Exploring Existential Meaning : Optimizing Human Development Across the Life Span

by Gary T. Reker

• ISBN13: 9780761909941
• ISBN10: 076190994X
• eBook ISBN(s): 9781506339221
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-09-03
• Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc
• More Book Details

Summary

Both implicit and existential meaning are important constructs in fully understanding human experience. The editors of this volume present a forum for an array of viewpoints and recent research that address the notion of optimal human growth.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	vii
About the Contributors	ix
Foreword	xv
James E. Birren
Introduction	1	(6)
Gary T. Reker
Kerry Chamberlain
PART I: THEORETICAL AND CONCEPTUAL ISSUES
Philosophical Foundations of Existential Meaning	7	(16)
Gary M. Kenyon
Meaning as Movement: The Relativity of the Mind	23	(16)
Hubert J. M. Hermans
Theoretical Perspective, Dimensions, and Measurement of Existential Meaning	39	(20)
Gary T. Reker
PART II: RESEARCH ON EXISTENTIAL MEANING
Structural Components of Personal Meaning in Life and Their Relationship With Death Attitudes and Coping Mechanisms in Late Adulthood	59	(16)
Nancy Van Ranst
Alfons Marcoen
Dimensions and Discourses of Meaning in Life: Approaching Meaning From Qualitative Perspectives	75	(18)
Kay O'Connor
Kerry Chamberlain
An Inquiry Into Existential Meaning: Theoretical, Clinical, and Phenomenal Perspectives	93	(14)
Dominique L. Debats
The Personal Meaning System in a Life-Span Perspective	107	(16)
Freya Dittmann-Kohli
Gerben J. Westerhof
The Development of a Culturally Sensitive Measure of Sources of Life Meaning	123	(16)
Edward Prager
Rivka Savaya
Liora Bar-Tur
PART III: APPLICATIONS AND INTERVENTIONS
Finding Meaning in Caregivers of Persons With Alzheimer's Disease: African American and White Caregivers' Perspectives	139	(18)
Carol J. Farran
Karen Lowe Graham
Dimitra Loukissa
Making Meaning Within the Experience of Life-Threatening Illness	157	(14)
Doris D. Coward
Religion and Meaning in Late Life	171	(14)
Susan H. McFadden
Logotherapeutic and ``Depth Psychology'' Approaches to Meaning and Psychotherapy	185	(14)
David Guttmann
PART IV: OVERVIEW AND NEW DIRECTIONS
Existential Meaning: Reflections and Directions	199	(12)
Gary T. Reker
Kerry Chamberlain
Author Index	211	(6)
Subject Index	217