Abstract

Thaddeus Metz’s Meaning in Life (2013) offers considerable insights into previous philosophical theories and psychological research. It inspired aspects of this study, which presents a psychological model for the meaning of life that is grounded in a investigation of philosophical theory and psychological research. In this paper, I introduce three models: Model I (Framework), Model II (Elements), and Model III (Composition). Model I was a theoretical framework model based on philosophical, anthropological, and psychological theories. Model II was constructed using categorized data on the meaning of life drawn from various previous studies. Model III was constructed by integrating Models I and II. These models proposed four fundamental principles underlying meaning of life concepts: personal, relational, social/universal, and religious/spiritual. These principles formed a “nested” structure that unfolded from personal to relational to social/universal to religious/spiritual. Finally, I address differences between Metz’s theory and my model and suggest another approach to the meaning of life.