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Abstract
Theory and research on meaning has proliferated in recent years, focusing on both global meaning and processes of making meaning from difficult life events such as trauma and serious illness. However, the measurement of meaning constructs lags behind theoretical conceptualizations, hindering empirical progress. In this paper, we first delineate a meaning-making framework that integrates current theorizing about meaning and meaning making. From the vantage of this framework, we then describe and evaluate current approaches to assessing meaning-related phenomena, including global meaning and situational meaning constructs. We conclude with suggestions for an integrative approach to assessing meaning-related constructs in future research.
Notes
1. The role of intrusive thoughts in meaning-making processes is unclear. Although intrusive thoughts are a cardinal symptom of PTSD, they may, under certain circumstances, also be an important way through which people unintentionally gain exposure to cognitive material that is inconsistent with their larger frameworks of meaning (Horowitz, Citation1986, Citation1997). Such cognitive processing can lead to meanings made by allowing either reappraising the cognitive material or changing global meaning to accommodate it (for an excellent discussion of this issue, see Greenberg, Citation1995). However, the circumstances under which intrusive thoughts may aid in making meaning remain to be specified. Some evidence suggests that in the context of positive reappraisals of the event (e.g. perceiving growth from it), intrusive thoughts can facilitate psychological adjustment (e.g. Park et al., Citation2010). This issue of the conditions under which non-deliberate meaning making, such as intrusive thoughts, can be adaptive warrants further research.