Amor Fati and the Negation of Life: Examining Existential Meaning in Life and Regret as Processes Involved in the Association Between One’s Love of Fate and Suicidal Ideation

Abstract

This study examined how amor fati, a positive psychological construct, was associated with suicidal ideation in a sample of 215 young adults. Specifically, components of existential meaning in life (viz., comprehension, purpose, and mattering) and regret were evaluated as potential mediators of the association between amor fati and suicidal ideation. Results of conducting bootstrapped mediation testing with multiple mediators indicated that amor fati was indirectly associated with suicidal ideation through comprehension and mattering. Purpose and regret were not found to mediate the association between amor fati and suicidal ideation. In support of partial mediation, however, the negative association between amor fati and suicidal ideation remained significant even after including components of existential meaning in life and regret in the model. The present findings indicate that amor fati is an important protective factor that should be considered in studies of suicidality in young adults.

Keywords

existentialism meaning in life suicide clinical psychology existential psychology meaning personal growth positive psychology

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Arensman

De Leo

Pirkis

(Eds.). (2020). Suicide and suicide prevention from a global perspective. Hogrefe.

Beck

A. T.

Brown

G. K.

Steer

R. A.

Dahlsgaard

K. K.

Grisham

J. R.

(1999). Suicide ideation at its worst point: A predictor of eventual suicide in psychiatric outpatients. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 29(1), 1–9.

Bonner

R. L.

Rich

A. R.

(1987). Toward a predictive model of suicidal ideation and behavior: Some preliminary data in college students. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 17(1), 50–63.

Braden

Overholser

Fisher

Ridley

(2015). Life meaning is associated with suicidal ideation among depressed veterans. Death Studies, 39(1), 24–29.

Bruine de Bruin

Dombrovski

A. Y.

Parker

A. M.

Szanto

(2016). Late-life depression, suicidal ideation, and attempted suicide: The role of individual differences in maximizing, regret, and negative decision outcomes. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 29(4), 363–371.

Bryan

C. J.

Morrow

C. E.

Etienne

Ray-Sannerud

(2013). Guilt, shame, and suicidal ideation in a military outpatient clinical sample. Depression and Anxiety, 30(1), 55–60.

Camus

(1955). The myth of Sisyphus and other essays ( O’Brien

, Trans.). Alfred A. Knopf. (Original work published 1942)

Chang

E. C

. (in press-a). An appraisal of Nietzsche’s philosophical concept of amor fati: A potentially useful psychological construct in the study of positive human existence? The Humanistic Psychologist.

Chang

E. C

. (in press-b). On the absurd, the “ultimate question,” and Camus’ expansion of Nietzsche’s concept of amor fati in The Myth of Sisyphus: Some philosophical and scientific considerations. The Humanistic Psychologist.

10.

Chang

E. C.

(2024a). Is amor fati associated with loving your body? A positive existential approach to understanding eating disorder symptoms in young adult females. Manuscript submitted for publication.

11.

Chang

E. C.

(2024b). On affirming life, beyond good and bad: Conceptualization and assessment of amor fati as a positive psychological construct. Manuscript submitted for publication.

12.

Chang

E. C.

Chang

O. D.

(2016). Development of the Frequency of Suicidal Ideation Inventory: Evidence for the validity and reliability of a brief measure of suicidal ideation frequency in a college student population. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 40(4), 549–556.

13.

Dogra

A. K.

Basu

(2008). The roles of personality, stressful life events, meaning in life, reasons for living on suicidal ideation: A study in college students. Journal of Projective Psychology & Mental Health, 15(1), 52–57.

14.

Duckworth

A. L.

Quinn

P. D

. (2009). Development and validation of the Short Grit Scale (GRIT-S). Journal of Personality Assessment, 91(2), 166–174.

15.

Edwards

M. J.

Holden

R. R.

(2001). Coping, meaning in life, and suicidal manifestations: Examining gender differences. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 57(12), 1517–1534.

16.

Ermis-Demirtas

Smith

R. L.

Watson

J. C.

(2022). Development and initial validation of the Multidimensional Sense of Emptiness Scale. The Counseling Psychologist, 50(7), 918–941.

17.

Frankl

V. E.

(1992). Man’s search for meaning: An introduction to logotherapy (4th ed.). Beacon Press. (Original work published 1946)

18.

George

L. S.

Park

C. L.

(2016). Meaning in life as comprehension, purpose, and mattering: Toward integration and new research questions. Review of General Psychology, 20(3), 205–220.

19.

George

L. S.

Park

C. L.

(2017). The Multidimensional Existential Meaning Scale: A tripartite approach to measuring meaning in life. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 12(6), 613–627.

20.

George

S. E.

Page

A. C.

Hooke

G. R.

Stritzke

W. G. K.

(2016). Multifacet assessment of capacity for suicide: Development and prospective validation of the Acquired Capability With Rehearsal for Suicide Scale. Psychological Assessment, 28(11), 1452–1464.

21.

Gökdemir-Bulut

B. P.

Bozo

(2018). The psychometric validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the Existential Loneliness Questionnaire. Current Psychology, 37(1), 401–413.

22.

Heisel

M. J.

Neufeld

Flett

G. L.

(2016). Reasons for living, meaning in life, and suicide ideation: Investigating the roles of key positive psychological factors in reducing suicide risk in community-residing older adults. Aging & Mental Health, 20(2), 195–207.

23.

Herbert

J. D.

Forman

E. M.

(Eds.). (2011). Acceptance and mindfulness in cognitive behavior therapy: Understanding and applying the new therapies. Wiley.

24.

Hirsch

J. K.

Chang

E. C.

Rabon

J. K.

(Eds.). (2018). A positive psychological approach to suicide: Theory, research, and prevention. Springer.

25.

Kedia

Hilton

D. J.

(2011). Hot as hell! The self-conscious nature of action regrets. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 47(2), 490–493.

26.

Keller

(2015, April 17). The psychology (and philosophy) of “no regrets”: A clinical psychologist argues that Nietzsche is better than any pop self-health book. Pacific Standard. https://psmag.com/social-justice/its-our-party-we-can-do-what-we-want-until-we-die-so-lead-a-meaningful-life-okay

27.

Kleiman

E. M.

Beaver

J. K.

(2013). A meaningful life is worth living: Meaning in life as a suicide resiliency factor. Psychiatry Research, 210(3), 934–939.

28.

Lew

Chistopolskaya

Osman

Huen

J. M. Y.

Abu Talib

Leung

A. N. M.

(2020). Meaning in life as a protective factor against suicidal tendencies in Chinese university students. BMC Psychiatry, 20, 73.

29.

Marco

J. H.

Pérez

García-Alandete

(2016). Meaning in life buffers the association between risk factors for suicide and hopelessness in participants with mental disorders. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 72(7), 689–700.

30.

Martela

Steger

M. F.

(2023). The role of significance relative to the other dimensions of meaning in life—An examination utilizing the Three Dimensional Meaning in Life Scale (3DM). The Journal of Positive Psychology, 18(4), 606–626.

31.

Menzies

R. G.

(2022). Reframing the past and the treatment of existential guilt and regret. In Menzies

R. G.

Menzies

R. E.

Dingle

G. A.

(Eds.), Existential concerns and cognitive-behavioral procedures: An integrative approach to mental health (pp. 235–245). Springer Nature.

32.

Moyano-Díaz

Martínez-Molina

Ponce

F. P.

(2014). The price of gaming: Maximization in decision-making, regret and life satisfaction. Judgment and Decision Making, 9(5), 500–509.

33.

Nietzsche

F. W.

(1968a). Ecce homo. In Kaufmann

(Ed. & Trans.), The basic writings of Nietzsche (pp. 655–791). Modern Library. (Original work published 1908)

34.

Nietzsche

F. W.

(1968b). The will to power ( Kaufmann

, Ed. & Trans.). Vintage Books. (Original work published 1901)

35.

Nietzsche

F. W.

(1976). Twilight of the idols. In Kaufmann

(Ed. & Trans.), The portable Nietzsche (pp. 463–563). Penguin Books. (Original work published 1889)

36.

Preacher

K. J.

Hayes

A. F.

(2008). Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behavior Research Methods, 40(3), 879–891.

37.

Rufino

K. A.

Daruwala

S. E.

Anestis

J. C.

(2021). Predicting suicide attempt history in a psychiatric inpatient sample: A replication and extension. Psychological Assessment, 33(7), 685–690.

38.

Schwartz

Ward

Monterosso

Lyubomirsky

White

Lehman

D. R.

(2002). Maximizing versus satisficing: Happiness is a matter of choice. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83(5), 1178–1197.

39.

Sijtsema

J. J.

Zeelenberg

Lindenberg

S. M.

(2022). Regret, self-regulatory abilities, and well-being: Their intricate relationships. Journal of Happiness Studies, 23, 1189–1214.

40.

Steger

M. F.

Frazier

Oishi

Kaler

(2006). The Meaning in Life Questionnaire: Assessing the presence of and search for meaning in life. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 53(1), 80–93.

41.

Wong

P. T. P.

(2010). Meaning therapy: An integrative and positive existential psychotherapy. Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy, 40(2), 85–93. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10879-009-9132-6

42.

World Health Organization. (2006). Preventing suicide: A resource for counsellors.

43.

World Health Organization. (2019). Suicide worldwide in 2019: Global health estimates.

44.

Yalom

I. D.

(1980). Existential psychotherapy. Basic Books.