What are the ways in which we can understand the meaning of the psychology of meaning in people’s lives? In the last century mainstream psychology has largely neglected the topic of meaning. More recently, the concept has become an academically legitimate one within positive psychology and in some other speciality areas of psychology. This book contains a collection of theoretical, methodological and empirical papers written by the acknowledged experts systematically working on the problems of personal meaning within the positive psychology framework. The authors investigate the possibilities and limitations of a scientific study of personal meaning and new perspectives that this concept brings to the field.
This book was originally published as a special issue of The Journal of Positive Psychology.
1. Positive psychology in search for meaning: An introduction Dmitry A. Leontiev 2. Personal meaning: A challenge for psychology Dmitry A. Leontiev 3. On knowing more than we can tell: Intuitive processes and the experience of meaning Samantha J. Heintzelman and Laura A. King 4. Assessing meaning and meaning making in the context of stressful life events: Measurement tools and approaches Crystal L. Park and Login S. George 5. Some key differences between a happy life and a meaningful life Roy F. Baumeister, Kathleen D. Vohs, Jennifer L. Aaker and Emily N. Garbinsky 6. Sources and motives for personal meaning in adulthood Antonella Delle Fave, Ingrid Brdar, Marié P. Wissing and Dianne A. Vella-Brodrick 7. The mind’s eye: A photographic method for understanding meaning in people’s lives Michael F. Steger, Yerin Shim, Brenna R. Rush, Libby A. Brueske, Joo Yeon Shin and Leslie A. Merriman 8. Predicting meaning in work: Theory, data, implications Tatjana Schnell, Thomas Höge and Edith Pollet 9. Pride and the experience of meaning in daily life Jeanne Nakamura
Biography
Dmitry Leontiev, Ph.D., Dr.Sc., is head of the International research lab of positive psychology of personality and motivation at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow, Russia. He is also Professor of Psychology at Lomonosov Moscow State University in Russia. Professor Leontiev has numerous publications in the psychology of personality and motivation and meaning. He won the Promotional Award of the Victor Frankl Foundation in 2004 and was distinguished in 2014 as an Honorary member of the Society of Logotherapy and existential analysis of Viktor Frankl Institute, Vienna.
'Positive Psychology in Search for Meaning reads and flows well, harnessing a structure that compels further reading with an interlocking and complementary approach to chapter organisation. The title follows the convention of academic journal writing and is well supported by empirical evidence, yet remains largely accessible, to the credit of the writers. The text is most suited for those with a background understanding of positive psychology and interest in wider philosophical questions of the human experience – but is equally accessible to curious newcomers to the field. An interesting interpretation of established and modern psychological principles.'- Rory McDonald, The Psychologist, June 2015
