The meaning maintenance model
Introduction
Sometimes, the world does not seem meaningful, coherent, or predictable, but instead appears erratic, inconsistent, and futile. According to the meaning maintenance model (Heine et al., 2006; Proulx & Heine, 2006; Proulx & Heine, 2008), when their world or life seems unpredictable or haphazard rather than meaningful and coherent, individuals experience a sense of discomfort or dissonance. To overcome these feelings, individuals seek meaning from other sources. They may bias their attention to thoughts or memories that restore this sense of meaning. For example,
- they might notice a pattern in events that otherwise seemed haphazard (Proulx & Heine, 2009),
- they might contemplate their most cherished relationships—a source of meaning in their lives (Van Tongeren et al., 2014), and so forth.
As Van Tongeren et al. (2014) revealed, after individuals experience this sense of meaning, they are more likely to exhibit humility. Specifically, they are receptive to feedback or to information that challenges their preconceptions: the hallmark of humility. Consequently, insights into the meaning maintenance model may enable individuals and organisations to foster humility.
An illustration
To illustrate, in one study, conducted by Van Tongeren et al. (2014), 79 Christian university students were assigned to one of three conditions:
- First, some participants were invited to write about the most important facet of themselves—an exercise called self-affirmation.
- Second, some participants were invited to write about their three most important relationships, called relationship affirmation.
- Third, in the control condition, participants were invited to write about the activities they plan to complete next week.
These writing tasks lasted five to ten minutes. Next, participants wrote about a core belief—a belief they would defend if challenged. They were then told they would exchange these essays with another participant. In practice, this other participant was fictitious. That is,
- the essay they supposedly received from the other participant was contrived and argued that religion was futile, illusory, and indeed detrimental,
- the comments they received, supposedly from another participant, were also contrived; this participant had apparently deemed their essay as illogical and inept,
- finally, the participants then evaluated the essay that indicated that religion was futile, illusory, and harmful.
The findings were interesting. Compared to participants in the control condition, participants who had written about their most important relationships were more likely to evaluate the essay they had received favourably. That is, these participants were not as defensive, epitomising humility. Participants who had written about the most important facet of themselves did not differ significantly from participants in the two other conditions. In short, these findings indicate that, after individuals contemplate their most important relationships, they tended to exhibit greater humility.
Other sources of meaning: Affirmation of moral beliefs
As this illustration reveals, if individuals can affirm or reinforce a sense of meaning—to diminish the degree to which the world seems unpredictable, inconsistent, or futile—they are more receptive to information or feedback that counters their preconceptions or preferences. In essence, their humility increases. Therefore, other practices, thoughts, or exercises that reinforce this sense of meaning should foster humility. Researchers have indeed uncovered several practices or tendencies that may achieve this goal.
For example, to reinforce their sense of meaning, individuals strive to clarify their moral values. That is, when people are granted an opportunity to resolve moral ambiguities and to clarify which behaviours they perceive as right and wrong, people will be more certain of which behaviours will be accepted or rejected. The world may seem predictable and meaningful rather than incoherent or erratic.
As evidence of this possibility, in one study, conducted by Randles et al. (2010), some of the participants were exposed to subliminal pairs of words that were unrelated to each other, like “turn frog” or “bull left”—an incongruence that often threatens a sense of meaning. Next, these participants were asked to specify the amount of bail they feel should be set for a prostitute who had been arrested. If participants had been exposed to incongruent pairs of words, they subsequently recommended a higher bail. That is, they become more inclined to perceive prostitution as immoral and thus penalise the perpetrator accordingly.
Presumably, after they were exposed to the incongruent pairs of words, individuals felt the need to reinforce their sense of meaning. To achieve this goal, they attempted to resolve moral ambiguities. A common moral belief is that relationships should be loving and loyal—a belief that is incompatible with prostitution. Accordingly, to reinforce this moral belief about relationships, the participants were more inclined to denigrate prostitution.
Other sources of meaning: Symbolic immortality and legacy
To reinforce their sense of meaning, individuals may also like to experience a sense of legacy or a feeling their accomplishments will persist after they die. That is, when people consider their mortality, they may feel their life is futile or meaningless. To overcome this feeling, people tend to consider how their life may be meaningful even after they die, called symbolic immortality. They might imagine how some person or collective may benefit from their insights, art, products, or other artefacts after they perish. They might visualise how their life may shape the world indefinitely.
To illustrate, in a study that Van Tongeren and Green (2010) published, some participants were subliminally exposed to words that are synonymous with meaninglessness, such as pointless, random, and unimportant—intended to threaten their sense of meaning. Other participants were not exposed to these words. Next, participants answered questions about whether their accomplishments will persist after they die, epitomising symbolic immortality. Relative to participants assigned to the control conditions, participants exposed to words that relate to meaningless were more likely to feel their accomplishments will persist after they die.
Other sources of meaning: Self-esteem
Finally, to reinforce their sense of meaning, individuals also tended to boost their self-esteem. That is, after their sense of meaning is threatened, people tend to report a higher self-esteem (e.g., Van Tongeren & Green, 2010). They perceive themselves as more worthy as well as feel capable and satisfied with themselves, as measured by the Rosenburg self-esteem scale.
According to Heine et al. (2006), when individuals perceive their self-esteem as limited, they feel they may not conform to the expectations of society. Consequently, they may be rejected from their community. They will not receive the support and rewards they deserve. Their world, therefore, will seem erratic, incoherent, and meaningless. In contrast, if individuals perceive their self-esteem as elevated, they feel accepted and welcome by their society or community. They are more likely to be supported and rewarded, reinforcing a sense of meaning. In short, as research has revealed, people often depend on four sources of meaning (Heine et al., 2006; Van Tongeren & Green, 2010):
- the belief their relationships are supportive,
- the belief that societal expectations, such as moral beliefs, are unambiguous,
- the belief their achievements will persist after they die,
- the belief they are worthy—and thus likely to fulfill societal expectations.
When their sense of meaning is threatened, one or more of these beliefs may compensate. Once individuals reinforce these beliefs, their sense of meaning is restored.
Threats to meaning
As research has revealed, threats to meaning tend to evoke defensive reactions, at least until meaning is restored. Consequently, if people are exposed to events that may threaten sense of meaning, their humility may diminish. Researchers have explored the range of events that may threaten meaning. For example, a sense of boredom may threaten meaning. As evidence, when individuals feel bored, they are more inclined to derogate other communities, potentially to reinforce their sense of morality (van Tilburg & Igou, 2011). Presumably, boredom implies the world seems futile rather than meaningful.
