How Life’s Meaning Became a Problem

Analysis of a digitalized databank of books indicates that the topic of life’s meaning first emerged around 1800 and increased sharply in frequency during the middle of the 19th century, with take-off dates fairly similar across the six literatures we searched (American English, British English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish). We discuss major historical changes around this time that likely impacted people’s psychological approaches toward understanding their lives. Of five major needs for meaning, purpose and value were severely impacted, efficacy and self-worth found new contexts, and comprehensibility / continuity was also challenged. Important changes in society included the following. Secularization reduced the sense that the world operated under divine plan and also undermined the presumptive basis for moral values. The industrial revolution disrupted society with new kinds of goals but new problems, including changing the meaning and nature of work. Urbanization offered new life paths for many while weakening the reputational basis for morality. Cognitive changes including expanded education and literacy, thereby exposing people to new ideas. Political upheavals raised questions about how society should be organized and what the individual’s duty was. Social mobility in both directions transformed individual lives in unprecedented fashion.