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Meaning-making is the process of finding significance, value, and purpose in life experiences.

During stress, meaning-making can promote better coping such as acceptance, positive reframing and resilience.

Cultural narratives shape how people interpret stress and how likely they are to utilize coping strategies.

Finding meaning in stress is linked to better coping, and cultivating it can strengthen resilience.

When something stressful happens, we do more than experience it; we interpret it. Losing a job can mean failure or redirection. A serious illness can give rise to hopelessness and helplessness or compel us to reorganize our priorities.

“Meaning-making” is the effort to understand and make sense of life experiences. Successful meaning-making allows people to understand their lives and see significance and purpose in their experiences (good and bad).

Meaning-making is especially important during stressful situations, as it can provide a sense of purpose. When we perceive an event as stressful, this interpretation often brings negative emotions.

Do cultures differ in how they interpret stressful experiences?

Yes! Holistic, teleological, and dialectical thinking is more prominent in Chinese culture. Holistic thinking emphasizes relationships between events and their larger context. Teleological thinking interprets events based on their end purpose. Dialectical thinking is the idea that apparent opposites can coexist. These predominant thinking patterns in Chinese culture heavily influence how Chinese people interpret adversity.

A study during the COVID-19 pandemic compared how Chinese and Euro-Canadian students interpret stressful events (1). Researchers developed the........

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