Heine Steven J, Proulx Travis, Vohs Kathleen D
Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Pers Soc Psychol Rev. 2006;10(2):88-110. doi: 10.1207/s15327957pspr1002_1.
The meaning maintenance model (MMM) proposes that people have a need for meaning; that is, a need to perceive events through a prism of mental representations of expected relations that organizes their perceptions of the world. When people's sense of meaning is threatened, they reaffirm alternative representations as a way to regain meaning-a process termed fluid compensation. According to the model, people can reaffirm meaning in domains that are different from the domain in which the threat occurred. Evidence for fluid compensation can be observed following a variety of psychological threats, including most especially threats to the self, such as self-esteem threats, feelings of uncertainty, interpersonal rejection, and mortality salience. People respond to these diverse threats in highly similar ways, which suggests that a range of psychological motivations are expressions of a singular impulse to generate and maintain a sense of meaning.
意义维持模型（MMM）提出，人们有对意义的需求；也就是说，有一种通过预期关系的心理表征棱镜来感知事件的需求，这种心理表征棱镜组织了他们对世界的认知。当人们的意义感受到威胁时，他们会重新确认替代表征，以此作为重新获得意义的一种方式——这一过程被称为灵活补偿。根据该模型，人们可以在与威胁发生领域不同的领域中重新确认意义。在经历各种心理威胁后，包括尤其是对自我的威胁，如自尊威胁、不确定感、人际排斥和死亡凸显等，都可以观察到灵活补偿的证据。人们以高度相似的方式应对这些不同的威胁，这表明一系列心理动机都是产生和维持意义感这一单一冲动的表现。
