The Psychology of Meaning

From moral philosophy and existentialism to the clinical realm of psychotherapy, The Psychology of Meaning explores the multifaceted nature of this highly subjective construct.

Contributors to this groundbreaking edited volume examine not only the many phenomenological aspects of meaning, but also the clinical aspects of people amp rsquo s reactions to the loss of meaning, to uncertainty, and to meaning violations-when things that were once central to one amp rsquo s life no longer make much sense. Divided into five parts, the book amp rsquo s final section contains chapters on how neurocognitive mechanisms compensate for meaning violations. The book amp rsquo s concluding chapter addresses how psychotherapy can help restore meaning in the face of persistent meaning violations.

The Psychology of Meaning is an ideal course adoption for students in introductory or applied social psychology courses, and also for clinicians specializing in existential-humanistic psychotherapy.

Keith D. Markman, PhD, is an associate professor of psychology at Ohio University, where he is a member of the social judgment and behavioral decision-making program.
 
Dr. Markman received his doctorate in 994 at Indiana University and completed a 3-year postdoctoral fellowship at The Ohio State University. He conducts research in the areas of counterfactual thinking, creativity, and psychological momentum and has published over 4 articles and book chapters in these areas.
 
Dr. Markman is currently an associate editor of Social and Personality Psychology Compass, was nominated for the 2 3 Theoretical Innovation Prize in social and personality psychology, and won the Outstanding Junior Faculty Award at Ohio University in 2 4. His edited volume, The Handbook of Imagination and Mental Simulation, was published in 2 9.
 
Travis Proulx, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Social Psychology at Tilburg University's School of Social and Behavioral Sciences in Tilburg, Netherlands.
 
Dr. Proulx received a master's degree in interdisciplinary studies at the University of British Columbia and went on to receive a doctorate in developmental psychology. He subsequently completed a postdoctoral fellowship in social psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
 
Drawing from these diverse perspectives, Dr. Proulx has worked in collaboration on the meaning maintenance model - a discipline-spanning framework that offers an integrated account of inconsistency compensation phenomena. His research focuses on the common ways that people respond to a wide array of meaning violations, ranging from absurdist humor to the absurdity of human mortality.
 
Matthew J. Lindberg, PhD, is a visiting researcher in the Department of Psychological Sciences at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.
 
Dr. Lindberg received his doctorate in 2 at Ohio University and subsequently joined the Department of Psychology at Fayetteville State University as an assistant professor. His research focuses on how people think about the world and people around them, and how such thoughts affect their emotions, motivations, and behaviors.
 
Dr. Lindberg has conducted research on counterfactual thinking, creativity, meaning, conscious and unconscious thinking, and jury decision-making.
 

From moral philosophy and existentialism to the clinical realm of psychotherapy, The Psychology of Meaning explores the multifaceted nature of this highly subjective construct. The volume's contributors examine meaning along five dimensions - the architecture of meaning, responding to uncertainty, meaning from retrospection, compensating for meaning violations, and restoring meaning: physiological and neurocognitive mechanisms. The editors of this groundbreaking work bring together top researchers and scholars to explore the crucial intersection of the psychological and philosophical dimensions of psychic life. Contributors to this sweeping survey examine not only the many phenomenological aspects of meaning, but also the clinical aspects of people's reactions to the loss of meaning, to uncertainty, and to meaning violations - when things that were once central to one's life no longer make much sense. The book concludes with a scholarly, clinical survey of how psychotherapy can help restore meaning in the face of persistent meaning violations. Written for scholars and students in introductory or advanced social psychology courses, The Psychology of Meaning will also appeal to clinicians specialising in existential-humanistic psychotherapy.

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