The problem of meaning creation: theoretical analysis

Abstract

The article presents an analysis of scientific research on meaning making. It is indicated that the personality structure is determined by its orientation, which takes the leading place as its system-forming component. The article outlines that the selection in the subject’s life world of leading semantic landmarks, which are the meaning-making bases of human activity, is carried out on the basis of individual unique acts. It is noted that the psychological basis of the formation and change of the general semantic orientations of an individual is not the processes of meaning creation, but the generation of meaning in direct interaction with the surrounding world. Meaning making is the process by which situations or events are interpreted in accordance with prior knowledge and experience.
Understanding involves turning circumstances into a situation that is understood in words and serves as a basis for action. The article highlights the properties of meaning-making: identity, retrospect, stability, resolution, isolated signals, social factor, plausibility.
The comprehension model explains the possibility of retrospective awareness of past events and reacting to the future. It is also stated that meaning-making is the basis of social action and that cultural narratives help to make sense of events by providing them with a basis for understanding them. In the process of meaning creation, it is important to understand individual meaningful acts: from the objective reference of the meaning to its inclusion in the meaningful context, and then to communicative expression.
The article states that the main mechanisms of understanding are the interconnected processes of meaning awareness and meaning-making, which generate new images. The article outlines that meaning-making means a new understanding of the situation, rethinking of values, changing behavioral attitudes, and choosing an adequate way to solve the problem. Meaning-making is the result of assimilation of cultural experience based on various mechanisms of its understanding.