ABSTRACT
A cardinal assumption of existential psychology is that an individual’s personal sense of meaning is the major determinant of mentation and action (e.g., Binswanger, 1963; Boss, 1963; Frankl, 1963). This emphasis has led to a vibrant conceptual and research effort to investigate the biological, cultural, social, familial, and developmental stage sources of personal meaning (e.g., DePaola & Ebersole, 1995; Fabry, 1990; Fry, 1992; Heidrich & Ryff, 1993; Horley, Carroll, & Little, 1988; Parks, Klinger, & Perlmutter, 1988–1989; Reker & Wong, 1988; Ryff & Keyes, 1995; Wong, 1995). Another cardinal assumption of existential psychology is that personal meaning derives from the individual decisions people make every day (Kierkegaard, 1954; Maddi, 1970; May, 1967). One role of this decision-making assumption is to identify the mechanism whereby cultural, social, and familial norms come to influence personal meaning (e.g., Baumeister, Reis, & Delespaul, 1995; Ryff & Keyes, 1995). More important, however, is the implication that through daily decision making, individuals may actually transcend the limitations of norms, thereby achieving more individualistic or subjective meaning (e.g., Fabry, 1988; Frankl, 1963; Kierkegaard, 1954; Lukas, 1990; Maddi, 1970; May, 1967; Sartre, 1956). There is recent research and theory pointing in this direction (e.g., Fry, 1989, 1992; Klinger, 1994, 1995; Palys & Little, 1983; Ryff, 1989; Sheldon & Emmons, 1995; Tweed & Ryff, 1991).
