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In this thesis, I first present Fred Dretske's theory of mental represent- ations, which purports to show how a physical thing could have (non-derived) meaning. In order to illustrate the applicability of the theory to an actual physical system, I discuss the theory in relation to two theories of audio localization (i.e., the capacity to locate the source of sounds in one's environment). Having clarified the theory, I examine two charges laid against it. Lynne Rudder Baker charges the theory with circularity. Her charge is refuted by appealing to the concept of a "standby function." Stephen Stich charges the theory with vagueness. His charge is refuted by appealing to a general analysis of functions. I conclude that a careful use and analysis of the previously unanalyzed term "function" makes possible the refutation of these two charges. / Master of Arts

Wildfire can be an extremely destructive force, especially when it reaches our nation's ever-increasing wildland-urban interface (WUI) area. To address this issue, state and federal agencies and cooperative education programs have begun to promote homeowner responsibility and wildfire vulnerability minimization practices as a means for WUI residents to take a proactive approach to protecting their homes from wildfire. This research provides resource managers with a new understanding of the processes through which WUI residents receive, interpret, and reconstruct wildfire messages, which will allow them to better assess their wildfire education programs. Results from this study suggest that WUI residents negotiate meanings for wildfire messages by externalizing and/or internalizing the hazard and its solution, and that these interpretations are strongly related to residents' behavioral response. This study also reveals significant discrepancies between WUI residents' central values and program goals; whereas fire programs generally highlight risk to homes and structures in the WUI, residents were typically far more concerned with their homes' contents and the environments within which their homes are situated. The insights provided by this study will increase program managers' ability to remedy these discrepancies and improve the effectiveness of wildfire vulnerability minimization programs and messages. / Master of Science

While attention is increasingly drawn to the benefits of meaningful work on mental health, although with inconsistent findings, the prevalence of mental health complaints among university staff appears to be rising. The aim of this study was to examine the hypotheses that a high level of work meaning is negatively related to mental health complaints among academic staff in Sweden, and that women who perceive their work as highly meaningful will report lower levels of mental health complaints, as compared to men with similarly high perceptions of work meaningfulness. Self-report data from 1388 respondents were analysed using hierarchical multiple regressions. The results indicate a high average level of perceived work meaningfulness in this group, and a negligible negative association with mental health complaints after considering demographic and psychosocial factors. The findings indicate that, while work meaning may have a small negative association with mental health complaints, psychosocial factors appear to explain significantly greater variance in explaining mental health. Overall, the results suggest that, despite high levels of perceived work meaning, higher levels of mental health complaints may be explained by job efforts not being rewarded. Findings from this study may help future research and interventions to consider additional demographic and psychosocial factors, such as job insecurity, stress levels, and overcommitment, when exploring the multi-faceted relationship between work meaning and mental health. / Psykologi

Current psychometric best practice emphasizes the importance of semantics and syntax, two of the three cores of linguistics, which addresses the assigned meaning associated with words. However, little attention is paid to the other core linguistics subfield: pragmatics, or the study of how context affects meaning. The present study integrates pragmatic theory with psychometric practices (i.e., definitional correspondence) to investigate the existence of implied meaning associated with items and definitions. Specifically, definitions and items associated with knowledge hiding, forgiveness of others, resilience, presenteeism, and both global and facet job satisfaction were investigated for implied meaning. A modified qualitative think-aloud protocol and a survey on Prolific were conducted to explore the existence and potential impact of implied meaning in items and definitions. Evidence from these two studies suggests that not only does implied meaning exist in survey takers’ interpretations of items and definitions, but also that interpretations of items and definitions for the same construct are not always aligned. In fact, implied meaning associated with items can contaminate the underlying content domain, thus contributing to inconsistent results associated with the use of a given measure. These findings highlight the importance of assessing implied meaning as part of the construct explication phase and measure development, which can help to produce higher quality psychological measures that align more closely with the intended content domain. Future directions for psychometric assessment and the theoretical treatment of context in I-O topics are discussed.

Yes / and Objectives: There is a growing evidence base that informal caregivers can identify positive aspects of providing care and that this may have a beneficial influence on their well-being. The aim of this systematic review was to explore how positive aspects of caregiving (PAC) affects the well-being of caregivers of people with dementia. Research Design and Methods: We searched electronic databases for quantitative studies exploring the association between PAC and caregiver well-being. Studies were included if they involved informal (unpaid) caregivers of people with dementia, at least 75% of whom had to be residing in the community. A narrative synthesis was used to explore patterns within the data. Results: Fifty-three studies were included in the narrative synthesis. Most studies utilized a cross-sectional design. The majority of samples consisted primarily of spouses and female caregivers. Twenty different PAC measures were employed and studies referred to a variety of constructs, such as satisfactions, gains, meaning, and rewards. PAC was associated with lower depressive symptoms and burden. Conversely, PAC was associated with better mental health, quality of life, satisfaction with life, and competence/self-efficacy. PAC was not associated with self-rated health or personal strain/stress. Discussion and Implications: The findings suggest that identifying PAC is associated with better caregiver well-being, although further longitudinal studies are required to explore how this relationship changes over time. Interventions that enable caregivers to gain a more positive experience of caregiving could be beneficial for their well-being.

Yes / There is a growing evidence base that identifying positive experiences in providing care can have a beneficial influence on carer wellbeing. However, there is a need to better understand what carers identify as the positive aspects of care-giving. The aim of this study is to explore the satisfying aspects of providing care to people with dementia. This study utilised Time 1 data from 1,277 carers of people in the mild-to-moderate stages of dementia taking part in the IDEAL (Improving the experience of Dementia and Enhancing Active Life) cohort study. Responses from 900 carers who answered the open-ended question ‘What is your greatest satisfaction in caring for your relative/friend?’ were analysed using thematic analysis. From the responses, 839 carers detailed satisfactions. Eight themes were identified, pertaining to three groups of beneficiaries: carers, people with dementia and the dyad. Perceived benefits for carers included identifying aspects of personal growth, seeing glimpses of the person, feeling they were making a difference and doing their duty. For the person with dementia, these included retaining independence, receiving good quality care and being happy. Dyadic benefits concerned the continuation of the relationship between carer and person with dementia. The findings highlight the need to take a dyadic approach when conceptualising positive experiences in providing care. Further research is needed to understand the role these positive experiences play and to develop interventions. Professionals working with carers should identify and validate these experiences. / ‘Improving the experience of Dementia and Enhancing Active Life: living well with dementia. The IDEAL study’ was funded jointly by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) (grant number ES/L001853/2); ‘Improving the experience of Dementia and Enhancing Active Life: a longitudinal perspective on living well with dementia. The IDEAL-2 study’ is funded by the Alzheimer's Society (grant number 348, AS-PR2-16-001)

Breakups within emerging adulthood (EA) are associated with heightened distress because of individuals' tendency to be preoccupied by and prioritize romantic relationships. Global narrative scoring systems, such as Boals et al.'s meaning making (MM) and Feffer et al.'s interpersonal decentering, can be a useful for analyzing the activated cognitive processing in narratives about stressful events and have been linked to positive adjustment from those events. Attachment may moderate the benefits of processing a breakup. While avoidantly-attached people report lower breakup distress because of their tendency to suppress attachment-related thoughts and emotions, anxiously-attached individuals report prolonged distress due to their tendency to ruminate about the past relationship and to experience continued attachment to their ex-partner. The current study assessed the cross-sectional effects of MM and decentering on depression and breakup non-acceptance, as well as how attachment moderates the relationship between decentering and breakup adjustment. Results found higher MM was associated with higher depression and non-acceptance. More mature decentering was related to lower non-acceptance, but was unrelated to depression. Initial MM efforts may evoke more distress as individuals focus on distressing thoughts or emotions previously avoided. Initial decentering maturity may help with breakup adjustment as one effectively reflects on their own and their ex-partner's thoughts, feelings, and behavior. Attachment style did not moderate the relationship between decentering, depression, and non-acceptance. The present study contributes to the literature on processing relational stressors during EA.

This thesis aims to investigate to what extent the centrality of religion influences the existential aspects of an individual’s meaning-system. To do this I used a meaning-system framework and a qualitative approach in which I gathered information through a questionnaire based on the Centrality of the Religious Meaning System Scale and by conducting 8 semi-structured interviews with young adults in Uppsala, Sweden. The analysis of these interviews was implemented through an abductive method. The theoretical perspective is based on the concept Global meaning and the General attribution theory. My conclusion is that those participating in the study describe their meanings differently depending on their religious meaning-system. The thesis also shows that the religious interpretations to a large degree were actualized by situational and dispositional factors. This suggest that the religious attributions were made to meet the participants need for meaning, control, and self-esteem. Finally, the thesis indicates that the centrality of one’s religion appears to inform the religious meaning-system, as well as, functions as a dispositional factor. Thus, this thesis suggests that the centrality of one’s religion can be an influential factor in how religious meaning is constructed regarding existential questions.

<div>While research links the presence of meaning in life to better psychological well-being, the relationship between the search for meaning and psychological well-being is less clear. The search for meaning is generally thought to be psychologically distressing, but there is evidence that this process is moderated by the presence of meaning in life. Because the search for meaning in life can be considered a goal pursuit, goal-related personality traits may also moderate the relationship between the search for meaning and psychological well-being. The first aim of this</div><div>cross-sectional study was to replicate the moderating effect of the presence of meaning on the relationship between the search for meaning and psychological well-being in a sample of undergraduates (N = 246). The second aim was to examine the potential moderating effects of hope and optimism on these relationships. As an exploratory third aim, this study examined whether there was a unique combination of the presence of meaning, the search for meaning, and hope or optimism that differentially predicted psychological well-being. Results suggest that optimism and the presence of meaning, but not hope, are significant moderators of the relationship between the search for meaning and psychological well-being. Implications and limitations of these findings are discussed.</div>