Processing fluency, positive affect, and judgments of meaning in life

Trent, Jason; Lavelock, Caroline R.; King, Laura A.

doi:10.1080/17439760.2013.772220

Cited by 19 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Other research finds a strong correlation between meaning in life scores and perceived ease of completing the measure (although this link was moderated by religiosity; Davis & Hicks, 2016). Germane to this research is work on cognitive disfluency's effect on perceptions of meaning in life (Trent, Lavelock, & King, 2013). When reading statements on meaning-in-life inventory that were written in either disfluent font (e.g., five different fonts per item; very small print) or more fluent, easy-to-read font (e.g., large 48-point font), participants' meaning-in-life ratings were significantly higher for individuals given easy-to-read fonts compared to the disfluent fonts.…”

Section: Primary Analysesmentioning

confidence: 67%

“…That is, participants would ostensibly have a more difficult time reading these manipulated fonts and would have to engage with the items more strenuously in the critical thinking condition than in the control condition. Such disfluency manipulations are common to directly foster critical thinking and reduce intuitive judgments (Alter et al, 2007;Gervais & Norenzayan, 2012;Trent et al, 2013). Therefore, to be consistent with previous research, we did not utilize a direct manipulation check.…”

Section: Materials and Proceduresmentioning

confidence: 87%

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Situational Factors Influencing Receptivity to Bullshit

Brown¹,

Keefer²,

McGrew³

2019

SPB

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Individuals are motivated to maintain a sense of meaning, and enact cognitive processes to do so (e.g., perceiving structure in the environment). This motivation to find meaning may ultimately impact humans’ interpretation of "bullshit", statements intended to convey profundity without any meaning. Conversely, subtle cues threatening the meaningfulness of bullshit may elicit greater skepticism. Three studies tested situational factors predicted to heighten or diminish susceptibility to bullshit by changing motivations to seek meaning. We employed diverse methods including symbolic meaning threat (Study 1), social exclusion (Cyberball; Study 2), and manipulating cognitive fluency (Study 3). Taken together, the results indicate basic processes shaping the detection of meaning have implications for the appraisal of ambiguously insightful information.

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Section: Primary Analysesmentioning

confidence: 67%

Section: Materials and Proceduresmentioning

confidence: 87%

Situational Factors Influencing Receptivity to Bullshit

Brown¹,

Keefer²,

McGrew³

2019

SPB

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“…Personal-nostalgia inductions typically (Batcho, 2013;Cheung et al, 2013 rather than by increasing work meaning? This is a pertinent question in light of evidence that (dispositional) PA is correlated with meaning in life (Hicks, Trent, Davis, & King, 2012;King, Hicks, Krull, & Del Gaiso, 2006;Trent, Lavelock, & King, 2013;Steger et al, 2013).…”

Section: Study 2: Testing the Effect Of Organizational Nostalgia On Wmentioning

confidence: 99%

Organizational nostalgia lowers turnover intentions by increasing work meaning: The moderating role of burnout.

Leunissen

Sedikides

Wildschut

et al. 2018

Journal of Occupational Health Psychology

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We report three studies addressing the relevance of organizational nostalgia for the meaning that employees ascribe to their work (work meaning). We hypothesized, and found, that organizational nostalgia enhances work meaning and thereby reduces turnover intentions. In Study 1, an employee survey, spontaneously experienced organizational nostalgia was associated with higher work meaning. In Study 2, an organizational-nostalgia induction increased work meaning, which subsequently predicted lowered turnover intentions. In Study 3, an organizational-nostalgia induction increased work meaning and thereby lowered turnover intentions, especially among employees who reported relatively high levels of burnout. When burnout is high, organizational nostalgia functions as a rich source of meaning that benefits employees' work experience. The Moderating Role of Burnout Most people have a strong need for meaningful work (Cartwright & Holmes, 2006; Pratt & Ashford, 2003;Steger, Littman-Ovadia, Miller, Menger, & Rothmann, 2013). Work meaning entails perceiving one's work as significant and meeting the psychological needs for personal growth and purpose (i.e., eudaimonic wellbeing). It entails a combination of experiencing positive meaning in one's work (i.e., the sense that one's work matters and is meaningful), seeing one's work as a path toward making meaning (i.e., the sense that one's work deepens understanding of one's self and the world), and perceiving one's work to contribute to the greater good (i.e., the sense that one can have a broader, positive impact on others through one's work) (Steger, Dik, & Duffy, 2012).Work meaning confers benefits to employees and their organization. For example, it fosters the sense that work is a key part of one's identity and a vital contributor to well-being (Arnold, Turner, Barling, Kelloway, & McKee, 2007;Harpaz & Fu, 2002). Employees who derive meaning from their work report greater job satisfaction, work unit cohesion, and organizational commitment (Kamdron, 2005;Nord, Brief, Atieh, & Doherty, 1990;Sparks & Schenk, 2001;Steger et al., 2012). On the other hand, low work meaning is associated with high turnover (Steger et al., 2012).With mounting evidence pointing to the merits of work meaning for employees and organizations, it becomes critical to understand its sources. In this article, we focus on one such source: organizational nostalgia. We propose that organizational nostalgia increases work meaning and, by so doing, lowers turnover intentions. We further argue that, if organizational nostalgia replenishes work meaning, it should be particularly beneficial to employees with depleted psychological resources, that is, those with high levels of burnout.Next, we present the rationale for these predictions. Organizational NostalgiaAccording to The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998), nostalgia is "a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past" (p. 1266). Nostalgic recollections typically involve important personal experiences or landmark events from one's lif...

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“…One limitation of the current studies is that the correlational designs preclude us from making any causal inferences regarding the relationships between the variables. There is reason to believe that both MIL and religiousness directly influence MIL ease, and the experience of ease directly influences judgments of meaning and religion (e.g., Gervais & Norenzayan, ; Trent et al., ). In our view, these potential causal pathways are not incompatible.…”

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, Schlegel et al (2011) found that the ease of thinking about an important source of meaning, one's "true self," predicted selfreports of meaning in life (see also Schlegel, Hicks, Davis, Hirsch, & Smith, 2013). Trent, Lavelock, and King (2013) directly manipulated the fluency of a MIL questionnaire by displaying the items in easy-to-read (fluent condition) or difficult-to-read (disfluent condition) fonts. Participants who completed the questionnaire in an easy-to-read font reported higher levels of MIL than those who completed the questionnaire in a difficult-to-read font.…”

Section: Metacognition and Subjective Judgmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Judgments of Meaning in Life, Religious Beliefs, and the Experience of Cognitive (Dis)Fluency

Davis

Hicks

2015

Journal of Personality

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The primary aim of the current studies was to test whether religiousness interacted with self-reported levels of meaning in life (MIL) to predict the ease or difficulty in judging one's MIL, the search for meaning itself, and religious doubt. Undergraduate students in Study 1 (N = 111) and adult participants recruited online in Study 2 (N = 206) completed measures of religious beliefs, MIL, cognitive fluency related to MIL, and related variables. Study 3 merged these data sets. In Study 4 (N = 255), online participants completed measures of religious beliefs, cognitive fluency related to religious beliefs, and MIL. Studies 1 and 2 showed that highly religious people with lower MIL reported greater difficulty making their MIL judgments than other people. Study 3 showed that they were also more likely to search for MIL and that disfluency mediated this effect. Study 4 demonstrated that they also reported more difficult judgments of religious beliefs and more religious doubts than their religious peers with high MIL. The current studies demonstrate that the experience of ease or difficulty associated with MIL judgments represents an important yet largely unexamined aspect of MIL. Our findings have implications for understanding the cognitive mechanisms underlying responses to meaning threats.

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Processing fluency, positive affect, and judgments of meaning in life

Cited by 19 publications

References 30 publications

Situational Factors Influencing Receptivity to Bullshit

Situational Factors Influencing Receptivity to Bullshit

Organizational nostalgia lowers turnover intentions by increasing work meaning: The moderating role of burnout.

Judgments of Meaning in Life, Religious Beliefs, and the Experience of Cognitive (Dis)Fluency

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