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Looking for Meaning in All the Wrong Places: The Search for Meaning After Direct and Indirect Meaning Compensation

Sosa, Nicholas
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1486982633785334

Abstract Details

2017, Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, Experimental Psychology (Arts and Sciences).
When people perceive a lack of understanding or purpose, they typically seek to establish meaning. According to the Meaning Maintenance Model (MMM), when meaning is threatened people affirm indirect sources of meaning to relieve negative feelings rather than directly resolve the source of the violation. Still, research has not investigated the effectiveness of direct compensation for eliminating meaning threats, nor compared whether indirect compensation is as useful as directly emanating the meaning threat. In the present research, I investigate the effectiveness of direct meaning compensation (Study 1) and then compare it to indirect meaning compensation in-lab (Study 2) and online (Study 3). Across all three studies, I exposed participants to a magic trick, and then either told or did not tell them how the trick was done, and assessed participants’ feelings of meaninglessness and behavioral meaning-making efforts. Results showed that participants who were not told how the trick done reported greater feelings of surprise and uncertainty than those directly compensated (i.e., told exactly how the trick was done; Study 1). Moreover, direct compensation was more (Study 2) or at least as (Study 3) effective at reducing the surprise and uncertainty associated with the meaning violation. Nevertheless, I observed no reliable differences in behavioral meaning-making efforts across the studies, suggesting either that the psychological 4 variables were more sensitive to the meaning threat or that the meaning threat had no effect on meaning-making efforts. Taken together, this research suggests that direct compensation for meaning threats is an effective way to reduce feelings of psychological uncertainty in a novel and unexplainable situation.
Jennifer Howell (Advisor)
51 p.
Psychology
meaning; meaning maintenance model; direct compensation; indirect compensation

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Sosa, N. (2017). Looking for Meaning in All the Wrong Places: The Search for Meaning After Direct and Indirect Meaning Compensation [Master's thesis, Ohio University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1486982633785334

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Sosa, Nicholas. Looking for Meaning in All the Wrong Places: The Search for Meaning After Direct and Indirect Meaning Compensation. 2017. Ohio University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1486982633785334.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Sosa, Nicholas. "Looking for Meaning in All the Wrong Places: The Search for Meaning After Direct and Indirect Meaning Compensation." Master's thesis, Ohio University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1486982633785334

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ohiou1486982633785334
459
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This open access ETD is published by Ohio University and OhioLINK.