Creating meaningful life for a responsible and sustainable future

Abstract

Major environmental problems at the present time can readily generate many unpleasant feelings in anyone digging into the roots of the current world situation. However, this paper tries to emphasize an alternative way. Humans are subject to determinism but retain a capacity to choose an attitude against their situation in life and themselves. The paper builds on Viktor Frankl’s existential analysis and logotherapy. Frankl states that life itself posses a question concerning the meaning of life and each of us has to individually answer to life by answering for life; he or she has to respond by being responsible. The study showed empirical evidence and theoretical explanations for a principal idea that by creating meaning of life each individual can perceive the chance for a responsible and sustainable existence. The results supported our assumption that experiencing a sense of meaning in daily life to higher degree leads to increased pro-environmental intentions and actual behaviours. Results showed that a meaning of life partly mediate the impact of pro-environmental intentions on pro-environmental behaviours. The study not only provided new important data for closing the value-action gap, but it also illuminated some possible pathways toward developing education for responsible and sustainable living.