Meaning in life and the experience of older people

Abstract

In this article, we introduce a general theory about meaning in life developed by our first author, and apply it to the context of ageing. The seven components of meaning distinguished by this theory – purpose, moral worth, selfworth, control, coherence, excitement and connectedness – are discussed in turn. After presenting the theory, we confront the seven components with extensive life narratives of two older men – in a first empirical qualitative exploration of how meaning dimensions appear in the life experiences of older people. This dialogue between theory and narrative is used to provide concretisation and clarification of the seven components, thereby enhancing the understanding of the theory, while at the same time suggesting possible refinements and directions for future exploration of meaning in life in the context of ageing.

Questioning the value of present life: The lived experience of older people who see no future for themselves

“…Moreover, loneliness, age related loss and fears are known to contribute to loss of meaning in life (Derkx et al. 2020 ; Sjöberg et al. 2018 ).…”

‘I'm a fighter and I do not give up’ – Socially isolated older adults' experiences with meaning in life

“…an aesthetic experience of wonder or awe when one is immersed in nature or art (Frankl, [1946] 2006; Melton and Schulenberg, 2007;Morgan and Farsides, 2009). The need for connectedness is understood as being connected to other people, and feeling closeness or communion with others or to something other than oneself, with an impersonal Other, with God, with nature or with a positively valued transcendent reality (Derkx et al, 2019).…”

Meaning Making in a Retirement Migrant Community: Religion, Spirituality, and Social Practices of Daily Lives

“…In the literature, there exists many distinct ways of defining meaning. These include Wong's model, which defines global meaning in life to consist of the following four components: purpose, understanding, responsibility, and emotion/enjoyment (Wong, 2014); Steger's approach which distinguishes among purpose, significance, and coherence (Baumeister, 1991;Martela and Steger, 2016) defines the following needs for meaning: purpose, efficacy, moral worth, and self-worth, to which Derkx et al (2019) added needs for coherence, comprehensibility, and excitement; Park (2010), who distinguishes between global and situational meaning; or Edmondson (2015) who takes an ethnographic approach and presents meaning not as answering a predefined set of needs, but rather as an emergent phenomenon created in the daily life practices of people.…”

“…The process of meaning making then facilitates the repair of a coherent match between the global and situational meaning (Park and Gutierrez, 2013). However, as ethnographic approaches to meaning in life suggest (Edmondson, 2015;Derkx et al, 2019) meaning making is not necessarily restricted to our response to situations of distress, but can also be approached as a continuing practice throughout our daily life activities. We would like to take this broader perspective to not only focus on the distress that discrepancies with global meaning systems pose, but also on more "ordinary" instances of meaning making as an active process of creation.…”