The DOI matches its Crossref record; 181 of the 181 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
The Meaning Maintenance Model: On the Coherence of Social Motivations
Abstract
The meaning maintenance model (MMM) proposes that people have a needfor meaning; that is, a need to perceive events through a prism of mental representations of expected relations that organizes their perceptions of the world. When people's sense of meaning is threatened, they reaffirm alternative representations as a way to regain meaning-a process termedfluid compensation. According to the model, people can reaffirm meaning in domains that are differentfrom the domain in which the threat occurred. Evidenceforfluid compensation can be observed following a variety of psychological threats, including most especially threats to the self, such as self-esteem threats, feelings of uncertainty, interpersonal rejection, and mortality salience. People respond to these diverse threats in highly similar ways, which suggests that a range of psychological motivations are expressions of a singular impulse to generate and maintain a sense of meaning.
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“The creation and maintenance of meaning comprises a sense of self-continuity, a connection between the self, others and the environment (Baumeister and Vohs, 2002; Heine et al., 2006), and the feeling that one’s existence matters.”
From Collective Trauma and the Social Construction of Meaning (2018) · cites this paper as Heine et al., 2006
In the citing paper
“When a sense of meaning is threatened, the individual may compensate for an inability to reach one set of goals by shifting effort toward another set (known as fluid compensation; Heine et al., 2006; Proulx, 2012).”
From Extension of the Transdiagnostic Model to Focus on Intolerance of Uncertainty: A Review of the Literature and Implications for Treatment (2014) · cites this paper as Heine et al., 2006
In the citing paper
“Heine, Proulx, and Vohs (2006) proposed that the superordinate goal of humans is to generate a life with meaning.”
From Extension of the Transdiagnostic Model to Focus on Intolerance of Uncertainty: A Review of the Literature and Implications for Treatment (2014) · cites this paper as Heine, Proulx, and Vohs, 2006
In the citing paper
“Psychological models, such as the uncertainty-identity theory [156], meaning maintenance model [157], and compensatory control theory [158,159], have elaborated on how the defensive need to alleviate uncertainty leads to group identification, ideological inflexibility, and dogmatism.”
From Impact of Media-Induced Uncertainty on Mental Health: Narrative-Based Perspective. (2025) · cites this paper as [157]
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BackgroundTrauma and Meaning Making: Converging Conceptualizations and Emerging Evidence
Park, C. L. (2013) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-94-007-6527-6_5 · Cited by 57
Malahy, L. W., Rubinlicht, M. A., & Kaiser, C. R. (2009) · Social Justice Research · doi:10.1007/s11211-009-0103-6 · Cited by 57
Threat, high self-esteem, and reactive approach-motivation: Electroencephalographic evidence
McGregor, I., Nash, K. A., & Inzlicht, M. (2009) · Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2009.04.011 · Cited by 57
Assessing Disruptions in Meaning: Development of the Global Meaning Violation Scale
Park, C. L., Riley, K. E., George, L. S., Gutierrez, I. A., Hale, A. E., Cho, D., & Braun, T. D. (2016) · Cognitive Therapy and Research · doi:10.1007/s10608-016-9794-9 · Cited by 67
“course on meaning making discusses belief and goal violation in great detail (Davis and Novoa 2013; Heine et al. 2006; Steger 2012).”
BackgroundShared reality in interpersonal relationships
Andersen, S. M., & Przybylinski, E. (2017) · Current Opinion in Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2017.11.007 · Cited by 60
Smith, B. R., Lawson, A., Barbosa, S. D., & Jones, J. (2023) · Journal of Business Venturing · doi:10.1016/j.jbusvent.2023.106317 · Cited by 65
Self-Regulation Facilitates Meaning in Life
Tongeren, D. R. V., DeWall, C. N., Green, J. D., Cairo, A. H., Davis, D. E., & Hook, J. N. (2017) · Review of General Psychology · doi:10.1037/gpr0000121 · Cited by 60
“Similar to an appetitive drive, humans experience a drive for meaning (see Figure 1, top panel; see Greenberg, Pyszczynski, & Solomon, 1986; Heine et al., 2006).”
BackgroundInfluentialThe role of discomfort in the continued influence effect of misinformation
Susmann, M. W., & Wegener, D. T. (2021) · Memory & Cognition · doi:10.3758/s13421-021-01232-8 · Cited by 57
Tullett, A. M., Kay, A. C., & Inzlicht, M. (2014) · Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience · doi:10.1093/scan/nsu097 · Cited by 58
“, 1986), the meaning maintenance model (Heine et al., 2006; Proulx and Inzlicht, 2012) and the compensatory control model (Kay et al.”
BackgroundHow subjective well-being and meaning in life interact in the hostile world?
Shrira, A., Palgi, Y., Ben‐Ezra, M., & Shmotkin, D. (2011) · The Journal of Positive Psychology · doi:10.1080/17439760.2011.577090 · Cited by 58
Economic and evolutionary hypotheses for cross-population variation in parochialism
Hruschka, D. J., & Henrich, J. (2013) · Frontiers in Human Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnhum.2013.00559 · Cited by 55
“Ample experimental and observational evidence demonstrates the role of economic, existential, and symbolic security on parochial attitudes and behaviors (Kollack, 1994;Navarrete et al., 2004;Heine et al., 2006;Canetti-Nisim et al., 2008;Proulx and Heine, 2010;Hohman, 2011;Kaplan et al., 2012).”
Ivtzan, I., & Papantoniou, A. (2013) · Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies · doi:10.1016/j.jbmt.2013.11.005 · Cited by 74
“The pieces of this puzzle are the self, external world, and balance these can strike (Heine et al., 2006).”
BackgroundHeroism and the Pursuit of a Meaningful Life
Kinsella, E. L., Igou, E. R., & Ritchie, T. D. (2017) · Journal of Humanistic Psychology · doi:10.1177/0022167817701002 · Cited by 57
A Meaning-Centered Approach to Building Youth Resilience
Wong, P. T. P. (2013) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780203146286-38 · Cited by 54
Chaurey, S., Kalpande, S. D., Gupta, R. C., & Toke, L. K. (2021) · Journal of Quality in Maintenance Engineering · doi:10.1108/jqme-11-2020-0118 · Cited by 54
Pleasure now, meaning later: Temporal dynamics between pleasure and meaning
Kim, J., Kang, P., & Choi, I. (2014) · Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2014.07.018 · Cited by 44
de Zavala, A. G., Bierwiaczonek, K., & Ciesielski, P. (2022) · Current Opinion in Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101360 · Cited by 64
Wakslak, C. J., Jost, J. T., & Bauer, P. (2011) · Social Cognition · doi:10.1521/soco.2011.29.3.288 · Cited by 52
Under the Dome: Air Pollution, Wellbeing, and Pro-Environmental Behaviour Among Beijing Residents
Gu, D., Huang, N.-W., Zhang, M.-X., & Wang, F. (2015) · Journal of Pacific Rim Psychology · doi:10.1017/prp.2015.10 · Cited by 51
“People whose meaning frameworks are in a threatened domain will resort to reinforcing meaning frameworks in another domain, or to reaffirming the meaning wherever they can, which is referred to as a strategy of fluid compensation (Heine et al., 2006; Van Tongeren & Green, 2010).”
BackgroundInfluentialThe role of aberrant salience and self-concept clarity in psychotic-like experiences.
Cicero, D. C., Becker, T. M., Martin, E. A., Docherty, A. R., & Kerns, J. G. (2013) · Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment · doi:10.1037/a0027361 · Cited by 52
Free, connected, and meaningful: Free will beliefs promote meaningfulness through belongingness
Moynihan, A. B., Igou, E. R., & van Tilburg, W. A. P. (2016) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/j.paid.2016.11.006 · Cited by 56
“In this regard, strong beliefs in free will are associated with meaningfulness (Crescioni et al., 2016; Seto et al., 2014) Simultaneously, belongingness is also a source of meaning (Heine et al., 2006; Williams, 2002).”
Influential
Metadata
- Authors
- Heine, S. J., Proulx, T., & Vohs, K. D.
- Affiliations
- University of British Columbia (CA)
- University of Minnesota (US)
- Venue
- Personality and Social Psychology Review
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2006-05
- Volume
- 10
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 88-110
- ISSN
- 1088-8683 (ISSN-L)
- 1532-7957
- OpenAlex
- W2156155183
- Cited by
- 1,437
- References
- 180
- Citations by year
- 2026: 108 · 2025: 106 · 2024: 92 · 2023: 90 · 2022: 101 · 2021: 100 · 2020: 123 · 2019: 86 · 2018: 60 · 2017: 73 · 2016: 62 · 2015: 74 · 2014: 75 · 2013: 72 · 2012: 61
- FWCI
- 2.68
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Personality and Social Psychology Review (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (5r01mh060155-04)
- National Institute of Mental Health (R01 MH060155-01A2)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Identity, Memory, and Therapy
- Keywords
- need for meaning, psychological threat, self-esteem threat, uncertainty, interpersonal rejection, mortality salience, social motivation, meaning maintenance
- MeSH terms
- Humans, Motivation, Self Concept, Semantics, Social Behavior, Symbolism
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