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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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“In contrast, MISE involves a crucial process of comprehension and understanding of the significance of the event, how the event makes sense, and then integrating these thoughts into the existing knowledge or understanding of how things work in the world (George & Park, 2016; Heine et al., 2006; Heintzelman et al., 201…”
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“While sometimes, but not always, using “meaning” language, these approaches all focus on threats to some specific aspect of a meaning system, including TMT (mortality is considered to be the fundamental threat to one’s existence; Jonas et al., 2014), Control compensation (control beliefs are central in most people’s m…”
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“This violation—which usually stems from the individual’s perception of their loss of control, comprehensibility, or predictability of the world (Park and Folkman, 1997; Davis and Camille, 2000; Heine et al., 2006)—may compromise the integrity of their global meaning system (Janoff-Bulman, 1989; Park et al.”
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Daily Empowering Leadership and Job Crafting: Examining Moderators
Tang, S., Zhang, G., & Wang, H. (2020) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph17165756 · Cited by 25
“When employees are faced with little work meaning, they may have a stronger need for change to the work design (“reason to” motivation) because pursuing meaning is a fundamental motivator of employee behavior [36,37].”
BackgroundBos, H., Carone, N., Rothblum, E. D., Koh, A. S. K., & Gartrell, N. (2021) · Journal of Youth and Adolescence · doi:10.1007/s10964-020-01364-1 · Cited by 25
Webster, J. D., Vowinckel, J. C., & Ma, X. (2021) · Europe’s Journal of Psychology · doi:10.5964/ejop.2415 · Cited by 25
Helping Students Find Their Way to Meaning: Meaning and Purpose in Education
Steger, M. F., O’Donnell, M. B., & Morse, J. L. (2021) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-64537-3_22 · Cited by 29
Xue, L., Yan, Y., Fan, H., Zhang, L., Wang, S., & Chen, L. (2023) · Journal of Adolescence · doi:10.1002/jad.12219 · Cited by 25
Confronting Threats to Meaning
Tullett, A. M., Teper, R., & Inzlicht, M. (2011) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/1745691611414588 · Cited by 25
Embracing athletic identity in the face of threat.
Benson, A. J., Evans, M. B., Surya, M., Martin, L. J., & Eys, M. (2015) · Sport Exercise and Performance Psychology · doi:10.1037/spy0000045 · Cited by 25
Pass, J. A., & Nooij, J. (2009) · doi:10.13140/rg.2.2.31965.12009 · Cited by 25
On the meaningfulness of existence: When life salience boosts adherence to worldviews
van Tilburg, W. A. P., & Igou, E. R. (2011) · European Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.1002/ejsp.819 · Cited by 24
“meaningful) is a world that follows our expectations of how elements in the world should or should not be related to each other (Heine et al., 2006).”
BackgroundResultInfluentialThe Uncertainty‐Threat Model of Political Conservatism
Jost, J. T., & Napier, J. L. (2011) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9781444344073.ch6 · Cited by 26
Creating quarter for doing things with language
Jaspaert, K. (2015) · European Journal of Applied Linguistics · doi:10.1515/eujal-2015-0004 · Cited by 24
Mental Time Travel as Self-Affirmation
Stephan, E., & Sedikides, C. (2023) · Personality and Social Psychology Review · doi:10.1177/10888683231203143 · Cited by 30
“Causation and insight signify not only coherence but also meaning-making (Heine et al., 2006; Oliva, 2021).”
BackgroundSharvit, K. (2014) · Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2014.07.017 · Cited by 24
Functions of collective victimhood
Lynch, O., & Joyce, C. (2018) · International Review of Victimology · doi:10.1177/0269758018758396 · Cited by 24
“As individuals are fundamentally motivated to believe that their perception of the social world is accurate (Heine et al., 2006), they must construct their actions and/or those of their in-group as a legitimate response and in direct proportion to any perceived or actual threat.”
BackgroundDong, X., & Geng, L. (2022) · Current Psychology · doi:10.1007/s12144-022-03924-z · Cited by 31
“Broadly speaking, these results support prior research (Heine et al., 2006), according to which mindfulness deepens a person’s experiences relating to meaning in life.”
ResultThe Psychology of Collective Narcissism
de Zavala, A. G. (2023) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781003296577 · Cited by 29
Impact of Media-Induced Uncertainty on Mental Health: Narrative-Based Perspective.
Kesner, L., Juríčková, V., Grygarová, D., & Horáček, J. (2025) · JMIR Mental Health · doi:10.2196/68640 · Cited by 23
“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.”
Meaning through attachment: an integrative framework
Dewitte, L., Granqvist, P., & Dezutter, J. (2019) · Psychological Reports · doi:10.1177/0033294118799739 · Cited by 23
“Heine et al. (2006) discussed evidence of fluid compensation between four major domains (i.e., self-esteem, certainty, belongingness, and symbolic immortality), but noted that this list of domains is not meant to be exhaustive.”
BackgroundResultInfluentialPetrou, P., Hamrick, A. B., & Hadi, S. A. (2024) · Journal of Organizational Behavior · doi:10.1002/job.2824 · Cited by 28
The Mind of the “Happy Warrior”: Eudaimonia, Awe, and the Search for Meaning in Life
Danvers, A. F., O’Neil, M. J., & Shiota, M. N. (2016) · International handbooks of quality-of-life · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-42445-3_21 · Cited by 24
Carroll, J. (2019) · Evolutionary psychology · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-25466-7_7 · Cited by 25
When is search for meaning in life beneficial for well‐being ? A cross‐national study
Lin, L., & Chan, H. (2020) · International Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1002/ijop.12696 · Cited by 23
Li, W., Li, Y.-H., Yu, H.-Z., Miller, D. J., Rouen, C., & Yang, F. (2021) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.633452 · Cited by 19
“Threats to the expected relational systems motivate people to regain meaning by reconstructing order, normality and certainty, and re-establishing a sense of coherence (Proulx and Heine, 2006).”
BackgroundDoes Being a Sport Fan Provide Meaning in Life?
Delia, E. B., James, J. D., & Wann, D. L. L. (2021) · Journal of Sport Management · doi:10.1123/jsm.2020-0267 · Cited by 31
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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