ISSEP-2025-03

GRANT ID#: ISSEP-2025-03

GRANT TITLE: Meaning Making in Action: Self-essentialism Themes in Decision-making Narratives

GRANTEE: Texas A&M University

PRIMARY INVESTIGATOR: Rebecca Ward

CO-PRIMARY INVESTIGATOR: Rebecca Schlegel

GRANT AMOUNT: USD $3,000

DURATION OF GRANT PROJECT: April 15, 2025 – January 01, 2026

Description of the Project

 

Executive summary:

People have a fundamental drive to find meaning in life. As society has moved away from shared meaning sources (e.g., religion, fixed social hierarchies), the quest for meaning has become more individualized. Specifically, people use their self-concepts to export meaning and value to other aspects of their lives by using the content of their self-concepts to justify their actions (Baumeister, 1991). We propose to examine this process “in action” through the use of narrative methods. Specifically, we will ask people to produce narratives about why they made certain decisions (e.g., a career choice) and will analyze these narratives for evidence of people relying on self-relevant themes. We will focus on a specific aspect of the self: one’s perceived “essence.” We hypothesize that people will commonly refer to their perceived self-essence when explaining their decisions and that the extent to which stories are constructed this way will predict how meaningful those decisions feel.

 

Itemized budget:

Grant funding will cover the expenses detailed below:

  • Prolific service fees: $675.00

  • Prolific participant compensation for 20 minutes (N = 270 x $7.50 ea): $2,025.00

  • Narrative coder compensation: $300.00

The total amount approved is USD $3,000.

Kenneth Vail