On the other hand, situational meaning consists of appraisals of a specific situation. Individuals’ deeply ingrained global meaning involves the belief that the world is benevolent, predictable, and meaningful, and the self is worthy ( Janoff-Bulman, 1989), and life is lived based on these upheld beliefs. Global meaning refers to individuals’ general orienting systems, consisting of beliefs, goals, and worldview. This model identifies two levels of meaning: global and situational. Park (2010) proposed the meaning making model, which is a useful theoretical framework for understanding the processes of meaning making. It alleviates posttraumatic symptoms and brings about positive changes following the experience ( Bower et al., 1998 Tolstikova et al., 2005 Updegraff et al., 2008). Meaning making was found to be central in recovering from stressful experiences such as bereavement, illness, and terrorist attacks ( Gillies and Neimeyer, 2006 Kernan and Lepore, 2009 Park et al., 2012). Such cognitive coping is often referred to as meaning making ( Park, 2010), which may play a role in adaptation to such experiences. Many individuals face highly stressful and traumatic experiences (e.g., bereavement, natural disaster, murder, traffic accident, divorce), which typically lead to serious posttraumatic symptoms however, many people are able to understand and interpret their individual experience in their own way. Introduction Stressful Life Events and Meaning Making This study also revealed the effects of negative affect: helplessness, sadness, and fear induced intrusive rumination moreover, regret was positively associated with deliberate rumination.

Intrusive rumination at present, however, was negatively related to finding meaning. For 342 of the final sample, structural equation modeling based on the study hypotheses showed that both deliberate and intrusive rumination immediately after the event were positively associated with finding meaning. A total of 383 undergraduate students were asked to remember their most stressful life event and complete a questionnaire containing the Event Related Rumination Inventory and items about negative affect, threat evaluation, and finding meaning about the stressful life event. The principal hypotheses were as follows: negative affect is positively related to threat evaluation and intrusive rumination, while regret and guilt are positively related to deliberate rumination intrusive rumination is negatively related to finding meaning, whereas deliberate rumination is positively related to finding meaning. This study aimed to examine the meaning making process, focusing on the role of intrusive and deliberate rumination and negative affect. Although rumination and negative affect are important factors of meaning making, little is known about the mechanisms involved. Stressful experiences can lead to meaning making that is seen as central in adjustment.

2Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan.

1Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan.

Define ruminating thoughts