Abstract
Starting from Baumeister’s theory (Baumeister & Vohs, 2005) a theory of a meaningful life has been developed involving seven needs for meaning: needs for purpose, moral worth, self-worth, competence, comprehensibility, connectedness and excitement (Derkx 2013). More than Baumeister’s theory this one strikes a balance between agency and communion. After outlining the theory the value and relevance of a meaning perspective for aging well will be shown. Issues that will be dealt with in this context are: (1) the difference between a happy life (=> well-being) and a meaningful life, (2) continuity, disengagement and activity, (3) the social construction and institutionalisation of a standard life course, (4) individualistic coherence (identity) and ‘lateral’ (relational) integration, (5) resilience as recovery, resistance and reconfiguration (transformation), (6) the role of religion and worldview in relation to suffering, and (7) views of death, finitude, afterlife and (vertical and horizontal) transcendence.