This qualitative research project is a narrative inquiry into the loss experiences of four bereaved individuals who have lost an immediate family member; one of them is myself. In particular, the meanings assigned to the losses and how those meanings impacted the grieving process were explored by listening to in-depth narratives of the participants’ experiences of loss and grief. A narrative methodology was used, based on a constructivist epistemology that describes a human tendency to put events in narrative forms in order to give them a sense of continuity and meaning. Four narratives, along with their respective analysis, were presented in separate chapters, with my own narrative presented as the last narrative chapter. Of the four of us, two are males: one from Jewish-American and the other from German-Romanian descent, and two are females: both from Persian descent. The four participants ranged from 39 to 71 years of age at the time of the interviews, with the losses occurring 3 to 25 years before the interviews. Findings of this research reveal the unique and complex grieving processes of the participants. A variety of meanings were assigned to the losses with each meaning having its own possible impact on the course of bereavement. Each participant expressed her/his own personal assumptions about the nature of life, love, suffering, human vulnerabilities, and death stemming from their life experiences and culture. We all expressed in our own unique way that the loss of a special person, a loving bond, and a significant relationship will always remain painful, but their memories, legacies, and love will continue beyond their deaths, which can help us in finding meaningful, productive, and hopeful paths. Hopefully this research project will provide some validation and inspiration for other grieving individuals and contribute to the current understanding of bereavement and grief.

This qualitative research project is a narrative inquiry into the loss experiences of four bereaved individuals who have lost an immediate family member; one of them is myself. In particular, the meanings assigned to the losses and how those meanings impacted the grieving process were explored by listening to in-depth narratives of the participants’ experiences of loss and grief. A narrative methodology was used, based on a constructivist epistemology that describes a human tendency to put events in narrative forms in order to give them a sense of continuity and meaning. Four narratives, along with their respective analysis, were presented in separate chapters, with my own narrative presented as the last narrative chapter. Of the four of us, two are males: one from Jewish-American and the other from German-Romanian descent, and two are females: both from Persian descent. The four participants ranged from 39 to 71 years of age at the time of the interviews, with the losses occurring 3 to 25 years before the interviews. Findings of this research reveal the unique and complex grieving processes of the participants. A variety of meanings were assigned to the losses with each meaning having its own possible impact on the course of bereavement. Each participant expressed her/his own personal assumptions about the nature of life, love, suffering, human vulnerabilities, and death stemming from their life experiences and culture. We all expressed in our own unique way that the loss of a special person, a loving bond, and a significant relationship will always remain painful, but their memories, legacies, and love will continue beyond their deaths, which can help us in finding meaningful, productive, and hopeful paths. Hopefully this research project will provide some validation and inspiration for other grieving individuals and contribute to the current understanding of bereavement and grief.

This thesis presents a cross-sectional study of psychological meaning making processes involving religious beliefs and the construction of a sense of purpose in life. Previous research has studied the connection between religiosity and purpose in life, but has failed to adequately represent the multidimensionality of meaning and religion, resulting in a lack of understanding of the psychological processes involved in the construction of a sense of purpose in life.  The purpose of this study was to research the connection between specific religious beliefs and a sense of purpose in life in individuals aged 25-40, by testing one hypothesis: There is a significant, positive correlation between the strength of religious belief and purpose in life, and answering two research questions: 1. What specific religious beliefs show a significant correlation to purpose in life?, and 2. How are religious beliefs used in a meaning system for the construction of purpose in life? The study employed a two-phase, mixed methods sequential exploratory design, and a meaning system theory framework, complemented by additional theoretical perspectives in phase 2. The weighting of the data was on the first, qualitative phase of the study  and the data were mixed in the final, joint analysis of both types of data.  Phase 1 consisted of a survey, measuring the strength of religious beliefs (measured by the BVS scale) and sense of purpose in life (measured by the LAP-R and one item of the WHOQOL-BRIEF). The survey was completed by 40 respondents who self-identified as Christian and were members of various Christian congregations in the city of Stockholm and surrounding areas. The results of phase 1 of the study firstly showed a significant, moderate, positive correlation between the strength of religious belief and purpose in life, confirming the hypothesis. The results also showed that purpose in life was positively and significantly correlated to a belief that God is an all pervading presence (tau = 0.35, p<0.05), belief in forces for evil in the universe (tau = 0.40, p<0.01), belief that human physical contact can be a spiritual experience (tau = 0.27, p<0.05), belief in life after death (tau = 0.31, p<0.05), belief that one's life has been planned out (tau = 0.33, p<0.05), belief that there is a heaven (tau = 0.30, p<0,05), belief that the human spirit is immortal (tau = 0.30, p<0.05), and belief that there is a God (tau = 0.32, p<0.05). Phase 2 consisted of interviews with 9 of the survey respondents, yielding qualitative data that were analysed through an interpretative framework based on two hermeneutic theories. The qualitative analysis showed that religious beliefs are used to construct purpose in a meaning making process consisting primarily of three elements in a meaning system. Beliefs regarding what is ultimately good (ultimate concerns) and beliefs regarding the purpose and role of humanity (overall purpose) provides a foundation for the construction of purpose in life. The individual constructs purpose by locating himself/herself (self-definition) in relation to ultimate concerns and overall purpose. The results of phase 2 also showed that both the content and conviction of religious beliefs influence their use in the construction of purpose in life, further explicating the results of phase 1.  The joint analysis of the two phases showed that the results from phase 2 supported the results from phase 1, both regarding the beliefs involved in the construction of purpose in life and the importance of both content and conviction in meaning making processes.  Suggestions for further research include additional research on the connections between the various elements of a meaning system, research on the connection between religious beliefs, purpose and the development of self-definition, as well as further theoretical developments of meaning system theory, and harmonisation of meaning system theory with other, complementary theoretical perspectives.

In this thesis, tools of categorical quantum mechanics are used to explain natural language from a cognitive point of view. Categories of generalized relations are developed for the task, examples are provided, and languages that are particularly tricky to describe using this approach are taken into consideration.

Meaning in life is one of the most heavily researched constructs of positive psychology in the psychological literature. Despite its popularity, the positive psychology literature has been devoid of research that has explored the measurement of the construct with individuals who identify as African American. The present study was conducted to reexamine the cultural equivalence of the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ), a popular existing measure, with a predominantly African American sample. A sample of 155 African American and 179 White American college students were recruited from a southern metropolitan university and rural Midwestern university. Participants responded to the MLQ and a demographic questionnaire. The factor structure and the nature of the items were examined using a principal axis exploratory factor analysis with an oblique rotation (delta = 0). The results of the study were partially consistent with the existing literature on the MLQ, providing evidence to support the two factor structure of the measure. However, the nature of the items loading on each scale was called into question because the subsamples of participants responded significantly differently on the items of the Presence subscale. Furthermore, the reliability and communality value on one item (i.e., “My life has no clear purpose”), which was significantly lower, provided additional rationale for differences in MIL for these groups. The results suggested that there might be a noteworthy difference in: (a) how African American participants and White American participants interpreted the items and (b) how their subjective experience may influence responding to the items. In sum, the research has important implications for understanding the nature of African American meaning in life and its connection to the present day African American experience in the United States context.

The purpose of this dissertation was to explore the role of memory in finding and making meaning in and through grief. I use narrative ideas and introduce the Tree of Meaning metaphor as a research model, which assists people find new meaning in their lives, by experiencing, telling and re-telling stories of their lived experiences, including the grief. A qualitative approach was used so that the focus was on co-constructing new meanings, with the co-researchers. The three co-researchers emerged as a natural part of my on-going counselling, using a purposive sampling method in which the co-researchers are selected because of their specialist knowledge. i.e. the loss of a spouse or a child through death. Each co-researcher‘s stories were carefully recorded using the Tree or Meaning metaphor as a vehicle for the storytelling, affording the coresearchers a safe place to tap into their inner child as they explored the stories that would assist them find and make new meanings in their lives. Out of this research journey I concluded that memory is key to meaning-making, because through our memory, we can revise, edit and rewrite our life stories and find new strands of meaning in these stories that connect the past and the future in a way that allows us to find and make meaning of our grief. AFRIKAANS : Die Doel van hierdie verhandeling is om die rol van die geheue te ondersoek met betrekking tot hoe ons lewens betekenis vind en maak in en deur die rouproses. Ek gebruik verhalende metodes en stel voor die "Boom van Betekenis" beeldspraak voor as 'n navorsingsmodel. Hierdie model help mense om nuwe betekenis vir hul lewens te vind en maak deur hulle rou te ervaar, daarvan te praat en om hulle lewenservarings oor te vertel, insluitend die rouproses wat hulle moes deurmaak. 'n Gehalte benadering is gebruik sodat die fokus op medesamestelling van nuwe betekenisse, saam met die medenavorsers kan plaasvind. Die drie medenavorsers het 'n natuurlike deel geword van my voortgaande berading met die gebruik van 'n doelgerigte toetsmetode, waarby die medenavorsers gebruik is volgens hulle spesiale ervarings, byv. Die afstaan aan die dood van 'n vrou / man of kind. Elke medenavorser se verhaal is noukeurig opgeneem deur gebruik te maak van die "Boom van Betekenis" beeldspraak as 'n voertuig vir die oorvertel van hul verhale. Dit het verseker dat hulle 'n veilige metode gevind het om hulle innerlike kindwees te ondersoek en die verhale uit te lig waardeur hulle nuwe betekenis in die lewe sou kry. Uit hierdie navorsingsgeleentheid het ek afgelei dat geheue die sleutel is om nuwe betekenis vir ons lewens te vind en maak. Dit is deur ons geheue dat ons, ons lewensverhale kan hersien, redigeer en oorskrywe en terselfdertyd nuwe afleidings kan maak, wat die verlede met die toekoms verbind. Sodoende vind ons dan in hulpmiddel om beter betekenis aan die rou te gee. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Practical Theology / unrestricted

Victor Frankl (1969, 1972, 1975, 1984a, 1984b) postulated that man’s search for meaning is the primary motivational force in his life. If this postulation is true for life in general, it was expected that this would also be true for a person’s work life. The objective of the present research was to explore whether relationships exist between man's "will to meaning" as defined in Frankl’s logotherapy, with work aspects such as work commitment and work motivation. The present research also investigated the relationships between meaning and certain work related biographic/lifestyle variables. Survey research was conducted with a sample of 458 management level employees from six large companies from different industrial sectors in South Africa. Seven standardised, well-validated instruments were used to measure the respective constructs. The following constructs were measured: meaning, work involvement, work commitment (represented by work values, job involvement and career commitment), and work motivation (represented by intrinsic motivation and goal orientation). The data was analysed by means of Principal Factor Analysis, Non-Parametric Analysis of Variance, Partial Correlation Analysis, Stepwise Multiple Regression Analysis, and Structural Equations Modelling. These instruments were revalidated as part of the present study. The results of this research indicated that meaning was significantly associated with career commitment. The results also indicated that meaning was significantly associated with work motivation, as measured through intrinsic motivation and goal orientation. Furthermore, meaning generally showed statistically significant relationships with work orientation and lifestyle related variables. In contrast, meaning did not show statistically significant relationships with work values, job involvement or work involvement. Meaning also did not show statistically significant relationships with Biographical/demographic type variables. These findings deepened the understanding of some of the origins of work commitment and work motivation. The findings from this study also pointed to a deeper and more fundamental source of work motivation and work commitment than those sources covered in the existing work motivation and commitment theories; an existential source. This study also attested to the significant role that meaning plays in a person’s work and in his worklife. / Thesis (PhD (Organizational Behaviour))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Human Resource Management / unrestricted

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This thesis explores the narratives of individuals in southern Ontario who have adopted the practice of Reiki. Focusing on the narratives of Reiki Masters and practitioners, this thesis examines the relationships between illness, healing, and authenticity within the larger framework of energy work. The overarching goal of this thesis is to demonstrate the way in which Reiki Masters and practitioners draw on their experiences of Reiki to create meaning. As practitioners’ narratives reflect, illness is understood as multivalent in nature, and thereby may be physical, emotional and/or psychological, and spiritual. As these narratives show, illness becomes a framework through which individuals can interpret their experience. Often described as a conduit for the universal energy, the Reiki practitioner and his or her role are central to understanding the relationship between Reiki and healing. I propose that Reiki can be interpreted as a form of religious healing. Following Csordas’ (1983, 2002) “rhetoric of transformation,” I propose that Reiki provides a means through which practitioners become able to re-order experience. Like illness, Reiki Masters and practitioners also understand healing in multiple ways, including physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual. Finally, I explore the increased interest in Reiki in the West and the importance to practitioners of the relationship between Reiki and Japanese culture. Through an analysis of Reiki practitioners’ narratives, I will demonstrate that the nature of their experience and their interpretations of that experience influences their notions of what constitutes “authentic” or “real” Reiki. Ultimately, it is a fluid and flexible construction of the “authentic” which allows practitioners the space in which to interpret for themselves their own experiences with Reiki. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)