meaning-making

File:Greuze- Young Girl Weeping for her Dead Bird-1759.jpg]]

In psychology, meaning-making is the process of how people (and other living beings) construe, understand, or make sense of life events, relationships, and the self.{{harvnb|Ignelzi|2000|p=5}}: "Meaning-making, the process of how individuals make sense of knowledge, experience, relationships, and the self, must be considered in designing college curricular environments supportive of learning and development." {{harvnb|Gillies|Neimeyer|Milman|2014|p=208}}: Through meaning-making, people are "retaining, reaffirming, revising, or replacing elements of their orienting system to develop more nuanced, complex and useful systems".

The term is widely used in constructivist approaches to counseling psychology and psychotherapy,For example: {{harvnb|Kegan|1980}}; {{harvnb|Kegan|1982}}; {{harvnb|Carlsen|1988}}; {{harvnb|Dorpat|Miller|1992}}; {{harvnb|Drath|Palus|1994}}; {{harvnb|Rosen|Kuehlwein|1996}}; {{harvnb|Basseches|1997}}; {{harvnb|Neimeyer|Raskin|2000}}; {{harvnb|Mackay|2003}}; {{harvnb|Neimeyer|2009}} especially during bereavement in which people attribute some sort of meaning to an experienced death or loss.For example: {{harvnb|Epting|Neimeyer|1984}}; {{harvnb|Attig|1996}}; {{harvnb|Doka|Davidson|1998}}; {{harvnb|Neimeyer|2001}}; {{harvnb|Kalayjian|Eugene|2010}}; {{harvnb|Dyregrov|Dieserud|Hjelmeland|Straiton|2011}}; {{harvnb|Steffen|Coyle|2011}}; {{harvnb|Neimeyer|2012}}; {{harvnb|Gillies|Neimeyer|Milman|2014}} The term is also used in educational psychology.For example: {{harvnb|Postman|Weingartner|1969}}; {{harvnb|Novak|1993}}; {{harvnb|Merriam|Heuer|1996}}; {{harvnb|Rehm|1999}}; {{harvnb|Ignelzi|2000}}; {{harvnb|Kunnen|Bosma|2000}}; {{harvnb|Mortimer|Scott|2003}}; {{harvnb|Wickman|2006}}; {{harvnb|Scott|Mortimer|Aguiar|2006}}; {{harvnb|Nash|Murray|2010}}; {{harvnb|Baxter Magolda|King|2012}}; {{harvnb|Fantozzi|2012}}

In a broader sense, meaning-making is the main research object of semiotics, biosemiotics, and other fields. Social meaning-making is the main research object of social semiotics and related disciplines.{{harvnb|Thibault|2003|p=41}}: "... the description of a community's communicative practices cannot adequately be accomplished within the confines of any single discipline in the human and social sciences. Such an enterprise is necessarily a transdisciplinary one, drawing on the insights of sociology, ethnology, linguistics, anthropology, social psychology, and so on, in order to develop a unified conceptual framework for talking about social meaning-making (Gumperz 1992)."

History

File:Viktor Frankl2.jpg, author of Man's Search for Meaning]]

Psychiatrist and holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl, founder of logotherapy in the 1940s, posited in his 1946 book Man's Search for Meaning that the primary motivation of a person is to discover meaning in life.{{sfn|Frankl|1962}} Frankl insisted that meaning can be discovered under all circumstances, even in the most miserable experiences of loss and tragedy. He said that people could discover meaning through doing a deed, experiencing value, and experiencing suffering. Although Frankl did not use the term "meaning-making", his emphasis on the making of meaning influenced later psychologists.A [https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=author%3A%22V+Frankl%22 Google Scholar search for citations of Frankl's work] shows that Man's Search for Meaning is cited by some of the most influential psychologists and psychotherapists of the 20th century; it is cited in Aaron T. Beck's Cognitive Therapy of Depression; Albert Ellis's New Guide to Rational Living; Richard S. Lazarus and Susan Folkman's Stress, Appraisal, and Coping; Carl Rogers's Freedom to Learn; and thousands of other texts.

Neil Postman and Charles Weingartner, both of whom were educational critics and promoters of inquiry education, published a chapter called "Meaning Making" in their 1969 book Teaching as a Subversive Activity.{{sfn|Postman|Weingartner|1969}} In this chapter, they described why they preferred the term "meaning making" to any other metaphors for teaching and learning:

{{Quote|text=In the light of all this, perhaps you will understand why we prefer the metaphor "meaning making" to most of the metaphors of the mind that are operative in the schools. It is, to begin with, much less static than the others. It stresses a process view of minding, including the fact that "minding" is undergoing constant change. "Meaning making" also forces us to focus on the individuality and the uniqueness of the meaning maker (the minder). In most of the other metaphors there is an assumption of "sameness" in all learners. The "garden" to be cultivated, the darkness to be lighted, the foundation to be built upon, the clay to be molded—there is always the implication that all learning will occur in the same way. The flowers will be the same color, the light will reveal the same room, the clay will take the same shape, and so on. Moreover, such metaphors imply boundaries, a limit to learning. How many flowers can a garden hold? How much water can a bucket take? What happens to the learner after his mind has been molded? How large can a building be, even if constructed on a solid foundation? The "meaning maker" has no such limitation. There is no end to his educative process. He continues to create new meanings... |author=Neil Postman and Charles Weingartner |source="Meaning Making"{{sfn|Postman|Weingartner|1969|p=91}}}}

By the end of the 1970s, the term "meaning-making" was used with increasing frequency.As can be seen in a [https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=meaning-making&year_start=1800&year_end=2020&corpus=15&smoothing=3 Google Ngram of the term "meaning-making"] in Google Ngram Viewer, usage of the term "meaning-making" in the Google Books database jumps just before 1980 and increases thereafter. The term came to be used often in constructivist learning theory which posits that knowledge is something that is actively created by people as they experience new things and integrate new information with their current knowledge. Developmental psychologist Robert Kegan used the term "meaning-making" as a key concept in several widely cited texts on counseling and human development published in the late 1970s and early 1980s.For example: {{harvnb|Kegan|1980}}; {{harvnb|Kegan|1982}}; {{harvnb|Fantozzi|2012}} Kegan wrote: "Human being is meaning making. For the human, what evolving amounts to is the evolving of systems of meaning; the business of organisms is to organize, as Perry (1970) says."{{harvnb|Kegan|1980|p=374}}; Kegan was referencing {{harvnb|Perry|1970}} The term "meaning-making" has also been used by psychologists influenced by George Kelly's personal construct theory.For example: {{harvnb|Epting|Neimeyer|1984}}

In a review of the meaning-making literature published in 2010, psychologist Crystal L. Park noted that there was a rich body of theory on meaning-making, but empirical research had not kept pace with theory development.{{sfn|Park|2010|pp=290–293}} In 2014, the First Congress on the Construction of Personal Meaning{{sfn|Medlock|2016}} was held as part of the Eighth Biennial International Meaning Conference convened by the International Network on Personal Meaning.{{cite web |title=First Congress on the Construction of Personal Meaning: Exploring What Makes Life Worth Living |url=http://meaning.ca/conference/past-conferences/meaning-conference-2014/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160407195317/http://meaning.ca/conference/past-conferences/meaning-conference-2014/ |website=meaning.ca |archive-date=2016-04-07 |access-date=2016-04-07 }}

Learning as meaning-making

The term meaning-making has been used in constructivist educational psychology to refer to the personal epistemology that people create to help them to make sense of the influences, relationships, and sources of knowledge in their world.

For example, around 1980 psychologist Robert Kegan developed a theoretical framework that posited five levels of meaning-making inspired by Piaget's theory of cognitive development; each level describes a more advanced way of understanding experiences, and people may come to master each level as they develop psychologically. In Kegan's book In Over Our Heads, he applied his theory of meaning-making to the life domains of parenting (families), partnering (couples), working (companies), healing (psychotherapies), and learning (schools).{{sfn|Kegan|1994}}

According to the transformative learning theory that sociologist and educator Jack Mezirow developed in the 1980s and 1990s, adults interpret the meaning of their experiences through a lens of deeply held assumptions.{{harvnb|Mezirow|2009}}; {{harvnb|Park|2010}} When they experience something that contradicts or challenges their way of negotiating the world they have to go through the transformative process of evaluating their assumptions and processes of making meaning, which can lead to personal growth and expanded perspectives. Experiences that force individuals to engage in this critical self-reflection, or what Mezirow called "disorienting dilemmas".

In operant (behavioral) psychology, Richard DeGrandpre cited Kegan and showed how the operant conditioning model could be interpreted as a meaning-making process.{{sfn|DeGrandpre|2000}}{{sfn|Strand|Barnes-Holmes|Barnes-Holmes|2003|pp=107, 114}} As traditionally understood in behavioral theory, the stimulus operates control over behavior as that behavior is reinforced in the presence of that stimulus.{{sfn|DeGrandpre|2000}} DeGrandpre argued that consequences do not reinforce behavior, per se, but rather shape the meaning of the stimulus conditions in which the behavior occurs.{{sfn|DeGrandpre|2000}} Thus in DeGrandpre's interpretation, much of human meaning is a product of this contingency, where meaningful stimuli come to guide people's behavior, including private emotions, as a result of people's long histories of consequent events.{{sfn|DeGrandpre|2000}} This interpretation is summarized:

{{Quote|text=The emphasis ... is on the generality of basic operant concepts, where learning is a process of meaning making that is governed largely by natural contingencies; reinforcement is an organic process in which environment–behavior relations are selected, defined here as a dialectical process of meaning making; and reinforcers are experiential consequences with acquired, ecologically derived meanings.{{sfn|DeGrandpre|2000|p=721}}}}

In bereavement

With the experience of a death, people often have to create new meaning of their loss. Interventions that promote meaning-making may be beneficial to grievers, as some interventions have been found to improve both mental health and physical health.{{harvnb|Mackay|Bluck|2010|p=720}}: "In their study of bereaved parents, Murphy et al. (2003) showed that finding meaning was related to lower mental distress, higher marital satisfaction, and better physical health. Similar links to better adjustment have been found in other samples of bereaved parents (Keesee et al., 2008) and adults who lost loved ones through violent means (i.e., accidents, homicide, and suicide; Currier, Holland, & Neimeyer, 2006)." However, according to some researchers, "for certain individuals from challenging backgrounds, efforts after meaning might not be psychologically healthy" when those efforts are "more similar to rumination than to resolution" of problems.{{sfn|Sales|Merrill|Fivush|2013|p=97}}

Some researchers report that meaning-making can help people feel less distressed, and allows people to become more resilient in the face of loss.For example: {{harvnb|Calhoun|Tedeschi|2006}}; {{harvnb|Davis|Harasymchuk|Wohl|2012}}; {{harvnb|Webster|Deng|2015}} On the converse, failing to attribute meaning to death leads to more long-term distress for some people.{{sfn|Davis|Nolen-Hoeksema|Larson|1998}}

There are various strategies people can utilize for meaning-making; many of them are summarized in the book Techniques of Grief Therapy.{{sfn|Neimeyer|2012}} One study developed a "Meaning of Loss Codebook" which clusters common meaning-making strategies into 30 categories.{{sfn|Gillies|Neimeyer|Milman|2014}} Amongst these meaning-making strategies, the most frequently used categories include: personal growth, family bonds, spirituality, valuing life, negative affect, impermanence, lifestyle changes, compassion, and release from suffering.{{sfn|Gillies|Neimeyer|Milman|2014|pp=212–213}}

=Family bonds=

Individuals using existing family bonds for meaning-making have a "change in outlook and/or behavior towards family members".{{sfn|Gillies|Neimeyer|Milman|2014|p=212}} With this meaning-making strategy, individuals create meaning of loss through their interactions with family members, and make more efforts to spend more time with them.{{sfn|Gillies|Neimeyer|Milman|2014}} When individuals use family to give meaning to loss, more meaning-making strategies emerge within the family system. A couple of strategies that family members use to help each other cope are discussing the legacy of the deceased and talking to non-family members about the loss.{{sfn|Black|Santanello|Rubinstein|2014}}

When family members are able to openly express their attitudes and beliefs, it can lead to better well-being and less disagreement in the family.{{sfn|Davis|Harasymchuk|Wohl|2012}} Meaning-making with one's family can also increase marital satisfaction by reducing family tension, especially if the deceased was another family member.

=Spirituality and religiosity=

Meaning-making through spirituality and religiosity is significant because it helps individuals cope with their loss, as well as develop their own spiritual or religious beliefs.{{sfn|Way|2013}} Spirituality and religiosity helps grievers think about a transcendental reality, share their worldview, and feel a sense of belonging to communities with shared beliefs.

When individuals with a divinity worldview make meaning through spirituality and religiosity, those "individuals perceive the divine to be involved in a major stressful life event" and use the divine to develop a meaning for the loss. There are three main ways in which a theistic individual may create meaning through religion, all of which contribute to how the griever may create meaning of their loss:{{harvnb|Stein|Abraham|Bonar|McAuliffe|2009}}

Benevolent religious reappraisals cast God in a positive light and grievers may see the death as a part of God's plan
Punishing God reappraisals cast God in dark light and grievers may blame God for the loss or feel punished by God
Reappraisals of God's power question God's ability to intervene in the situation.

Another meaning-making strategy people use is to create meaning by valuing their own life. People who create meaning in this way may try to cherish the life they have, try to find their purpose, or change their lifestyles.{{sfn|Gillies|Neimeyer|Milman|2014}}

=Philanthropy=

Grievers can make meaning of death through philanthropic services such as charities, foundations, and organizations. Meaning-making through philanthropy can create financial support, social support, emotional support, and helps create positive results from the negative experience of the death. For example, one couple that lost a child described how they developed "Nora's Project" after their daughter with a disability died, in order to help provide wheelchairs for children with disabilities around the world. The mother said: "With Nora's Project, I am also healing. I am able to turn something that was horrific, the way she died, into something that will do good in the world". Like this mother, it is common for individuals to want to create or do something positive for others. Philanthropy helps people make meaning by continuously and altruistically honoring a life while simultaneously helping others going through a similar experience.{{sfn|Rossetto|2014}}

In cancer treatment

Cancer can be a threat to a person's identity, safety, security, bodily integrity, and sense of self. As such, the experience can often compel patients, survivors, and caregivers to search for meaning. Two main ways people can make meaning out of cancer is by assimilating the experience as a new situation within their current worldview or by changing (accommodating) their whole worldview for a new meaning of life.{{sfn|Carreno|Eisenbeck|2022}} A patient's meaning-making process in the wake of a cancer diagnosis is associated with improved psychosocial outcomes, like less anxiety and depression.{{sfn|Carreno|Eisenbeck|2022}} On the other hand, a lack of meaning is associated with increased psychological distress, like depression and wishing for a faster death.{{sfn|Carreno|Eisenbeck|2022}}

A cancer diagnosis can also cause caregivers to question the meaning of the experience or life in general.{{sfn|McAndrew|Gray|Wallace|Calkins|2023}} The caregiving role can be very demanding—both physically and emotionally—as caregivers are expected to manage pain, medications, and activities of daily living all while contending with their own fears, anxiety, and grief. At the same time, many loved ones find the act of caregiving to be meaningful itself, as it leads to connection, purpose, and growth. Interventions such as {{em|meaning-centered psychotherapy for cancer caregivers}} (MCP-C) and {{em|existential behavioral therapy}} (EBT) are evidence-based treatments that help caregivers manage their own distress while finding meaning and purpose in the experience.{{sfn|McAndrew|Gray|Wallace|Calkins|2023}}

For cancer patients themselves, various psychosocial interventions targeting meaning-making have been found to be effective. Dignity therapy, meaning-centered psychotherapy, and acceptance and commitment therapy have all shown promise.{{sfn|Carreno|Eisenbeck|2022}} A 2019 meta-analysis that included 29 randomized controlled trials found that psychosocial interventions targeting meaning and purpose produced small to medium sized improvements in these domains.{{sfn|Park|Pustejovsky|Trevino|Sherman|2019}}

Notes

References

{{cite book |last=Attig |first=Thomas |date=1996 |title=How we grieve: relearning the world |location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0195074550 |oclc=33048470 }}
{{cite journal |last=Basseches |first=Michael |date=January 1997 |title=A developmental perspective on psychotherapy process, psychotherapists' expertise, and 'meaning-making conflict' within therapeutic relationships: a two-part series |journal=Journal of Adult Development |volume=4 |issue=1–2 |doi=10.1007/BF02511846 |pages=17–33|s2cid=195243798 }}
{{cite book |last1=Baxter Magolda |first1=Marcia B. |last2=King |first2=Patricia M. |date=2012 |title=Assessing meaning making and self-authorship: theory, research, and application |series=ASHE higher education report |volume=38 |location=Hoboken, NJ |publisher=Jossey-Bass/Wiley |isbn=978-1118500545 |oclc=801926567 }}
{{cite journal |last1=Black |first1=Helen K. |last2=Santanello |first2=Holly R. |last3=Rubinstein |first3=Robert L. |date=September 2014 |title=A pragmatic belief system in family meaning-making after death |journal=Death Studies |volume=38 |issue=8 |pages=522–530 |doi=10.1080/07481187.2013.879754 |pmid=24738858 |s2cid=22332569 }}
{{cite book |editor1-last=Calhoun |editor1-first=Lawrence G. |editor2-last=Tedeschi |editor2-first=Richard G. |date=2006 |title=Handbook of posttraumatic growth: research and practice |location=Mahwah, NJ |publisher=Lawrence Erlbaum Associates |isbn=978-0805851960 |oclc=62078285 }}
{{cite book |last=Carlsen |first=Mary Baird |date=1988 |title=Meaning-making: therapeutic processes in adult development |location=New York |publisher=W.W. Norton & Co. |isbn=978-0393700497 |oclc=17108819 |url=https://archive.org/details/meaningmakingthe00carl |url-access=registration}}
{{cite journal |last1=Carreno |first1=David F. |last2=Eisenbeck |first2=Nikolett |date=2022-03-22 |title=Existential insights in cancer: meaning in life adaptability |journal=Medicina |language=en |volume=58 |issue=4 |pages=461 |doi=10.3390/medicina58040461 |doi-access=free |issn=1648-9144 |pmc=9029503 |pmid=35454300}}
{{cite journal |last1=Davis |first1=Christopher G. |last2=Harasymchuk |first2=Cheryl |last3=Wohl |first3=Michael J. A. |date=April 2012 |title=Finding meaning in a traumatic loss: a families approach |journal=Journal of Traumatic Stress |volume=25 |issue=2 |pages=142–149 |doi=10.1002/jts.21675 |pmid=22522727 }}
{{cite journal |last1=Davis |first1=Christopher G. |last2=Nolen-Hoeksema |first2=Susan |last3=Larson |first3=Judith |date=August 1998 |title=Making sense of loss and benefiting from the experience: two construals of meaning |journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology |volume=75 |issue=2 |pages=561–574 |doi=10.1037/0022-3514.75.2.561 |pmid=9731325 }}
{{cite journal |last=DeGrandpre |first=Richard J. |date=July 2000 |title=A science of meaning: can behaviorism bring meaning to psychological science? |journal=American Psychologist |volume=55 |issue=7 |pages=721–739 |doi=10.1037/0003-066X.55.7.721 |pmid=10916862 }}
{{cite book |editor1-last=Doka |editor1-first=Kenneth J. |editor2-last=Davidson |editor2-first=Joyce |date=1998 |title=Living with grief: who we are, how we grieve |location=Washington, DC |publisher=Hospice Foundation of America |isbn=978-0876308981 |oclc=47667465 }}
{{cite book |last1=Dorpat |first1=Theodore L. |last2=Miller |first2=Michael L. |date=1992 |title=Clinical interaction and the analysis of meaning: a new psychoanalytic theory |location=Hillsdale, NJ |publisher=Analytic Press |isbn=978-0881631463 |oclc=26095722 |url=https://archive.org/details/clinicalinteract00dorprich |url-access=registration}}
{{cite book |last1=Drath |first1=Wilfred H. |last2=Palus |first2=Charles J. |date=1994 |title=Making common sense: leadership as meaning-making in a community of practice |location=Greensboro, NC |publisher=Center for Creative Leadership |isbn=978-0912879970 |oclc=30518363 }}
{{cite journal |last1=Dyregrov |first1=Kari Madeleine |last2=Dieserud |first2=Gudrun |last3=Hjelmeland |first3=Heidi Marie |last4=Straiton |first4=Melanie |last5=Rasmussen |first5=Mette Lyberg |last6=Knizek |first6=Birthe Loa |last7=Leenaars |first7=Antoon Adrian |date=September 2011 |title=Meaning-making through psychological autopsy interviews: the value of participating in qualitative research for those bereaved by suicide |journal=Death Studies |volume=35 |issue=8 |pages=685–710 |doi=10.1080/07481187.2011.553310 |pmid=24501818 |s2cid=35042701 }}
{{cite book |editor1-last=Epting |editor1-first=Franz R. |editor2-last=Neimeyer |editor2-first=Robert A. |date=1984 |title=Personal meanings of death: applications of personal construct theory to clinical practice |series=Series in death education, aging, and health care |location=Washington, DC |publisher=Hemisphere Pub. Corp. |isbn=978-0891163633 |oclc=9557799 }}
{{cite journal |last=Fantozzi |first=Victoria B. |date=June 2012 |title=Making meaning in student teaching |journal=Action in Teacher Education |volume=34 |issue=2 |pages=146–158 |doi=10.1080/01626620.2012.677738 |s2cid=144447650 }}
{{cite book |last=Frankl |first=Viktor E. |author-link=Viktor Frankl |date=1962 |orig-year=1946 |title=Man's search for meaning: an introduction to logotherapy |location=Boston |publisher=Beacon Press |isbn=978-0807014271 |oclc=68940601 |url=https://archive.org/details/manssearchforme00fran |url-access=registration}}
{{cite journal |last1=Gillies |first1=James |last2=Neimeyer |first2=Robert A. |last3=Milman |first3=Evgenia |date=April 2014 |title=The meaning of loss codebook: construction of a system for analyzing meanings made in bereavement |journal=Death Studies |volume=38 |issue=4 |pages=207–216 |doi=10.1080/07481187.2013.829367 |pmid=24524583 |s2cid=40245159 }}
{{cite journal |last=Ignelzi |first=Michael |date=Summer 2000 |title=Meaning-making in the learning and teaching process |journal=New Directions for Teaching and Learning |volume=2000 |issue=82 |pages=5–14 |doi=10.1002/tl.8201 }}
{{cite book |editor1-last=Kalayjian |editor1-first=Ani |editor2-last=Eugene |editor2-first=Dominique |date=2010 |title=Mass trauma and emotional healing around the world: rituals and practices for resilience and meaning-making |location=Santa Barbara, CA |publisher=Praeger |isbn=9780313375408 |oclc=422757301 }}
{{cite journal |last=Kegan |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Kegan |date=January 1980 |title=Making meaning: the constructive-developmental approach to persons and practice |journal=The Personnel and Guidance Journal |volume=58 |issue=5 |pages=373–380 |doi=10.1002/j.2164-4918.1980.tb00416.x }}
{{cite book |last=Kegan |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Kegan |date=1982 |title=The evolving self: problem and process in human development |location=Cambridge, MA |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0674272309 |oclc=7672087 |url=https://archive.org/details/evolvingselfprob00kega |url-access=registration }}
{{cite book |last=Kegan |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Kegan |year=1994 |title=In over our heads: the mental demands of modern life |location=Cambridge, MA |publisher=Harvard University Press |doi=10.2307/j.ctv1pncpfb |isbn=978-0674445888 |oclc=29565488 |jstor=j.ctv1pncpfb |url=https://archive.org/details/inoverourheadsme00kega |url-access=registration }}
{{cite journal |last1=Kunnen |first1=E. Saskia |last2=Bosma |first2=Harke A. |date=April 2000 |title=Development of meaning making: a dynamic systems approach |journal=New Ideas in Psychology |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=57–82 |doi=10.1016/S0732-118X(99)00037-9 }}
{{cite journal |last1=Mackay |first1=Michael M. |last2=Bluck |first2=Susan |date=August 2010 |title=Meaning-making in memories: a comparison of memories of death-related and low point life experiences |journal=Death Studies |volume=34 |issue=8 |pages=715–737 |doi=10.1080/07481181003761708 |pmid=24482847 |s2cid=31138533 }}
{{cite journal |last=Mackay |first=Nigel |date=June 2003 |title=Psychotherapy and the idea of meaning |journal=Theory & Psychology |volume=13 |issue=3 |pages=359–386 |doi=10.1177/0959354303013003004 |s2cid=144811129 }}
{{cite journal |last1=McAndrew |first1=Natalie S. |last2=Gray |first2=Tamryn F. |last3=Wallace |first3=Lyndsey |last4=Calkins |first4=Kelly |last5=Guttormson |first5=Jill |last6=Harding |first6=Eric S. |last7=Applebaum |first7=Allison J. |date=2023-12-01 |title=Existential distress in family caregivers: scoping review of meaning-making interventions |journal=BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care |language=en |volume=13 |issue=e3 |pages=e676–e685 |doi=10.1136/spcare-2023-004448 |issn=2045-435X |pmc=11040498 |pmid=37604657}}
{{cite book |last=Mezirow |first=Jack |author-link=Jack Mezirow |chapter=An overview on transformative learning |editor-last=Illeris |editor-first=Knud |date=2009 |title=Contemporary theories of learning: learning theorists—in their own words |location=London; New York |publisher=Routledge |pages=90–105 |isbn=978-0415473439 |oclc=213446282 }}
{{cite journal |last=Medlock |first=Gordon |date=January 2016 |title=Seeking consensual understanding of personal meaning: reflections on the meaning summit at first Congress on the Construction of Personal Meaning |journal=Journal of Constructivist Psychology |volume=30 |doi=10.1080/10720537.2015.1119079 |pages=1–13|s2cid=147244459 }}
{{cite journal |last1=Merriam |first1=Sharan B. |author-link1=Sharan Merriam |last2=Heuer |first2=Barbara |date=July 1996 |title=Meaning-making, adult learning and development: a model with implications for practice |journal=International Journal of Lifelong Education |volume=15 |issue=4 |pages=243–255 |doi=10.1080/0260137960150402 }}
{{cite book |last1=Mortimer |first1=Eduardo Fleury |last2=Scott |first2=Philip H. |date=2003 |title=Meaning making in secondary science classrooms |url=https://archive.org/details/meaningmakingins0000mort |url-access=registration |location=Maidenhead; Philadelphia |publisher=Open University Press |isbn=978-0335212088 |oclc=53193913 }}
{{cite book |last1=Nash |first1=Robert J. |last2=Murray |first2=Michele C. |date=2010 |title=Helping college students find purpose: the campus guide to meaning-making |series=Jossey-Bass higher and adult education series |location=San Francisco |publisher=Jossey-Bass |isbn=9780470408148 |oclc=428031779 }}
{{cite book |editor-last=Neimeyer |editor-first=Robert A. |date=2001 |title=Meaning reconstruction and the experience of loss |location=Washington, DC |publisher=American Psychological Association |isbn=978-1557987426 |oclc=44712952 }}
{{cite book |last=Neimeyer |first=Robert A. |date=2009 |title=Constructivist psychotherapy: distinctive features |series=The CBT distinctive features series |location=Hove, East Sussex; New York |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9780415442336 |oclc=237402656 }}
{{cite book |editor-last=Neimeyer |editor-first=Robert A. |date=2012 |title=Techniques of grief therapy: creative practices for counseling the bereaved |series=Series in death, dying, and bereavement |location=New York |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9780415807258 |oclc=752072377 }}
{{cite book |editor1-last=Neimeyer |editor1-first=Robert A. |editor2-last=Raskin |editor2-first=Jonathan D. |date=2000 |title=Constructions of disorder: meaning-making frameworks for psychotherapy |location=Washington, DC |publisher=American Psychological Association |isbn=978-1557986290 |oclc=42009389 }}
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