Meaning in Positive and Existential Psychology

"This volume, Meaning in Positive and Existential Psychology is a timely and engaging exploration of these contrasting, but potentially reconcilable, orientations. It raises questions that have wide ranging academic, clinical and personal significance... a volume such as this, written by some of the most influential figures in positive psychology, is very much welcomed. But it also gives equal voice to the existentialists and this is where the volume has a distinctive strength" From the Foreword by Professor Brian R. Little, Ph.D. C.Psychol. FBPsS, Distinguished Scholar, Department of Psychology and Fellow, Well-Being Institute, Cambridge University

Part I: Introduction.- Psychologies of meaning.- Part II: Conceptualizations of Meaning.- Meaning of Life: The Nature, Needs, and Myths.- Existential Mattering: Bringing Attention to a Neglected but Central Aspect of Meaning?.- Meaning as a Buffer for Existential Anxiety.- Meaning in Terror Management Theory.- Finding the Keys to Meaningful Happiness: Beyond Being Happy or Sad is Love.- Part III: A Dialogue Between Positive and Existential Psychology: Exploring Connections.- Extending the contexts of existence: benefits of meaning-guided living.- Ultimate Concerns from Existential and Positive Psychological Perspectives.- Narrative coherence and disruption: negotiating between positive and existential psychology.- Viktor Frankl's Meaning-Seeking Model and Positive Psychology.- Positive Psychology, Existential Psychology, and the Presumption of Egoism.- Anxiety and the Approach of Idealistic Meaning.- Positive and Existential Psychological Approaches to the Experience of Meaning in Life.- Part IV: Empirical and Applied Perspectives.- Clinical Utilizations of Meanings.- Meaning in life and coping: Sense of meaning as a buffer against stress.- Perceived Meaning and Disaster Mental Health: A Role for Logotherapy in Clinical-Disaster Psychology.- Meaning Sensitive Psychotherapy: Binding Clinical, Existential, and Positive Psychological Perspectives.- Special Issues and Challenging Life Events.- Hardiness Leads to Meaningful Growth Through What is Learned when Resolving Stressful Circumstances.- Do Meaning in Life and Purpose in Life Protect Against Suicide Ideation among Community-Residing Older Adults?.- Mourning, Meaning and Memory: Individual, Communal and Cultural Narration of Grief.- Ebb and Flow in the Sense of Meaning Purpose: A Lifespan Perspective on Alcohol and Other Drug Involvement.- Well-Being and Personal Growth in Emerging Motherhood - And What about Meaning?.