Proceedings of the Meaning in Life International Conference 2022 - Cultivating, Promoting, and Enhancing Meaning in Life Across Cultures and Life Span (MIL 2022)

Leveraging the Experience Sampling Method to Study Meaning in Everyday Life

Authors
Samantha J. Heintzelman1, *, Fahima Mohideen1
1Rutgers University, New Brunswick, USA
*Corresponding author. Email: sh1318@psychology.rutgers.edu
Corresponding Author
Samantha J. Heintzelman
Available Online 27 December 2022.
DOI
10.2991/978-94-6463-096-1_4How to use a DOI?
Abstract

The science of meaning in life, dominated by retrospective trait assessments, has critically expanded our understanding of this important construct, but has limitations. The trait measurement approach does not allow a nuanced examination of feelings of meaning in life as they are experienced in everyday life, unfiltered by cognitive meaning making processes. In this chapter, we call for a broad integration of experience sampling methods (ESM) into the science of meaning in life to afford a better understanding of the ebbs and flows of this experience within person across situations. Research has identified within person variability in online feelings of meaning in life, highlighting the necessity of this approach. Initial integrations of the ESM into meaning in life research have provided a number of valuable contributions to our understanding of this construct, which we review in this chapter. Finally, we discuss distinctions between state and trait meaningfulness and the generative potential of integrating the ESM into the study of meaning in life.

Copyright
© 2022 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Download article (PDF)

Volume Title
Proceedings of the Meaning in Life International Conference 2022 - Cultivating, Promoting, and Enhancing Meaning in Life Across Cultures and Life Span (MIL 2022)
Series
Atlantis Highlights in Social Sciences, Education and Humanities
Publication Date
27 December 2022
ISBN
10.2991/978-94-6463-096-1_4
ISSN
2667-128X
DOI
10.2991/978-94-6463-096-1_4How to use a DOI?
Copyright
© 2022 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Cite this article

TY  - CONF
AU  - Samantha J. Heintzelman
AU  - Fahima Mohideen
PY  - 2022
DA  - 2022/12/27
TI  - Leveraging the Experience Sampling Method to Study Meaning in Everyday Life
BT  - Proceedings of the Meaning in Life International Conference 2022 - Cultivating, Promoting, and Enhancing Meaning in Life Across Cultures and Life Span (MIL 2022)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 41
EP  - 56
SN  - 2667-128X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-096-1_4
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-096-1_4
ID  - Heintzelman2022
ER  -