including giving directionality for life planning and helping to cope with loss and important, yet unattainable wishes by pursuing them in one's imagination. This article presents a life-span–theoretical conceptualization of Sehnsucht recently introduced by Paul B. Baltes and colleagues (Baltes, in press; CitationScheibe, Freund, & Baltes, 2008) and reviews first empirical research conducted in this framework. The review addresses lay conceptions of Sehnsucht and the construct's distinction from already existing, well-articulated constructs (goals, regrets, ideal self), the functions of life longings for development, and age-related differences across adulthood.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The theory and empirical work presented in this article owes more to Paul B. Baltes than can be expressed here. Paul B. Baltes initiated the Sehnsucht project at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin, was the main force in elaborating the theoretical approach to Sehnsucht, and was centrally involved in the empirical studies.
We thank Dana Kotter-Grühn and Fredda Blanchard-Fields for many fruitful discussions on the work presented here, and Nilam Ram, Dan McAdams, and an anonymous reviewer for very helpful feedback on earlier versions of the manuscript.