ABSTRACT
Human beings strive to nd coherence in what they are doing and to ascribe personal meaning to their actions. In pursuing what is meaningful to them, people are found to be persistent – as is reected in Fitzgerald’s nale of Gatsby’s pursuit of happiness. This central psychological tendency was also mentioned by Adler, who claimed that “human beings live in the realm of meanings” (1980, p. 1). Psychological research has further captured this idea, for instance by showing that meaning is a central condition for happiness (Baumeister & Vohs, 2002). The importance of happiness and meaning for humans’ well-being can be considered common knowledge (Seligman, 2012); in addition, numerous scientic studies have demonstrated that people have a need for meaning in their lives (Heine, Proulx, & Vohs, 2006; Steger, Kashdan, Sullivan, & Lorentz, 2008; Steger, Kawabata, Shimai, & Otake, 2008; Steger, Oishi, & Kesebir, 2011). Research in this context shows that ve needs must be fullled in order to experience meaningfulness (Baumeister & Vohs, 2002; Hofer, Allemand, & Martin, 2014): purpose, value and justication, ecacy, self-worth, and belonging (Baumeister & Leary, 1995).To this end, meaning is associated with the pursuit of life satisfaction and is thereby an important indicator of subjective well-being (Baumeister & Vohs, 2002).
