Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Destiny Is in the Details: Action Identification in the Construction and Destruction of Meaning

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Experience of Meaning in Life

Abstract

Any action can be identified in myriad ways, from a sequence of movements to the expression of goals, values, and self-concepts. Despite the uncertainty of action, people routinely identify their actions at a level that both enables effective performance and provides a foundation for higher-level meaning. Action identification theory holds that this is possible because of the interplay of two principles—one reflecting a desire for higher-level action understanding, the other reflecting the need to focus on lower-level details in order to perform the action. Over time and experience, the tension between these principles establishes an optimal level of identification—high level enough to provide meaning but low level enough to provide the details necessary for action implementation. Action experience and factors in the action context can upset this dynamic equilibrium, promoting recalibration of the optimal identification level. Meaning in life is thus not a static state, but rather a dynamic process.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Allport GW (1961) Pattern and growth in personality. Holt, Rinehart, & Winston, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Baggini J (2004) What’s it all about? Philosophy and the meaning of life. Granta Books, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Bandura A (1989) Social cognitive theory. Ann Child Dev 6:1–60

    Google Scholar 

  • Baumeister RF (1991) Meanings of life. Guilford, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Baumeister RF, Leary MR (1995) The need to belong: desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychol Bull 117:497–529

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Baumeister RF, Muraven M, Tice DM (2000) Ego depletion: a resource model for volition, self-regulation, and controlled processing. Soc Cognit 8:130–150

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blumer H (1969) Symbolic interactionism: perspective and method. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River

    Google Scholar 

  • Buss DM (ed) (2005) The handbook of evolutionary psychology. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Carver CS, Scheier MF (2002) Control processes and self-organization as complementary principles underlying behavior. Pers Soc Psychol Rev 6:304–315

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cattell RB (1950) Personality: a systematic, theoretical, and factual study. McGraw-Hill, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Cervone D, Shoda Y (eds) (1999) The coherence of personality. Guilford Publications, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Churchland PM (1989) A neurocomputational perspective: the nature of mind and the structure of science. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooley CH (1902) Human nature and the social order. Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • CsĂ­kszentmihályi M (1990) Flow: the psychology of optimal experience. Harper & Row, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Frankl VE (1959/2006) Man’s search for meaning. Beacon Press, Boston

    Google Scholar 

  • Freud S (1998/1900) The interpretation of dreams (trans and ed: James Strachey). Avon Books, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Heine SJ, Proulx T, Vohs KD (2006) The meaning maintenance model: on the coherence of social motivations. Pers Soc Psychol Rev 10:88–110

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Higgins ET (1998) Promotion and prevention: regulatory focus as a motivational principle. In: Zanna MP (ed) Advances in experimental social psychology, vol 30. Academic, New York, pp 1–46

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • James W (1890) Principles of psychology. Holt, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Jung CG (1959) The archetypes and the collective unconscious (trans: Hull RFC). Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Kernis MH, Goldman BM (2006) A multicomponent conceptualization of authenticity: theory and research. Adv Exp Soc Psychol 38:283–357

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGregor I, Little BR (1998) Personal projects, meaning, and happiness: on doing well and being yourself. J Pers Soc Psychol 74:494–512

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mead GH (1934) Mind, self, and society from the standpoint of a social behaviorist. University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller GA, Galanter E, Pribram KH (1960) Plans and the structure of behavior. Holt, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Murray HA (1938) Explorations in personality. Oxford University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Nozick R (1981) Philosophical explanations. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Pervin LA (1989) Personality theory and research, 5th edn. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryff CD (1989) Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being. J Pers Soc Psychol 57:1069–1081

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryff CD (1995) Psychological well being in adult life. Curr Dir Psychol Sci 4:99–104

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schlegel RJ, Hicks JA, Arndt J, King LA (2009) Thine own self: true self-concept accessibility and meaning in life. J Pers Soc Psychol 96:473–490

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Seligman MEP (2002) Authentic happiness: using the new positive psychology to realize your potential for lasting fulfillment. Free Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Swann WB, Rentfrow PJ, Guinn JS (2003) Self-verification: the search for coherence. In: Leary MR, Tangney JP (eds) Handbook of self and identity. Guilford Publications, New York, pp 367–383

    Google Scholar 

  • Twenge JM, Catanese KR, Baumeister RF (2003) Social exclusion and the deconstructed state: time perception, meaninglessness, lethargy, lack of emotion, and self-awareness. J Pers Soc Psychol 85:409–423

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vallacher RR, Nowak A (2007) Dynamical social psychology: finding order in the flow of human experience. In: Kruglanski AW, Higgins ET (eds) Social psychology: handbook of basic principles, 2nd edn. Guilford Publications, New York, pp 734–758

    Google Scholar 

  • Vallacher RR, Wegner DM (1985) A theory of action identification. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale

    Google Scholar 

  • Vallacher RR, Wegner DM (1987) What do people think they’re doing: action identification and human behavior. Psychol Rev 94:3–15

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vallacher RR, Wegner DM (2012) Action identification theory. In: Van Lange P, Kruglanski AW, Higgins ET (eds) Handbook of theories in social psychology. Sage, London, pp 327–348

    Google Scholar 

  • Vallacher RR, Wegner DM, Somoza MP (1989) That’s easy for you to say: action identification and speech fluency. J Pers Soc Psychol 56:199–208

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Weber M (1964) The theory of social and economic organization (trans and ed: Henderson AM, Parsons T). Oxford University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Wegner DM, Vallacher RR (1986) Action identification. In: Sorrentino RM, Higgins ET (eds) Handbook of motivation and cognition: foundations of social behavior. Guilford Press, New York, pp 550–582

    Google Scholar 

  • Wegner DM, Vallacher RR, Macomber G, Wood R, Arps K (1984) The emergence of action. J Pers Soc Psychol 46:269–279

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wegner DM, Vallacher RR, Kiersted GW, Dizadji DM (1986) Action identification in the emergence of social behavior. Soc Cognit 4:18–38

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Westphal J (1998) Philosophical propositions: an introduction to philosophy. Routledge, London

    Google Scholar 

  • White RB (1959) Motivation reconsidered: the concept of competence. Psychol Rev 66:297–333

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Williams KD (2001) Ostracism: the power of silence. Guilford Publications, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Wong PTP (1998) Implicit theories of meaningful life and the development of the personal meaning profile. In: Wong PTP, Fry PS (eds) The human quest for meaning. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Presbyterian College, Clinton, SC, USA

    Jay L. Michaels

  2. Department of Psychology, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL, USA

    Steven S. Parkin & Robin R. Vallacher

Authors
  1. Jay L. Michaels
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Steven S. Parkin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Robin R. Vallacher
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jay L. Michaels .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Dept. of Psychology, Texas A&M University, TAMU 4235, College Station, 77843, Texas, USA

    Joshua A. Hicks

  2. , Dept of Psychology, North Dakota State University, Minard Hall, Fargo, 58105, North Dakota, USA

    Clay Routledge

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Michaels, J.L., Parkin, S.S., Vallacher, R.R. (2013). Destiny Is in the Details: Action Identification in the Construction and Destruction of Meaning. In: Hicks, J., Routledge, C. (eds) The Experience of Meaning in Life. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6527-6_8

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation