Meaning as a mission: A review of empirical studies on appraisals of war and peacekeeping experiences

The aim of this article is to review the scientific literature on making sense of war and peacekeeping experiences, and it includes an analysis of empirical studies that examine appraisals of military deployment experiences among veterans. Veterans reported more positive than negative effects in the studies of this review. Furthermore, construing positive meaning from war and peacekeeping experiences, especially related to combat exposure or high perceived threat, is associated with better psychological adjustment. More insight on “normal” psychological processing of stressful and traumatic experiences is obtained when the concept of meaning is used in research. This perspective emphasizes the perception of individuals and focuses on beliefs and attitudes in making sense of threatening events instead of pathologizing the response to trauma.