Research on meaning-making and health in secular society: Secular, spiritual and religious existential orientations

Peter la Cour and Niels C. Hvidt

Social Science & Medicine, 2010, vol. 71, issue 7, 1292-1299

Abstract: This article proposes a framework of concepts for the field of existential meaning-making in secular cultures such as those of Northern Europe. Seeking an operational approach, we have narrowed the field's components down to a number of basic domains and dimensions that provide a more authentic cultural basis for research in secular society. Reviewing the literature, three main domains of existential meaning-making emerge: Secular, spiritual, and religious. In reconfirming these three domains, we propose to couple them with the three dimensions of cognition (knowing), practice (doing), and importance (being), resulting in a conceptual framework that can serve as a fundamental heuristic and methodological research tool for mapping the field of existential meaning-making and health. The proposed grid might contribute to clearer understanding of the multidimensional nature of existential meaning-making and as a guide for posing adequate research and clinical questions in the field.

Keywords: Secular; Existential; Spirituality; Religion; Methodology; Northern; Europe (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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