Editing Meaning of life (section)

=== Nature of meaning in life ===

Reker and [[Paul T. P. Wong|Wong]] define personal meaning as the "cognizance of order, coherence and purpose in one's existence, the pursuit and attainment of worthwhile goals, and an accompanying sense of fulfillment" (p.&nbsp;221).<ref>Reker, G.T., & Wong, P.T.P. (1988). Aging as an individual process: Towards a theory of personal meaning. In J.E. Birren, & V.L. Bengston (Eds.), ''Emergent theories of aging'' (pp. 214–246). New York: Springer.</ref> In 2016, Martela and Steger defined meaning as coherence, purpose, and significance.<ref>Martela, F., & Steger, M.F. (2016). The three meanings of meaning in life: Distinguishing coherence, purpose, and significance. ''The Journal of Positive Psychology, 11''(5), 531–545.</ref> In contrast, [[Paul T. P. Wong|Wong]] has proposed a four-component solution to the question of meaning in life,<ref>Wong, P.T.P. (2011). Positive psychology 2.0: Towards a balanced interactive model of the good life. ''Canadian Psychology, 52''(2), 69–81.</ref><ref name=":3">Wong, P.T.P. (2012). From Logotherapy to Meaning-Centered Counseling and Therapy. In P.T.P. Wong (Ed.), ''The Human Quest for Meaning: Theories, Research, and Applications'' (2nd ed., pp. 619–647). New York: Routledge.</ref> with the four components purpose, understanding, responsibility, and enjoyment (PURE):

# You need to choose a worthy ''purpose'' or a significant life goal.
# You need to have sufficient ''understanding'' of who you are, what life demands of you, and how you can play a significant role in life.
# You and you alone are ''responsible'' for deciding what kind of life you want to live, and what constitutes a significant and worthwhile life goal. 
# You will ''enjoy'' a deep sense of significance and satisfaction only when you have exercised your responsibility for [[self-determination]] and actively pursue a worthy life-goal.
Thus, a sense of significance permeates every dimension of meaning, rather than standing as a separate factor.

Although most psychology researchers consider meaning in life as a subjective feeling or judgment, most philosophers (e.g., [[Thaddeus Metz]], Daniel Haybron) propose that there are also objective, concrete criteria for what constitutes meaning in life.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Metz |first=Thaddeus |title=Meaning in Life |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-19-959931-8 |location=Oxford}}
</ref><ref>
{{Cite book
|title= Happiness: A Very Short Introduction
|last= Haybron|first= Daniel M.
|publisher= Oxford University Press
|year= 2013|isbn= 978-0-19-959060-5
|location= Oxford}}
</ref> Wong has proposed that whether life is meaningful depends not only on subjective feelings but, more importantly, on whether a person's goal-striving and life as a whole is meaningful according to some objective [[Normative ethics|normative standard]].<ref name=":3" />