How do we transform scattered experiences into a coherent narrative? What drives us—consciously or unconsciously—to seek patterns, purpose, and understanding? This is the first volume explicitly devoted to the creation of psychological meaning, which has not been systematically defined and studied until recently. Leading authorities from multiple subdisciplines of psychology explore the mechanisms by which humans figure out the world around them, find direction in personal striving, and make sense of the self and one’s life. Cutting-edge theories, methods, and findings are clearly explained, as is the key role of meaning making in the functioning of both individuals and societies.

“How do we turn a stream of potentially unrelated experiences into a meaningful representation of the world in which we live? A stellar group of contributors addresses this question from different perspectives, advancing our understanding of one of the major challenges of human life.”

—Norbert Schwarz, DrPhil, Provost Professor, Department of Psychology and Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California

“This outstanding volume examines personal and social factors that shape how people attempt to integrate the different elements of their experience within a coherent structure. It is a valuable resource for researchers, students, and anyone interested in understanding how we make sense of our place in a complex world. Skillfully edited by three distinguished scholars, the volume offers comprehensive coverage of existing research, presents novel ideas, and will guide future work. Chapters by leading international authorities draw on the study of communication, identity, cognition, affect, and motivation to generate new ways to understand the quest for meaning. In the context of unprecedented polarization, change, and challenge, this book makes a unique and significant contribution.”

—John F. Dovidio, PhD, Carl Iver Hovland Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Public Health, Yale University

“When John Milton said, ‘The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven,’ he was voicing an idea around which a science would emerge centuries later. Psychology has given us a science of mental representation, and, as this book attests, a rich and profound understanding of how the quest for meaning unfolds. Fujita, Fishbach, and Liberman have gathered the greatest contemporary scientists to explore how we seek and create meaning from and about the events, ideas, and people we encounter.”

—Mahzarin R. Banaji, PhD, Richard Clarke Cabot Professor of Social Ethics, Department of Psychology, Harvard University

About the Editors

Kentaro Fujita, PhD, is Professor of Psychology at The Ohio State University (OSU), where he studies social psychology, decision making, and consumer behavior. His work seeks to help people achieve their goals to live a fuller, healthier, and more productive life. Dr. Fujita is an elected Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science, the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, the Society for Experimental Social Psychology, and the Midwestern Psychological Association. He is a recipient of numerous awards for his research and mentoring/teaching, including the Sage Young Scholars Award from the Foundation for Personality and Social Psychology and the Faculty Mentoring Award from OSU. Dr. Fujita has published 100 articles and chapters.

Ayelet Fishbach, PhD, is the Eric J. Gleacher Distinguished Service Professor of Behavioral Science and Marketing at the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business, where she studies social psychology, management, and consumer behavior. She also studies self-control, intrinsic motivation, feedback, patience, and promoting a healthy lifestyle. Dr. Fishbach’s work shows how people can live up to their highest aspirations. She is past president of the Society for the Science of Motivation and the International Social Cognition Network. Dr. Fishbach is a recipient of the Best Dissertation Award and the Career Trajectory Award from the Society of Experimental Social Psychology, the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award from the Society for Consumer Psychology, and the Fulbright Educational Foundation Award.

Nira Liberman, PhD, is Professor of Social Psychology at Tel Aviv University in Israel and an International Faculty member in the area of Behavioral Economic Engineering and Social Cognition at the University of Cologne, Germany. She studies mental representation, motivation, self-control, decision making, and psychological distance. Dr. Liberman also studies obsessive–compulsive behavior, in particular how it may reflect deficient access to internal states. She is a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science and the Society for Experimental Social Psychology, from which she received the Career Trajectory Award. An elected member of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Dr. Liberman is a recipient of the Kadar Family Award for Outstanding Research from Tel Aviv University and of the Rothschild Prize.

Audience

Researchers and students in social, cognitive, and personality psychology.

Course Use

Will serve as a supplemental text in upper-level undergraduate- and graduate-level social psychology courses.