One objective of the present invention is to provide a material for organic electroluminescent elements, which has a high triplet excitation energy. Another objective of the present invention is to provide: an organic electroluminescent element which uses the material for organic electroluminescent elements and has high luminous efficiency and excellent durability; a lighting device; and a display device. A material for organic electroluminescent elements according to the present invention is characterized by having a structure represented by general formula (1). (In general formula (1), ring ± and ring ² respectively represent a five-membered aromatic heterocyclic group having a specific structure, and are bonded with each other at arbitrary positions; R represents a hydrogen atom or a substituent that is substituted at an arbitrary position of ring ± and/or ring ²; and n represents an integer of 1-8.) AA General formula (1)
