Tatjana Schnell –
Purpose Meets Psychology.
I am Professor of Existential Psychology at MF Specialized University in Oslo, Norway and a Fellow at the Humanistic University Berlin, Germany. My research focuses on understanding what makes life meaningful and how this impacts our well-being, health, work, society, and the environment.
Prof Dr MPhil
ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS
University of Trier, Trier, Germany
Dr rer nat, 2004
Lecturer and Research Fellow, 2000 - 2005
University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
Associate Professor 2013 - 2024
Habilitation in Psychology 2012
Senior Lecturer, then Assistant Professor 2005-2013
MF Specialized University, Oslo, Norway
Professor of Existential Psychology, 2020 - present
Humanistic University Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Fellow 2024 - present
EDUCATION
University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
MPhil Psychology of Religion
Georg-August-University, Göttingen, Germany
MSc Psychology
Ruprecht-Karls-University, Heidelberg, Germany
Protestant Theology, Study of Religion, Philosophy
School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London, UK
African Studies, Philosophy
Georg-August-University, Göttingen, Germany
BSc Psychology, BA Protestant Theology
MEDIA (SELECTION)
SPIEGEL, Januar 2025: »Menschen, die Sinn in ihrem Leben sehen, sind körperlich und seelisch gesünder«
NZZ, Januar 2025: Wie finden wir Sinn?
Tirolerin, Januar 2025: Auf der Suche nach dem Sinn
Wird schon. Podcast, Dezember 2024: Optimismus und Sinn
Kurier, Dezember 2024: Sinn des Lebens lässt sich nicht in der Arbeit finden
Bendiksen Airways, Podcast, Dezember 2024: Exploring the meaning of/in life
Handelsblatt, November 2024: „Mit Narzissmus hat das gar nichts zu tun“
ARD Audiothek, Die Profis, November 2024: Hat das Leben einen tieferen Sinn?
DIE ZEIT, Oktober 2024: Wie finde ich Sinn?
BR2, Oktober 2024: Der Sinn des Lebens - Warum lohnt sich die Suche?
NZZ, April 2024: Wer Sinn in seinem Leben sieht, ist gesünder und glücklicher
ORF Ö1 Leporello, März 2024: Resilienz - Stärke auch bei Gegenwind
SRF, Echo der Zeit, Januar 2024: Warum suchen wir nach dem Sinn des Lebens?
METHODS BY OUR TEAMS
The Sources of Meaning and Meaning in Life Questionnaire (SoMe)
People find purpose in many different ways. We developed a questionnaire to measure 26 of these sources of meaning, as well as experienced meaningfulness and crisis of meaning.
Schnell, T. (2009). The Sources of Meaning and Meaning in Life Questionnaire (SoMe): Relations to demographics and well-being. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 4(6), 483-499.
Schnell, T. & Becker, P. (2007). Der Fragebogen zu Lebensbedeutungen und Lebenssinn (LeBe). Hogrefe.
MAPS, The Meaning and Purpose Scales
This is the ultra-short alternative to the SoMe. The MAPS measure five dimensions of purpose, meaningfulness, and crisis of meaning, all in 3-4 minutes!
Schnell, T., & Danbolt, L. J. (2023). The Meaning and Purpose Scales (MAPS): development and multi-study validation of short measures of meaningfulness, crisis of meaning, and sources of purpose. BMC Psychology, 11(1), 304.
ME-Work - A Modular Meaning in Work Inventory
Do you enjoy getting up in the morning to do your job? Is it meaningful, or are you struggling to find a sense of purpose in what you do? The ME-Work measures the subjective assessment of work as meaningless, meaningful, and as a source of meaning. It also assesses four key factors contributing to work being experienced as meaningful: coherence, significance, purpose, and belonging.
Schnell, T., & Hoffmann, C. (2020). ME-Work: Development and validation of a modular meaning in work inventory. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 599913.
Dimensions of Secularity (DoS)
Secular individuals hold worldviews that go beyond a mere absence of religiosity. Instead, secularity is shaped by various affirmative attitudes and values. The Dimensions of Secularity (DoS) inventory offers an open framework for exploring and measuring these perspectives.
Schnell, T. (2015). Dimensions of Secularity (DoS): An open inventory to measure facets of secular identities. The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 25(4), 272-292.
Schnell, T., de Boer, E., & Alma, H. (2023). Worlds apart? Atheist, agnostic, and humanist worldviews in three European countries. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 15(1), 83-93.
The Sources of Meaning Card Method - SoMeCaM
A scientifically based, but playful way of mapping and exploring sources of meaning. This one-hour guided conversation has proven to be the key to an open and effortless conversation about complex existential topics. Repeatedly validated and helpful in a wide variety of contexts, such as psychotherapy, counselling, coaching, pain therapy, rehabilitation, pastoral care, team building, further education, deradicalisation, etc. For more, see somecam.org
La Cour, P., & Schnell, T. (2019). The Sources of Meaning Card Method. Studia.
La Cour, P., & Schnell, T. (2020). Presentation of the Sources of Meaning Card Method: the SoMeCaM. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 60(1), 20-42.
PUBLICATIONS
Schnell, T. & Henriksen, J.-O. (2025). Search for meaning in the anthropocene: a dialogue between Psychology and Theology. Dialog. https://doi.org/10.1111/dial.12873
Schnell, T. & Trotier, K. (2024). Sinn finden. Warum es gut ist, das Leben zu hinterfragen. Ullstein.
Kosic, A., Passafaro, P., Schnell, T., Molinari, M. (2024). Meaning in life and care for the environment: bridging the actions for addressing ecological issues and enhancing residential quality. Ecopsychology. https://doi.org/10.1089/eco.2024.0003
Ishak, B., Bjertnes, E., Østby, L., Johannessen, A., & Schnell, T. (2024). Is the degree of religiosity related to community belonging and trust in society? A cross-sectional study among Muslims in Norway. Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 10, 101065. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2024.101065
Schnell, T., Viviani, R., Lenz, C., & Krampe, H. (2024). When alienated from society, conspiracy theory belief gives meaning to life. Heliyon, 10(14), 334557. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e34557
Sørensen, V. H., Andersen A. H., Andersen, T., Rasmussen, A., Aagesen, M., Schnell, T., Pedersen, H. F., la Cour, P., & Rottman, N. (2024). Meaning in life after cancer: validation of the Sources of Meaning Card Method among participants in cancer rehabilitation. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1111/sjop.13048
Urata, Y., Shimai, S., & Schnell, T. (2024). The Development and Validation of the Japanese Version of a Modular Meaning in Work Inventory (ME-Work). The Japanese Journal of Personality, 32(3), 134-137. DOI:10.2132/personality.32.3.6
Vötter, B., & Schnell, T. (2024). Life Meaning Versus Intelligence: An Analysis of Three Qualities of Meaning Among Gifted Adults. In Logotherapy and Existential Analysis (pp. 241-258). Springer International Publishing.