When does meaning making predict subjective well-being? Examining young and older adults in two cultures

Abstract

Two studies in different cultures (Study 1: USA, N=174, Study 2: Trinidad, N=167) examined whether meaning making, (i.e., both searching for meaning, and directing behaviour) is positively related to subjective well-being (SWB) by age (younger, older adults). In both studies, participants self-reported engagement in meaning making, and SWB (e.g., affect, future time perspective, psychological well-being). In Study 1, young Americans (compared to older) more frequently used their past to direct behaviour but doing so was unrelated to SWB. In older Americans, both types of meaning making were positively associated with SWB. In Study 2, Trinidadian younger adults were again more likely than older adults to engage in meaning making. Unlike in the American sample, however, directing behaviour was positively related to SWB for both young and older adults. The studies demonstrate that whether meaning making shows benefits for SWB may depend on type of meaning, age and culture. Note that although meaning making was sometimes unrelated to SWB, no detrimental relations to meaning making were found. The discussion focuses on the role of moderators in understanding when meaning making should lead to benefits versus costs to SWB.

Function in context: Why American and Trinidadian young and older adults remember the personal past

“…Thus, culture and life phase are co-varying. This co-variation might also be the reason why we did not replicate previous work showing that the directing-behaviour function is common in Trinidad (Alea & Bluck, 2013; Alea, in press). The current Trinidadian sample was older overall (and within each age group) compared with previous work, and younger age groups more often use the directive function (e.g., Bluck & Alea, 2009; Webster & McCall, 1999).…”

“…A shorter time orientation has been found to predict less often using the past to direct behavior (Bluck & Alea, 2009), a memory function that seems salient in Trinidad. For example, Alea and Bluck (2013) using the directive function subscale of the Thinking About Life Experiences Scale (TALE, Bluck & Alea, 2011) found, that Trinidadian adults (Study 2) use the past to direct behavior more than Americans (Study 1). However, no direct statistical comparisons were made between the two cultures.…”

“…Young adults, in both self-reports and content-coded narratives, more frequently than older adults use the personal past to create self-continuity (e.g., Bluck & Alea, 2008; McLean & Lilgendahl, 2008; Rice & Pasupathi, 2010), and to direct behavior (e.g., Alea & Bluck, 2013; Bluck & Alea, 2009; Webster & McCall, 1999). These life phase differences have been found in developed countries, like America (Bluck & Alea, 2009) and Canada (Webster & McCall, 1999), and more recently in Trinidad (Alea, in press; Alea & Bluck, 2013). Wang and Conway (2004) also found that memories from midlife are less likely to have a self-orientation compared with memories from earlier in the life phase, regardless of culture (American and Asian).…”

The retrieval of self-defining memories is associated with the activation of specific working selves

“…Evidence suggests that meaning making is associated with positive psychological adjustment, well-being and maturity (see McKay et al, in press;Singer, Blagov, Berry, & Oost, 2013). The relationship between meaning and well-being, however, is complex and is influenced by individual characteristics such as age (e.g., Alea & Bluck, 2013;McLean, Breen, & Fournier, 2010), culture (Alea & Bluck, 2013) and personality (Lilgendahl, McLean, & Mansfield, 2013); the type of memory (Lilgendahl et al, 2013); and the aspect of meaning, such as sophistication (McLean et al, 2010) or number (McLean et al, 2010) and valence (Banks & Salmon, 2013;Lilgendahl & McAdams, 2011) of self-event connections (statements about how the event connects to a stable or changed aspect of the self). Thorne and McLean (2001) argue that the content of an SDM is the main theme emphasised in it and reflects one of the individual's primary concerns.…”

Magical thinking decreases across adulthood.

“…More generally, adolescence and young adulthood involve identity formation; indeed, this sort of meaning-making may explain why people preferentially remember events from these ages (10-30 years old), producing a reminiscence bump (Fitzgerald, 1996; see Koppel & Rubin, 2016, for discussion of multiple bumps). Alea and Bluck (2013) also found that older Trinidadians use autobiographical memories to make meaning less than young Trinidadians. This pattern only partially replicated in an American sample, but it raises the possibility that older adults search for meaning, and thus engage in magical thinking, less frequently than young adults do.…”