Swiss Journal of Psychology 59 (1), 2000, 34–48

On the psychology of meaning

of life1
Ann Elisabeth Auhagen
Free University of Berlin

This paper emphasizes the relationship between psychology and the concept of meaning of life. Among others,
the following questions are treated: Which main fields exist in psychology concerning the concept of meaning
of life? How can meaning of life be defined? How can meaning of life be empirically measured? Which results
do studies about meaning of life provide? Which perspectives does the concept of meaning of life provide for
psychology? Among other things it is concluded that meaning of life is a multidimensional construct which
should be understood individually; that this construct can be assessed empirically; that meaning of life and well-
being are correlated positively; that the construct meaning of life will provide many perspectives for psychology.

Key words: meaning of life; personal meaning

Does my life make sense? Can I discover sense in my life?
Is there such a thing as meaning of life? These, and simi-
lar questions, are of significance to many people. Thus,
the concept of meaning of life is relevant to psychology.
When studying psychological literature concerning life
concepts, readers make an interesting discovery. There are
an amazing number of publications under the heading
“meaning of life”. Despite this, meaning of life is not one
of the topics treated in psychology textbooks. Neverthe-
less, in recent years there have been a number of contri-
butions to a current discussion on meaning of life
(Baumeister, 1991; Ernst, 1994; Schulz-Hardt & Frey,
1997; Reker & Wong, 1988; Staudinger & Dittmann-
Kohli, 1992; Tausch, undated; Wong & Fry, 1998). From
the point of view of psychology, the concept of meaning
of life relates to several different disciplines within the
science. It contains a great variety of aspects. This paper
aims to collect the most important aspects and present
them in a useful order. In so doing, the following five ques-
tions are addressed in particular: Which main areas of fo-
cus exist in psychology concerning the concept of mean-
1 I am grateful to Prof. Dr. Hans Werner Bierhoff, Prof. Dr.
Dieter Frey, and two anonymous referees for their helpful
comments on an earlier version of this paper. I would also
like to thank Dr. Ann Robertson for her translation.
ing of life? How can meaning of life be defined? How can
meaning of life be empirically measured? Which results
do studies about meaning of life provide? Which per-
spectives does the concept of meaning of life provide for
psychology? The text is divided into five sections. The first
section focuses briefly on important positions concerning
the meaning of life theme. The second looks into the de-
finition of meaning of life. The third section reviews em-
pirical approaches to measuring meaning of life. Mean-
ing of life and well-being are addressed in the fourth sec-
tion. The fifth, and final, section presents a summary and
perspectives.
Important positions in psychology
on meaning of life
In psychology, the meaning of life topic occurs in con-
nection with a great many scholars and approaches. Here,
meaning of life is sometimes addressed explicitly and
sometimes implicitly. The definition of meaning of life
varies. This is partly due to the different types of ap-
proaches, and partly to the difficulty involved in grasping
and explicating the concept. Meaning of life is usually re-
ferred to as: meaning of life, meaning in life, or personal
meaning. The second section of this text, which is devoted

Swiss J Psychol 59 (1), 2000, © Verlag Hans Huber, Bern

 A. E. Auhagen: On the psychology of meaning of life
to explicating the meaning of life concept, also clearly
shows an interrelationship between meaning of life, mean-
ing in life, and personal meaning in the relevant specialist
literature. Although I concentrate here on psychological
approaches, I would like to mention, that the question of
meaning of life also plays a role of varying significance
in other disciplines, such as philosophy, theology, peda-
gogy or the sociology of science. Schleiermacher, Scho-
penhauer, Dilthey, Emerson, Nietzsche, Popper, Husserl,
Spranger, Binswanger, Heidegger, Weber, Scheler, Ber-
ger, Luckmann, Schütz, Frege, Sartre and Camus are some
of the names worth mentioning in this context (Ritter &
Gründer, 1995). In the following, the major psychologi-
cal positions concerning meaning of life will be sketched
out briefly.
Existential Psychology: Frankl; Maddi
The most well-known and important approach in psy-
chology to meaning of life was developed by Viktor Frankl,
the physician and psychologist who only recently died
(e.g., 1987; 1979/1995). Frankl’s approach is probably so
well-known and widely accepted because it was devel-
oped through unusual and extremely difficult experiences
in his life. Frankl was held in a number of German con-
centration camps. He documented these years in a highly
recommendable book. (“… trotzdem ja zum Leben sagen.
Ein Psychologe erlebt das Konzentrationslager”, Frankl,
1977/1995). In the concentration camps, Frankl was con-
fronted with the question of meaning of life in the most
brutal way. Why this inhuman life? Why this senseless suf-
fering and torture? Why? Frankl observed in himself and
others, that all is lost, if people lose all sense of meaning.
Those comrades who happened to be left alive by their
persecutors, died if they became convinced that their ex-
istence was meaningless. Frankl kept himself alive with
the vision of one day giving a lecture to a specialist audi-
ence, and this vision came true. In this way, Frankl’s life
and work became guided by the conviction that human be-
ings have a will to meaning and that they need meaning
in life. The feeling of meaninglessness can lead to illness,
and even death in the worst instance. Suffering from a feel-
ing of meaninglessness, of existential frustration, could
lead to forms of illness which Frankl called “noogenic neu-
roses”. In order to treat existential neuroses, which involve
a kind of existential vacuum, Frankl developed his own
form of therapy, logotherapy (see below). Frankl
(1979/1995) sees a kind of universal meaning in our lives
and, at the same time, a very individual meaning in each
situation in life. We possess an inner freedom of choice,
even in situations characterized by lack of freedom and
oppression, such as in the concentration camps. It is this
inner freedom which challenges us to take responsibility
35
for our actions. According to Frankl, meaning of life is not
restricted to particular topics. Fundamentally, each of
life’s situations contains meaning. It has to be discovered.
Salvatore Maddi (1967) described the existential neu-
rosis as an individual condition of boredom, meaning-
lessness, apathy and aimlessness. Differentiating it from
depression is difficult. Existential neurosis differs from
depression primarily in that it is more closely associated
with apathy and less with a depressive feeling. In later
works, Maddi (1998) develops the idea that personal
meaning can be created by the taking of decisions. In this
context and for mastering life and its anxieties, Maddi
emphasizes the usefulness of the concept of hardiness.
Hardiness, as formulated by Maddi (1998) is a mixture of
engagement, control and challenge of the individual in
dealing with the world.
Individual psychology: Adler
Alfred Adler’s individual psychology is also concerned
with meaning in life. According to Adler, every person has
three main duties in life, as he calls it. The first is that “we
can continue our personal life on earth and safeguard the
future of humankind” (Adler, 1931/1992, p. 14; transla-
tion Auhagen). The second duty is living as a social being.
And the third lies in the relationship to the opposite sex.
Adler does not have any particular rules in mind. What he
means is the individual’s concept of meaning develops
with each attempt to find a solution. In Adler’s view, ac-
tions of meaning and value are only those which are in
keeping with a community feeling rather than those mo-
tivated by egoism.
Meaning as a need: Maslow; Baumeister
Although Abraham Maslow’s well-known motivation the-
ory is not an approach which deals explicitly with mean-
ing of life, it can be interpreted in this direction. In his dy-
namic hierarchical model, Maslow (1954) postulates that
we have a tendency to satisfy our needs according to pri-
orities. Once fundamental physiological needs, such as
eating and drinking, have been satisfied human beings tend
to satisfy higher needs. These include the need to devel-
op the self as well as needs to transcend.
Roy Baumeister (1991; Sommer & Baumeister, 1998)
has tailored his approach to our western culture in the pre-
sent. Baumeister emphasizes the significance of self – an
important concept in current psychology – in the need for
meaning (see also Beike & Niedenthal, 1998). Baumann
assumes that we have four different kinds of need – the
motivation to gain certain things – for meaning in our lives.
First, we have a need for purpose: we want to be able to
connect current events with the future. Second, we have
Swiss J Psychol 59 (1), 2000, © Verlag Hans Huber, Bern
36 A. E. Auhagen: On the psychology of meaning of life
the need for value: we want our own actions to have a pos-
itive value. Third, we have the need for efficacy: we want
to influence our environment. And fourth, we have the
need for self-worth: we want our self to have a positive
value.
Approaches in developmental psychology:
Havighurst; Erikson
The concept of developmental tasks was introduced into
the literature of developmental psychology by Robert
James Havighurst (1953/1961). Developmental tasks are
seen as possible challenges in a person’s life which are as-
cribed to certain life spans. Developmental models, based
on developmental tasks, can be viewed in relation to mean-
ing of life because they can create meaningful life struc-
tures. According to Havighurst, around adolescence, a phi-
losophy of life should develop which includes responsi-
bility and concepts of value. In contrast, during old age,
tasks such as the death of a partner have to be overcome.
Erik Erikson (1959/1974) sees the development of per-
sonal identity as a lifelong developmental task. This can
be interpreted as meaning of life. In his model he associ-
ates different life tasks with different life spans as part of
the development of identity. For example, achieving au-
tonomy during early childhood is an important develop-
mental task. During mature adulthood the aim is to achieve
integrity.
Action-oriented approaches: Leontjew;
Tomaszewski; Emmons; Boesch
Psychological approaches within the framework of action
theories are well suited to interpretation in connection with
meaning of life because “an action can be seen as a chain
or system of behaviours which are integrated by a com-
mon goal and steered according to a plan” (Preiser, 1988,
p. 43; translation Auhagen). Some studies can be seen as
precursors of approaches to meaning of life as they em-
phasize the meaningful structure of perception and action.
These include Alexejew N. Leontjew’s theory (1959/
1973) which, among other things, assumes that perception
also serves the fulfilment of life tasks and work tasks.
Tadeusz Tomaszewski’s approach (1978) can also be in-
cluded here. It views an activity as a complex, meaningful
structure which forms a whole in functional terms. So, we
act within a framework of aims and plans. We act in a way
that has meaning to ourselves. But the desire for meaning
applies not just to a single action but also to superior action
tendencies. In his “personal strivings” approach, Robert
Emmons (e.g., 1989) postulates that we organize our lives
Swiss J Psychol 59 (1), 2000, © Verlag Hans Huber, Bern
according to abstract qualities based on broad aims, or even
whole systems of aims. Such superior aims are conceived
of as cognitive representations of personal motives. Apart
from influencing our behaviour, aims also affect our think-
ing and feeling. In empirical studies Emmons found that,
in particular, aims associated with self transcendence
(self-transcendent goals), such as “experiencing personal
growth” or “having flexibility of viewpoint, being broad-
minded, open” are connected with the discovery of mean-
ing, following a loss in life (Emmons, Colby & Kaiser,
1998).
Ernst Boesch demarcates an even broader framework
in his symbolic action theory (e.g., Boesch, 1991). Here,
human actions only make real sense within a cultural con-
text. Culture includes material, intellectual and social di-
mensions. It attributes meaning to concepts and things. In
this respect it is a representation of knowledge. Actions
gain meaning through motives and through cognitive ori-
entation. According to Boesch there are superior and com-
prehensive action-oriented goals. The former refer to the
attainment of goals – for instance, entering a specific ex-
amination. The latter are to be understood as general reg-
ulators – for instance, maintaining good health.
Salutogenetic approach: Antonovsky
The question which interested Aaron Antonovsky was,
what makes and keeps people fundamentally healthy? He
observed that some people can come to terms with life
stressors better than others. Antonovsky concluded that
these people can cope better with stress because of a sense
of coherence in relation to life (e.g., A. Antonovsky, 1984;
1994; 1998; H. Antonovsky & Sagy, 1986; in summary
Korotkov, 1998). Antonovsky (1979, after Korotkov,
1998) defined the sense of coherence as “a generalized
way of viewing the world, a global orientation that is rea-
sonably stable by the end of early adulthood” (p. 55). In
addition, Antonovsky maintains that the sense of coher-
ence is embedded in the personality of the individual as
well as in the surrounding context of culture and history.
The sense of coherence, as a balanced, consistent, but dy-
namic, feeling of confidence, consists of three intertwined
components. The comprehensibility component denotes
the degree to which an individual sees internal and exter-
nal experiences as structured, predictable and compre-
hensible, or “making sense”. The second component, man-
ageability, denotes the extent to which individuals con-
sider they have the personal and social resources to con-
front and cope with the demands posed by these experi-
ences and thus survive them strengthened. The third com-
ponent, meaningfulness, refers to the degree to which peo-
ple view meeting the challenge of stressful experiences as
worthy of investing energy and commitment. An equally
 A. E. Auhagen: On the psychology of meaning of life
important characteristic of the sense of coherence is that
this attitude towards life contains numerous useful func-
tions in the process of coping with stressful situations in
life.
Biologically oriented approaches: Freud;
evolutionary psychology; Klinger
Not all psychological approaches depart from a higher
sense in our life or from meaning of life. Sigmund Freud
saw little sense in our existence (e.g., 1973). According to
Freud, we are led by our biological make-up, and partic-
ularly by drives. He shifts the question of sense or meaning
into the pathological sphere. Freud wrote in a letter: “As
soon as one starts to ask about the sense and value of life,
one is ill, because neither of them exist as objective enti-
ties; one has simply admitted that one has a reserve of un-
satisfied libido” (after Frankl, 1995; translation Auhagen).
The position of evolutionary psychology (represented
by e.g., Buss & Schmitt, 1993) is also clearly biologically
oriented. Evolutionary psychology has its origins in Dar-
win’s theories and consequently supports the thesis that
the best adapted will successfully survive in the struggle
for existence. Those better adapted to survival have greater
fitness. This fitness is supposed to be genetically passed
on to a maximum. As far as meaning is concerned, an inter-
pretation of this position would indicate optimal mainte-
nance of the species. There is no assumption of meaning
of life on a higher level.
Eric Klinger (1998) takes up a middle position. Klinger
maintains that people’s search for meaning can also be de-
duced from the evolutionary perspective. The necessity to
survive compels living organisms to actively turn towards
their environment and pursue goals related to survival. In
this respect, the human brain is designed to pursue pur-
posive actions. The occurrence of feelings of meaning-
lessness give rise to discomfort which motivates people to
search for meaning.
In summary: A number of fundamental insights can be
gained from the previous brief overview of major psy-
chological positions on meaning of life. First: a very size-
able number of positions in psychology explicitly work
with concepts of meaning of life, or they can be seen as
implicitly connected with such a concept. Second: An
analysis of these positions suggests there is no general,
cohesive or clear content definition of the meaning of life
concept. Third: Many of the approaches permit the con-
clusion that meaning of life could be described as a type
of necessity. This is circumscribed by terms such as “will”
or “need for meaning”. Fourth: Meaning of life appears to
be linked to the whole curriculum vitae and a general sense
of life – meaning of life –, but also to specific life situa-
tions – meaning in life. Fifth: Meaning of life is seen in
37
connection with action, activities and decisions, with
courage and with coping. Sixth: meaning of life appears
to be related to health and illness. On the one hand it ap-
pears to have a positive influence on health. On the other
hand, people who see no meaning in their existence may
despair, become ill and incapable of surviving.
What can be understood by
meaning of life?
It was seen in the previous section that meaning of life is
an abstract, complex, somewhat vague concept which, in
consequence is not easily defined. The following section
will be devoted to explicating the concept more closely.
The main focus will be on the psychological analysis of
the meaning of life concept, rather than on the definition
of the meaning concept in general (for a general discus-
sion of the meaning concept see for instance, Ritter &
Gründer, 1995). At this point it can already be established:
although there is a large body of literature on meaning of
life (summarized in Wong & Fry, 1998), explicit concept
definitions tend to be rare.
Carl Friedrich Graumann provided an initial synthesis
on the concept of meaning in psychology (1960). He re-
lated the meaning concept mainly to the prime focal points
of psychology, namely to human experience and behav-
iour. Within the context of this contribution, the most im-
portant conclusions drawn by Graumann in his profound
analysis of the meaning structure in human behaviour are:
“Meaning results from, and is related to, the urge to find
meaning fulfilment. Sense and meaning are synonymous.
Meaning fulfilment takes place in a process, in the course
of which the present occurrence has to be integrated into
the existing individual reservoir in order to be experienced
as meaningful. There is an implicit and an explicit mean-
ing. The former is felt, sensed, the latter is comprehended
(p. 106f). Meaning as the openness of a horizon of pos-
sible self-behaviour always implies a whole, namely the
whole that unites the person, his way of behaving, with
that to which he is relating, in a behavioural whole, more
precisely: to a unity of self-behaviour to something in a
situation.” (p.116; translation Auhagen)
Graumann’s meaning concept does not refer explicitly
to the meaning of the whole of life or the whole of exis-
tence, but rather to experience and behaviour as particu-
lar components of life, that is the meaning in life.
Frankl’s position, especially, posits that meaning of life
can be composed of particular aspects (1979/1995). Fran-
kl thus suggests using the term “meaning in life” rather
than “meaning of life”. This meaning in life is something
individual for each person. Frankl writes: “Meaning is the
Swiss J Psychol 59 (1), 2000, © Verlag Hans Huber, Bern
38 A. E. Auhagen: On the psychology of meaning of life
concrete meaning of a concrete situation. It is the partic-
ular challenge of the hour. ...Every day, every hour pre-
sents a new meaning, and a different meaning awaits each
individual person. Thus there is a meaning for each and
every person, and for each and every person there is a
particular meaning.” (1979/1995, p. 157; translation
Auhagen) Thus for Frankl (1979/1995) meaning is not a
construction. Meaning is there, and it has to be discov-
ered. Consequently, Frankl correctly concludes that it is
wrong, even impossible, to give or create meaning in life
from an external standpoint. Meaning in life can neither
be given, nor created – it has to be found. And it can be
discovered, says Frankl (1979/1995): In the search for
meaning, the person is led by his or her conscience.
Farran and Kuhn (1998) summed up four fundamental
assumptions on meaning from Frankl’s writings. First:
Personal values represent a basis for people’s meaning of
life. Values can be expressed in different ways, for in-
stance, through creativity, attitudes or faith. Second:
Meaning can be created through decisions. Third: People
are responsible for their actions. Fourth: Meaning of life
can be found on two different levels – provisional and ul-
timate. While provisional meaning can be discovered
through smaller, daily experiences, ultimate meaning is
associated with deeper life experiences which can also be
accompanied by spiritual experiences.
The therapist, Irving Yalom (1980) also represents the
view that meaning of life can be discovered at different
levels. In a similar way to Frankl, he distinguishes between
“cosmic” and “worldly, personal” meaning. Cosmic
meaning is oriented on a superior view of the world, for
example a religious one. Worldly meaning is based on life
content and life goals, for example, altruism.
The social psychologists, Schulz-Hardt and Frey
(1997) see a strong connection between the concept of
meaning and the concept of value. These two authors sug-
gest the following understanding of the concept of mean-
ing (p. 870f; translation Auhagen): “A fact (e. g., an event,
an action) has meaning for a person if it possesses a func-
tion for this person which corresponds with his or her sys-
tem of values.” Here, two different components predom-
inate: purpose and values. The two authors see purpose as
the finality of an event – what it is, or is supposed to be,
good for. However, Schulz-Hardt and Frey (1997) main-
tain that this purpose must conform with the individual’s
system of value, if they are to perceive a life event as mean-
ingful. If an event contradicts a person’s moral position,
for instance a crime, the individual may well recognize
the purpose, but will most likely classify the act as mean-
ingless.
Reker and Wong have made a different suggestion to-
wards explicating meaning of life (1988; Wong, 1998c).
These two authors are oriented towards developmental
Swiss J Psychol 59 (1), 2000, © Verlag Hans Huber, Bern
psychology. They see meaning of life as a construct, an
individual construction and interpretation on the part of
every individual human being. According to Reker and
Wong (1988) and Wong (1998a), meaning of life as a per-
sonal system of meaning has a cognitive, a motivational
and an affective component. Here, the cognitive compo-
nent is related to questions concerning the values or pur-
pose of life. It includes beliefs, schemas and making sense.
The motivational component of the meaning of life con-
struct refers to the personal system of values. It includes
goal striving, purpose, and incentive value. Finally, the af-
fective component in their model includes the gaining of
satisfaction, of feeling good and feeling fulfilled. Reker
and Wong (1988, p. 221) suggested the following expli-
cation for the “personal meaning” construct: “Personal
meaning may be defined as the cognizance of order, co-
herence and purpose in one’s existence, the pursuit and at-
tainment of worthwhile goals, and an accompanying sense
of fulfilment.”
In summary: What is meaning of life? Meaning of life
is a theoretical concept which denotes reflections on,
and/or ways of experiencing, contexts of meanings in re-
lation to human life in general, to one’s own individual
life, or to parts of the latter.
Some important characteristics of meaning of life can
be gained from the relevant literature. First: Meaning of
life can be situated on different levels: on a superior (cos-
mic, ultimate) level and on a level of everyday life (pro-
visional). Almost nothing is known about connections be-
tween these two levels. Second: Literature on the topic of-
ten views meaning in our lives as an individual meaning
which varies from person to person and from situation to
situation. Some scholars view it as a personal construct.
This could imply that meaning of life can be constructed
or created. Other approaches depart from the premise that
meaning of life exists and reality confronts us with this.
In turn, this implies that meaning cannot be constructed
or created, but that it has to be discovered. Third: Mean-
ing of life possesses an inherent experience-oriented com-
plexity which includes cognitive, emotional and motiva-
tional elements. Fourth: Meaning of life is connected in
content with goals, purposes, values order and fulfilment.
The empirical study of meaning
of life
Present-day psychology sees itself broadly as an empiri-
cal science, so in this respect the empirical study of mean-
ing of life is an important task. I would like to divide the
empirical studies on meaning of life into two major groups.
The first group attempts to gain insights in meaning of life
 A. E. Auhagen: On the psychology of meaning of life
through questionnaires. The questionnaires contain given
items and answer formats. The second group collects data
from free narratives of meaning of life in interviews and
similar methods. The material is then content analysed.
Questionnaires on meaning of life
There are some questionnaires on meaning of life. Of these
I would like to briefly introduce the three most well-
known: the Purpose in Life Test, the Life Regard Index
and the Sense of Coherence Scale. Other questionnaires
which are not treated below include: the Seeking of Noetic
Goals Test (Crumbaugh, 1977), a three item Meaningless
Scale (Newcomb & Harlow, 1986), the Life Attitude Pro-
file (Reker, Peacock & Wong, 1987; Wong, 1998a), the
Motivational Structure Questionnaire (Klinger, Cox &
Blount, 1995), the Work Concerns Inventory (Roberson,
1989) and the Interview Questionnaire (Klinger, 1987).
The Purpose in Life Test is the first, and doubtless the
most well-known, questionnaire to attempt to measure
meaning of life. It was developed during the 1960s (Crum-
baugh & Maholick, 1964). The two authors, James Crum-
baugh and Leonard Maholick developed the test in an ef-
fort to psychometrically measure meaning of life based on
Viktor Frankl’s concept. The test consists of 20 items, each
to be responded to by indicating personal agreement or
disagreement on a 7-point scale. An item example would
be: I am usually: completely bored (1) … exuberant, en-
thusiastic (7) (Sallee & Casciani, 1976).
A number of studies were carried out to determine the
psychometric properties of the Purpose in Life Test. The
results showed split-half reliabilities of up to .90, and test-
retest coefficients of between .83 and .68 (summarized by
Chamberlain & Zika, 1988).
The Purpose in Life Test is significantly related to var-
ious other concepts, such as social attitudes, values, de-
pression, subjective well-being and a number of person-
ality measures (summarized by Chamberlain & Zika,
1988). A discussion with varying results was carried out
to find out to what extent the Purpose in Life Test mea-
sures social desirability. Yalom (1980), in particular, crit-
icized the test by saying that in broad areas it measured
social desirability. Braun and Dolmino (1978, after De-
bats, 1998) found a correlation between the Purpose in
Life Test and the Crowne-Marlowe Social Desirability
Scale of r = .57 (Crowne & Marlowe, 1964). Ebersole and
Quiring (1989) found lower correlations between the
Crowne-Marlowe Social Desirability Scale and the Pur-
pose in Life Test (.33 and .37).
Chamberlain and Zika (1988) investigated the factor
structure of the Purpose in Life Test. A principal compo-
nent analysis showed four correlated factors which to-
gether accounted for 49% of the variance: Factor 1 related
39
to “meaning in life as given through commitment and goal
achievement”. Factor 2 “loads with items which reflect
contentedness with life”. Factor 3 related to “being in con-
trol” and factor 4 related to “meaning as experienced
through excitement and enthusiasm with life” (p. 591). A
further principal axis analysis showed a one-factor solu-
tion with a second-order factor which pointed towards a
general meaning in life dimension (Chamberlain & Zika,
1988). Altogether, Chamberlain and Zika (1988) reached
a fairly positive conclusion on the properties of the Pur-
pose in Life Test.
Another well-known questionnaire aimed at measuring
meaning in life is the Life Regard Index. Battista and Al-
mond designed it in 1973 to measure a construct which
they called “positive life regard” or “meaningful life”. The
questionnaire consists of two subscales: the “framework
scale” and the “fulfilment scale”. The framework scale
contains questions about aims in life and reflections upon
these. The fulfilment scale is designed to measure to what
extent the respondents believe they have fulfilled their
aims in life. The Life Regard Index exists in the original
version as well as in a slightly modified form (Debats,
1998). Both of the subscales consist of 14 items each,
sometimes positively and sometimes negatively phrased.
For example: “I have a philosophy of life that really gives
my living significance – do not agree (1) no opinion (2)
agree (3)” (framework scale, positively phrased; Debats,
1998, p. 250).
Debats (1998) described the psychometric properties
of the Life Regard Index as “impressive, although the size
and diversity of the samples studied still remain limited”
(p. 247). For the whole test and the subscales Cronbach
alpha estimates of internal consistency were found be-
tween alpha = .79 and alpha =.87 (Debats, 1998). In ad-
dition, a series of empirical studies support different types
of validity of the Life Regard Index: Concurrent validity,
content validity, discriminant construct validity, and pre-
dictive validity appear to be satisfactorily confirmed (sum-
marized by Debats, 1998). A principal component analy-
sis of the Life Regard Index by Chamberlain and Zika
(1988) showed a factor structure of six factors which re-
flected the construction of the scale reasonably well, as
Chamberlain and Zika (1988) stated. For example, factor
1 reflected the fulfilment and achievement goals and fac-
tor 6 related to having a clear philosophy, direction, and
framework.
The third questionnaire for measuring meaning of life,
which I would like to describe briefly, is the instrument
developed by Antonovsky in the 1980s for measuring the
“sense of coherence” (A. Antonovsky, 1998; H. Anotovsky
& Sagy, 1986; Korotkov, 1998). The Sense of Coherence
Scale corresponds with Antonovsky’s theoretical ap-
proach mentioned in the first section, which focuses on
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40 A. E. Auhagen: On the psychology of meaning of life
three components in the meaning of life concept: com-
prehensibility, manageability, and meaningfulness. Two
questionnaires, one with 29-items and the other with 13-
items, were systematically developed with the aid of facet
theory (Guttman, 1959), so that the three components,
comprehensibility, manageability, and meaningfulness,
were validly reflected on the one hand, while on the other
hand they were intertwined in the sense of a one-factor
model. Studies on whether the Sense of Coherence
Scale(s) actually correlated with the theoretical construc-
tion principals presented differing results. In their analy-
sis of the factor structure, Chamberlain and Zika (1988)
were unable to find the expected structure. Instead they
found seven primary factors, for instance managing prob-
lems and difficulties, or purpose in life, which accounted
for 52% of variance. Frenz, Carey and Jorgensen (1993)
found five primary factors which, in a secondary princi-
pal-components analysis, resulted in a one-factor struc-
ture. The reliability of the subscales (between .80 and .93)
was found to be highly satisfactory (Frenz, Carey & Jor-
gensen, 1993). In the case of construct validity of the Sense
of Coherence Scale, moderate correlations with a series
of salutogenic-like constructs were reported, for example,
mastery, locus of control, spiritual resources, hardiness,
self-esteem, life regard, potency, coping sense of humour,
and optimism (summarized by Korotkov, 1998). An item
example from the Sense of Coherence Scale is: “When
you talk to people, do you have the feeling that they don’t
understand you?” (comprehensibility).
In summary: The briefly presented results, as well as
others not mentioned here (Wong & Fry, 1998), permit the
conclusion that meaning of life can in fact be measured
by questionnaire methods. In their above mentioned study
comparing the Purpose in Life Test, the Life Regard In-
dex and the Sense of Coherence Scales, Chamberlain and
Zika (1988) concluded that meaning of life can be regarded
as a multidimensional construct and that in this context
meaning can be measured in different ways. The inter-cor-
relations of the three questionnaires resulted in values be-
tween .63 and .74. The analyses of Chamberlain and Zi-
ka (1988) showed the Purpose in Life Test to be the best
questionnaire measuring the meaning of life construct, as
it “suggests that a general factor of life meaning can be
identified” (p. 594). Referring to the content results of their
study, Chamberlain and Zika (1988) established: “the pre-
sent study offers suggestive evidence that meaning may
be gained through goal achievement or fulfilment, through
an enthusiastic orientation that views life as exiting,
through having a clear philosophy or framework, or more
simply through contentedness or satisfaction with what
one has in life” (p. 595).
Swiss J Psychol 59 (1), 2000, © Verlag Hans Huber, Bern
Free narratives as a method of studying
meaning of life
Another empirical method of discovering more about
meaning of life is to ask people more or less directly about
meaning in their lives. Is it at all possible for people to
give answers when they are asked so directly? What kind
of sources of meaning do they name? Do people differ ac-
cording to age when they give examples of meaning in
their lives? Peter Ebersole (summarized by Ebersole,
1998) examined these questions together with other re-
searchers. His method was as follows: The participants –
from the Anglo-American area – were asked to write down
the three main sources of meaning in their lives. They were
asked to rank them and give examples of each. These de-
scriptions were then content analysed by coders with the
help of a category system.
Table 1 shows that in each of the investigated age
groups, the participants named social relationships as by
far the most important source of meaning in their lives.
All other sources were named far less often. The latter
clearly partly reflect the current life situation of the dif-
ferent age groups: for instance, young children see mean-
ing in personal growth and in activities, while older adults
name health and pleasure more often as sources of mean-
ing. Interestingly, these results seem – at least to a certain
extent – to support the validity of Erikson’s or Havighurst’s
approaches (see above) which postulate developmental
tasks associated with periods of life. Thus, on the basis of
Ebersole’s empirical results, it would be possible to put
forward the thesis that the perception of what is mean-
ingful changes along with different developmental tasks.
Similar sources of meaning to those found by Ebersole
were given by German interviewees. Reinhard Tausch (un-
dated) reported about interviews carried out by Nicola
Table 1: The six most important sources of meaning with per-
centages distribution of replies (does not result in 100%) in the
four studied groups: children, adolescents, adults and seniors
S. J. Taylor & P. Ebersole, 1993, 26 first graders
social relationships (42%), activities such as sport, hobbies
(21%), belief (8%), growth (8%), obtaining (8%), school and
health (4% each)
K. L. DeVogler & P. Ebersole, 1983, 116 adolescents
social relationships (46%), activities such as sport, hobbies (9%),
health (8%), obtaining (8%), school (5%), external appearance
(5%)
K. L. DeVogler & P. Ebersole, 1981, 96 adults
social relationships (51%), belief (7%), growth (6%), work (3%),
pro-social activities (3%)
P. Ebersole & S. DePaola, 1987, 36 seniors
social relationships (45%), health (22%), pleasure (19%), pro-
social activities (6%), belief (3%), obtaining (3%)
 A. E. Auhagen: On the psychology of meaning of life
Richter (1993, after Tausch, undated) who asked 213 peo-
ple about purpose and meaning in their lives. “Other peo-
ple, my social relationships” were named most frequent-
ly as the main source of meaning. This was followed by
“doing things for others”, “work, profession, duties,
tasks”, “friends”, “family”, “positive feelings”, “spiritual
growth and spiritual learning”, “partnership”, “children”,
“religious belief, spirituality” (p. 6f). A number of high
correlations were found between this experience of mean-
ing and “inner strength”, “personal goals” and “concep-
tions of values” (Tausch, undated, p. 10f).
In an approach using sentence completion, Freya
Dittmann-Kohli (1995) investigated personal meaning
systems among German subjects. The contents of the
freely developed additions to the given sentence introduc-
tions were analysed with the help of a complex system of
categories. Dittmann-Kohli’s results are multi-faceted and
include a very interesting analysis of meaning attribution.
According to this, the attribution of meaning occurs
through new impressions, through the activation of mem-
ories, through the growth of expectations, the development
of goals, intentions and plans, the cherishing of wishes
and the sketching-out of dreams of the future.
Do people have implicit theories of meaningful life?
Using a combination of different data collection tech-
niques, free narratives and standardized questions, Wong
(1998a) investigated prototype ideal concepts of a mean-
ingful life among people in the Anglo-American speaking
area. Wong found over a hundred characteristics identifi-
able with the ideal concept of a meaningful life. They in-
cluded: making the best of life’s opportunities; being at
peace with God; relating well to others; being a responsible
person; enjoying challenges; bringing happiness to others.
A factor analysis of these ideal characteristics showed that
they could be categorized in nine broader dimensions:
achievement striving, religion, relationship, fulfilment,
fairness-respect, self-confidence, self-integration, self-
transcendence and self-acceptance.
Members of the Anglo-American and German cultur-
al spheres appear to have similar experiences of meaning
in their lives. At least, this is what the above findings seem
to suggest. Assuming that culture can also convey mean-
ing (Boesch, 1991; see above), these results can also be
interpreted as cultural similarities. But are there similar
concepts of meaning when comparing people’s ideas in
completely different cultures? In an intercultural study,
Bässler and Oerter (1997) asked Peruvian mountain Indi-
ans and Peruvian students, as well as German students
“What is the meaning of life?” Interestingly, both groups
of students gave similar replies, which coincided approx-
imately with those given in the studies described above.
But the answers of the mountain Indians differed greatly
from those of the students from both countries.
41
The mountain Indians mainly named very concrete
things as meaningful in life, such as “feeding the family”,
or “giving the children a school education”. Bässler and
Oerter (1997) interpreted this in the following way: the
harder the living conditions, the more concrete the expe-
rience of meaning. These results are interesting for the the-
oretical discussion in two respects. On the one hand, they
support Maslow’s model which postulates a hierarchy of
needs (see above). On the other hand, they show that cul-
ture has to be understood in a differentiated way, and that
the concrete living conditions have to be included, not only
in different countries but also within state borders. The
postulation of collectivist and individual cultures could
well be an additional, useful approach in the discussion
about intercultural differences in relation to meaning of
life (Triandis, 1989; Oerter, Oerter, Hendriati, Hye-On &
Wibowo, 1996).
In summary: In addition to questionnaires, personal re-
porting methods based on free answer formats provide in-
teresting, empirically backed findings on the topic mean-
ing of life. Sources of meaning given by people replying
to direct questions more frequently include representa-
tions of the personal, worldly meaning of life, whereas
representations of a cosmic meaning of life occur less
often. But clearly, people have very definite ideal concepts
of a meaningful life. These prototype concepts are relat-
ed to very practical characteristics of life, such as helping
others, but also to superior characteristics, such as self-
transcendence. Initial results from intercultural studies in-
dicate that, in different countries, similar sources of mean-
ing are also named. However, these similarities no longer
appear to exist when living conditions differ greatly.
The methods described in the last section, and designed
to study meaning of life empirically, have their limits. For
instance, the naming of sources of meaning or character-
istics of meaning does not permit any insights into whether
people, at least occasionally, feel their life is meaningless
at times. Sources and characteristics of meaning of life are
merely of a potential nature: work may or may not give a
person meaning. Social relationships may or may not give
meaning. In fact, social relationships are often sources of
extreme meaninglessness. One only has to consider the
loss of a loved one which often generates an initial feeling
of loss and emptiness. Special ways of coping are needed
to help experience losses as possible gains (Emmons,
Colby & Kaiser, 1998). Frankl (1979/1995) tells of people
who, despite the external appearance of leading a happy
life, complain of a deep feeling of final meaninglessness.
In the future, it will be even more important to investigate
what gives certain events meaning. Initial steps in this
direction have been made by Little (summarized 1998)
who carried out studies on the individual descriptions of
people’s personal projects and found not only different
Swiss J Psychol 59 (1), 2000, © Verlag Hans Huber, Bern
42 A. E. Auhagen: On the psychology of meaning of life
contents of meaning but also different core assessment
dimensions of meaning, such as importance or absorption.
Meaning of life and well-being
Critical life events and meaning of life
Do people who see meaning in their life live differently
or better? One indication that this may be so is contained
in Antonovsky’s works as mentioned above. Studies in
clinical psychology and in research on coping and critical
life events support this thesis. But before these are re-
viewed, one particular difficulty has to be pointed out:
whenever we are in particular need of meaning in our lives,
it appears to be especially absent. This applies to times of
crisis. (e.g., Dalbert, 1996). Whether it is true that we lose
the meaning of life in a crisis situation, or whether in the
run of daily routine we do not notice that we have no clear
concept of meaning in our lives, or don’t even bother to
ask such questions, still has to be investigated by psy-
chology both theoretically and empirically.
What is involved in the experience of meaninglessness?
In his above mentioned studies of 519 German university
students, Reinhard Tausch (undated) used interviews and
questionnaires. On the basis of correlations he found: low
experiences of meaning are connected with: depression,
anxieties, spiritual impairments, stress loads with psycho-
somatic results, low quality of life, lethargy, low self-ef-
ficacy and a low level of feeling secure. Physical pain can
also be an important factor in the reduction of meaning.
In general, people who are in a critical situation in life ap-
pear to be particularly vulnerable to experiences of mean-
inglessness. Newcomb and Harlow (1986) see a possible
cause of feelings of meaninglessness when people per-
ceive a loss of control in their lives. These scholars worked
on the basis of a Lisrel model which detailed young peo-
ple’s abuse of substances in four phases: First, a critical
event in life takes place. Second, there is an increased ten-
dency to experience loss of control. Third, an experience
of meaninglessness often results from this. Fourth, the
probability of drug abuse increases.
Viktor Frankl (1948) also saw the possibility of dis-
covering meaning particularly through the experience of
suffering. According to Frankl, suffering can make us
aware of the difference between what we wish for, and
what exists at present. In a study, Patricia Starck (1983)
provided empirical support on the significance of suffer-
ing in the search for meaning. Starck examined 99 pa-
tients, who were suffering from different illnesses, using
a questionnaire on the meaning of suffering (Meaning in
Suffering Text, 34 items). Most of the participants replied
that suffering helped them to understand life better.
Swiss J Psychol 59 (1), 2000, © Verlag Hans Huber, Bern
How people manage crises, tragedies and critical events
in life, is the subject of research on coping and critical life
events (e.g., Brüderl, 1988a; 1988b; Schwarzer,1993).
Stress can be overcome by coping techniques (e.g.,
Lazarus, 1991; Schwarzer, 1993), There appears to be a
connection between successful coping and meaning of
life. The experience of the meaning of life tends to relate
positively to successful coping. This was shown by De-
bats, Drost and Hansen (1995) in a study which combined
qualitative and quantitative methods. Meaning of life,
measured with the Life Regard Index, showed significant
positive correlations with successful coping as well as with
psychological well-being. In another study, Debats (1996)
found that the experience of meaning of life predicts im-
provement during psychotherapy and the outcome of ther-
apy, independent of the patient’s level of well-being prior
to therapy.
When coming to terms with tragedies people often
seem to be balancing on a narrow ridge between doubt in
meaning and the desire to maintain meaning. This is il-
lustrated by Dalbert (1996) with the help of empirical stud-
ies of redundant women workers and mothers with dis-
abled children. In tragedies such as this meaning can be
found in the positive re-evaluation of events. Such posi-
tive re-evaluation can be found both in the positive re-eval-
uation of events as well as in the recognition of their pos-
itive side-effects. They are important in psychological
adaptation processes (Dalbert, 1996). But the desire to
continue believing in a just world appears to stand in the
way of such coping strategies. This so-called belief in a
just world (e.g., Lerner, 1980) helps at the beginning of a
crisis – the “why me?” situation – to avoid doubting mean-
ing (Dalbert, 1996).
There are indications that a low sense of meaning of
life is related to a low level of well-being, and that a more
strongly perceived meaning of life is accompanied by a
positive sense of well-being. Wong (1998a) found that
people with a stronger sense of personal meaning had a
better sense of well-being when measured against different
scales of well-being. Parallel to this, people with less de-
veloped personal meaning registered higher ratings on a
depression scale. Also based on initial empirical findings,
Ryff and Singer (1998) even argued that positive mental
health includes the assumption that life has meaning.
Religion and meaning of life
A further example of the positive relationship between
well-being and experienced meaning is provided by the
psychology of religion (Beit-Hallahmi & Argyle, 1997;
Meadow & Kahoe, 1984; Oser & Reich, 1992; Schmitz,
1992; Shafaranski, 1996; Wulff, 1997). Psychology of re-
ligion sees its task in “investigating the psychological in
 A. E. Auhagen: On the psychology of meaning of life
religion, developing suitable instruments for this purpose,
drafting out theoretical concepts which permit us to col-
lect and interpret the observed contents with a view to for-
mulating possible axioms” (Vergote, 1992, p. 9, transla-
tion Auhagen). Religion’s ability to give meaning has been
empirically supported (summarized in Wong, 1998b). In
this respect Molcar and Stuempfig (1988) found that
people who believe in God see a greater personal purpose
in life when measured with the Purpose in Life Test. On
the other hand people who could discover no sense in their
lives appear to have a greater fear of death (Westman &
Canter, 1985).
Do religious people have a better psychological well-
being that non-religious people? This question was inves-
tigated in a number of studies (Wong, 1998b; Schmitz,
1992) and resulted in numerous contradictions. A number
of studies confirmed a positive relationship between reli-
gious belief and psychological well-being, whereas oth-
ers did not. How come? Batson and Ventis (after Schmitz,
1992) managed to find a surprising explanation for the
contradictions by using the concept of intrinsic and ex-
trinsic religiosity. This differentiation, which goes back to
Gordon W. Allport (1950; Allport & Ross, 1967, after
Plaum, 1992), describes two fundamentally different re-
ligious attitudes. The extrinsic is utilitarian and adapted to
external conditions; for instance, going to church in order
to be seen by others. Allport, who sees extrinsic religiosity
as an immature attitude, contrasts it with intrinsic reli-
giosity, which is based completely on inner motivation and
which represents the main motivation in life for those who
live by it.
In a meta-analysis of major studies, Batson and Ventis
(1982) found that religiousness and well-being were on-
ly related positively where people with intrinsic religious
motivation were concerned. A positive sense of well-be-
ing is thus determined exclusively by the level of inner
conviction (see also Batson, Schoenrade & Ventis, 1993).
Wong (1998b) specifies two possible mechanisms
which could explain the connection between religion and
well-being. On the one hand, religion can be helpful as a
source of meaning in life: here, possible positive effects
on meaning of life, such as optimism or buffering of stress,
can be attributed to religion. On the other hand, religion
can encourage a healthy lifestyle, for example, the mod-
erate consumption of alcohol.
In summary: There are different connections between
the experience of meaning of life and well-being. The ex-
perience of meaning of life is related positively to well-
being and crisis management strategies, and negatively to
depression. Crises, or critical events in life, appear to be
ambivalent with reference to the experience of meaning
of life. On the one hand they harbour the particular danger
of seeing life as meaningless. On the other hand they also
43
contain the chance of reassessing and discovering new, ad-
ditional meaning. Religion appears to be able to play an
important, but complex, role in the relationship between
meaning of life and well-being.
We know little about the causal relationships in the ex-
perience of meaning of life. Do we experience our life as
meaningful because we are feeling well, or do we feel well
because we see our lives as meaningful? I can imagine that
both hold true. In this case I am assuming there is a dy-
namic process underlying the relationship between mean-
ing of life and well-being. If a person succeeds in discov-
ering meaning of life during a crisis, then his or her well-
being can improve and, in turn, strengthen the sense of
meaning. The possibility also exists, that an improvement
in well-being may be achieved through the discovery of
new qualities in life, for instance through sport or culture.
In turn, an improved physical and mental constitution, as
well as new goals, may contribute new meaning.
Conclusion and perspectives
Psychology, meaning of life and
interdisciplinary approaches
Meaning of life was, and still is, of some concern in psy-
chology. In addition to the leading work of existential psy-
chology, Viktor Frankl’s long established logotherapy and
other therapeutic approaches, non-clinical psychology has
also devoted itself to investigating the concept of meaning
of life. In recent years particularly, there has been a trend
towards increasing interest in this sphere.
Studies show that meaning of life is a highly complex
and important concept. Major topics and areas of investi-
gation include: theoretical approaches concerned with
questions about the significance, the needs and the defin-
ition of meaning of life; studies devoted to the empirical
assessment of meaning of life; studies investigating the
meaning of life in different situations and phases of life as
well as in connection with other concepts, such as meaning
of life and well-being; clinical and therapeutic approaches.
Meaning of life is addressed in different areas of psy-
chology, for instance, clinical psychology, health psy-
chology, research on coping and critical life events, the
psychology of religion, social psychology and develop-
mental psychology. Meaning of life is not only viewed as
interdisciplinary in the broader sense, it is also treated as
an interdisciplinary topic within psychology. In addition,
in psychology the concept of meaning of life offers far
broader scope for investigation and application than al-
most any other topic: thus, in conclusion, let me highlight
a few aspects of research and application.
Swiss J Psychol 59 (1), 2000, © Verlag Hans Huber, Bern
44 A. E. Auhagen: On the psychology of meaning of life
Which research perspectives does meaning
of life offer to psychology?
The topic of meaning of life offers two prerequisites
which, in my opinion, will secure it a place in future re-
search. First, questions about meaning of life are of central
importance to many people. Second, psychological re-
search on meaning of life is still in its beginnings. Our
epoch and culture are at a point where the question of
meaning of life is becoming more and more pressing. Our
living conditions are changing, on the one hand because
of the crumbling and disappearance of traditions (Bau-
meister, 1991). On the other hand, new technologies and
economic conditions are changing our lives and our per-
ception of life to an increasing degree. In such a situation
we can expect, or at least hope, that psychology will pro-
vide information and help. In this task, scientific psy-
chology can work in its original areas, that is, the de-
scription and analysis of human experience and behaviour,
in this case in relation to the meaning of life. In the fol-
lowing, a few suggestions for possible research topics will
be given.
First: What are the conditions and mechanisms for the
experience of meaningfulness in life? What are the con-
ditions and mechanisms for the experience of meaning-
lessness in relation to life? When answering these ques-
tions it will not be sufficient to simply ask people what
they experience as meaningful in their lives. As already
shown, one and the same situation, or one and the same
area of life, can be experienced as meaningful or mean-
ingless. Something that is meaningful for a person today,
may be meaningless tomorrow. Although there is a form
of basic consensus on what can be considered a source of
meaning, in the final instance each person will have an in-
dividual view on this. This raises the question, whether a
universal meaning, such as the fulfilment of the ten com-
mandments in the Bible, or a fundamentally altruistic at-
titude can be a guarantee of the experience of meaning of
life.
I would like to put forward some suggestions on the
relatively untouched ground of conditions and processes
involved in the experience of meaningfulness and mean-
inglessness in situations in life. These suggestions should
be understood as heuristics. Future research will be con-
fronted with the task of developing models, or even theo-
ries, to this purpose.
Meaning, according to Graumann (1960), is a process
in which the currently discovered and the individual re-
sources have to be combined to form a whole. Personal
meaning, according to Reker and Wong (1988), can be
seen as the recognition of order, context and purpose in
one’s own existence and as the pursuance and attaining of
worthwhile goals. Meaning of life is experienced as co-
Swiss J Psychol 59 (1), 2000, © Verlag Hans Huber, Bern
herence, according to Antonovsky (1998). On the basis of
these statements, the following, empirically verifiable the-
ses can be advanced: a situation in life may experienced
as positive by a person if it appears to promote his or her
goals in life; if a goal can be perceived that is of value to
the person concerned; if the person feels free to pursue the
actions or goals which are important to him or her; if a sit-
uation in life is experienced as progress rather than stag-
nation; if a situation in life is experienced as useful; if there
is a feeling of control or self-efficacy in a particular situ-
ation in life; if a situation in life is experienced as inter-
esting; if a situation in life is experienced as fitting well
into one’s situation in life. The question as to what extent
the negation of these theses correlates with experiences of
meaninglessness is also open to empirical investigation.
Questions concerning meaning of life are questions
which call for flexible methods of empirical research. For
example, methods could be used to make longitudinal
studies of different aspects of life. The use of micro-
computers and diaries offers interesting perspectives in
this respect. These procedures make it possible to study
time sequences, and thus also the ongoing succession and
course of experiencing meaning of life. Such methods also
offer the opportunity to empirically analyse correlations
between meaningfulness, meaninglessness and other vari-
ables in everyday life, for instance the concept of wisdom
(e.g., Staudinger & Baltes, 1994).
Second: Are all situations in life necessarily, I would
say, relevant to meaning? Under normal circumstances,
everyday routines are perhaps unlikely to be questioned
as to their meaningfulness. Thus a further area of interest
to research will be to discover under which circumstances
people start to question meaningfulness, perhaps during
misfortune or illness.
Third: A substantial taxonomy of sources of meaning
could also facilitate a better understanding of the experi-
ence of meaning of life. One possible way of classifying
aspects relevant to meaning would be to separate general
aspects of meaning from personal aspects of meaning. In
the case of general aspects, I would suggest classifying
the fundamental sources of meaning available to every-
one: in the social sphere, for instance human relationships,
community involvement, work; in the cultural sphere, for
instance music, art, creativity; in the cosmic sphere, for
instance religion, philosophy. Individual aspects of mean-
ing would include aspects which are exclusively related
to the individual life in question: the individual person, for
instance the self, identity; involvement in one’s own life,
for instance tasks; life events, for instance crises, positive
events.
 A. E. Auhagen: On the psychology of meaning of life
Which application perspectives does
meaning of life offer to psychology?
The present level of research seems to leave no doubt that
for many people it is more favourable to see meaning in
life. Of course, the search for meaning can also involve
certain dangers, for instance when people turn to things
which cause physical and spiritual injuries (Tausch, un-
dated). But if we assume that the experience of meaning
of life is favourable, then we will recognize openings for
psychology in the promotion and alleviation of experi-
ences of meaning (Tausch, undated). In this respect I see
important tasks for psychology in three major areas.
The first area is in clinical psychology’s classical area
of therapy, counselling and intervention. Within the frame-
work of clinical psychology, Frankl’s logotherapy (e.g.
1948) is of the greatest significance. This therapeutic
method is expressly directed towards helping people to
find meaning and to analyse their existence. Here, mean-
ing should never be forced onto a person or be artificially
created. The aim is to help individuals to discover mean-
ing for themselves. The techniques given by Frankl (e.g.,
1948) include paradoxical intervention, which initially
consciously provokes the opposite of what the therapy
aims to achieve, and dereflection, which aims at helping
a person to gain distance from his or her self. The practi-
cal application of logotherapy in group work has been de-
scribed by Robert Hutzell (1983). His therapy consists of
ten sessions each with different topics, practical tasks and
homework. At the beginning of the therapy, after an in-
troduction, the participants clarify their personal values,
such as creative values, values based on experience or at-
titudes. This is followed by the analysis of the current
status in life based on personality and living circum-
stances. After this, the compatibility of current aims and
the given values is looked at, and new goals are formulated.
Plans for the realization of the new goals are then devel-
oped and carried out. The therapy ends with a final sum-
ming-up session.
Another direction in therapy, similar to logotherapy, is
meaning-centred counselling (Wong, 1998c). This form
of therapy, which can be seen as an extension of logo-
therapy, also aims to help in the search for meaning. The
main difference between logotherapy and meaning-cen-
tred counselling is that logotherapy follows a philosoph-
ical and spiritual approach, while meaning-centred coun-
selling follows a cognitive, or psychological, approach
(Wong, 1998c). Meaning-centred counselling also uses
special techniques, in addition to normal ones, which are
specifically tailored to the topic of meaning of life. They
include, for example, life review and playing back tech-
niques which traces through the past in an ordered fashion
and then relates the past to current problems, or magical
45
thinking which is designed to help, among other things,
to open up new possibilities for the individual (Wong,
1998c).
Counselling and intervention in relation to meaning of
life are not only part of current practise, they also present
challenges for the future. For example, increasing longevi-
ty will confront geronto-psychology with important new
questions and tasks concerning meaning of life (Staudin-
ger & Dittmann-Kohli, 1992; Wong, 1998b).
The second area of application perspectives for a psy-
chology of meaning of life is only tentatively seen as part
of psychology’s self-definition: public relations work
(Tausch, undated). Admittedly, this area of application
harbours the danger of misuse, but is can also be of great
value if substantial findings in scientific psychology are
brought to the attention of the general public. The spec-
trum of modern media can be very helpful if they are used
in a responsible way.
The third area presenting further challenges to a psy-
chology of meaning of life concerns broader structures
and work organizations, such as economic enterprises,
schools and higher education institutions. In these spheres,
perhaps even in particular, experiences of meaning can be
promoted and eased (Nunner-Winkler, 1981; Schulz-
Hardt & Frey, 1997; Tausch, undated).
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