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Stability and specificity of meaning in life and life satisfaction over one year
Abstract
Meaning in life and life satisfaction are both important variables in well-being research. Whereas an appreciable body of
work suggests that life satisfaction is fairly stable over long periods of time, little research has investigated the stability
of meaning in life ratings. In addition, it is unknown whether these highly correlated variables change independent of each
other over time. Eighty-two participants (mean age = 19.3 years, SD 1.4; 76% female; 84% European-American) completed measures
of the presence of meaning in life, the search for meaning in life, and life satisfaction an average of 13 months apart (SD = 2.3 months).
Moderate stability was found for presence of meaning in life, search for meaning in life, and life satisfaction. Multiple
regressions demonstrated specificity in predicting change among these measures. Support for validity and reliability of these
variables is discussed.
... Meaning is an integral part of human beings and, therefore, people have an inner desire for finding meaning and feeling the presence of meaning (Steger et al., 2006). In this context, searching for meaning refers to the extent to which people effort for discovering and augmenting the meaning in life, while the presence of meaning in life corresponds to the extent to which people perceive the existence of purpose, significance, and meaning in their lives (Steger & Kashdan, 2007). Past studies demonstrated that people having meaningful lives are more likely to experience higher well-being, higher self-esteem (Zhang et al., 2019), positive affects (King et al., 2006), and optimism (Ho et al., 2010). ...
... Therefore, it is possible that anxiety damages the psychological, social, and/or physical well-being of people (Maner, 2009) due to high worry, distress, and negative affect (Clark & Watson, 1991). Also, considering that meaning in life is one of the indicators of psychological well-being (Steger & Kashdan, 2007), we proposed that career anxiety is also related to meaning in life. In a nutshell, people with career anxiety feel worried and fearful about the future of their careers. ...
... In a nutshell, meaning in life enhances the feeling of comprehensibility in one's life, evokes the presence of direction, and makes the sense of one's life importance, which can all lead to higher life satisfaction. Moreover, past studies have also revealed the link between meaning in life and life satisfaction (Steger & Kashdan, 2007;Steger et al., 2006). For example, Ho et al. (2010) found that meaning in life promotes satisfaction in a variety of life domains (family, friends, health, school, and self). ...
Career anxiety is a common experience among students due to high uncertainty and changes in labor markets in recent years. However, little is known about the mechanisms underlying the link between career anxiety and career-related outcomes. Hence, current research aims to explore relationships among career anxiety, meaning in life, and life satisfaction through the moderating role of self-efficacy. By investigating 312 undergraduate students and using structural equation modeling, the results indicated that (1) career anxiety negatively relates to meaning in life, (2) meaning in life positively relates to life satisfaction, and (3) career decision self-efficacy moderates the relationship between career anxiety and meaning in life. The findings are essential for career counselors to buffer the adverse effect of career anxiety on undergraduates’ well-being by focusing on assessing and improving their self-efficacy.
... The data were collected via a demographic characteristics questionnaire, Polotzin and Ellison's Spiritual Health Questionnaire (1982), The Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ) (Steger & Kashdan, 2007) and Death Attitude Profile-Revised (DAP-R) (Wong et al., 2000). ...
... The Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ) (Steger & Kashdan, 2007) is a 10-item scale with two five-item subscales, the Presence of Meaning in Life (MLQ-P) and the Search for Meaning in Life (MLQ-S). The items are scored based on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from never true: 1, rarely true: 2, sometimes but infrequently true: 3, neither true nor (neutral) false: 4, sometimes true: 5, usually true: 6, and always true: 7. Thus, the scores of both subscales ranges from 5 to 35 (the total score of the questionnaire ranges from 10 to 70), and a higher score (answer to more than six items) indicates a higher level of presence of meaning in life or search for meaning in life (Huo et al., 2020). ...
The COVID-19 pandemic has been shown to affect both physical and mental health. Because of this mental health burden, it is important to pay attention to issues such as the relationship between spiritual health, death attitudes and meaning in life – all issues made more prominent during the pandemic. This study was conducted to determine the correlation between these three factors - spiritual health, meaning in life, and death attitudes, among patients with COVID-19 discharged from the intensive care units of hospitals affiliated with Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
This cross-sectional, descriptive-analytical study was conducted between April 2020 and August 2021 with 260 participants. The data collection instruments were a demographic characteristics questionnaire, Polotzin and Ellison’s Spiritual Health Questionnaire, The Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ), and Death Attitude Profile-Revised (DAP-R).
The correlation between meaning in life, spiritual health, and death attitudes was determined by Spearman’s correlation coefficient. The research results showed that there is an inverse and significant correlation between spiritual health and death attitudes (p = 0.01); an inverse, but insignificant correlation between existential health and subscales of death attitudes, except for the subscales of approach acceptance and neutral acceptance (p > 0.05); and an inverse, but insignificant, correlation between spiritual health and death attitudes, (p > 0.05). In addition, there was an inverse and significant correlation between the presence of meaning in life and escape acceptance (p = 0.002); an inverse and significant correlation between the search for meaning in life and neutral acceptance (p = 0.007); and an inverse and significant correlation between the meaning in life and death attitudes (p = 0.04). Besides, the findings showed an inverse but insignificant correlation between all spiritual health subscales and the meaning in life subscales (p > 0.05). Spiritual health has an inverse correlation with death attitudes.
Also, there is an inverse correlation between the total score of spiritual health and death attitudes. Regarding the subscales of spiritual health, there is an inverse correlation between existential health and death attitudes subscales, except for approach acceptance and neutral acceptance. Also, the results showed an inverse and significant correlation between meaning in life and death acceptance and avoidance subscales, and there was an inverse and significant correlation between the meaning in life and death attitudes. Finally, the increase in spiritual health reduces patients’ risks of thinking about death. The research results double the significance of the role of nurses, especially those dealing with critically ill patients and those who have experienced severe disease conditions.
... That is, regardless of within-person fluctuations, the higher a person's overall average of moment-to-moment Relationship and Meaning is, the higher their global assessments of Flourishing would be. These results suggest that in order for individuals to experience overall high levels of eudaimonic wellbeing, it is crucial for them to monitor their daily and momentary experiences of positive relationships (i.e., feeling loved and supported; Heshmati et al., 2019; and meaning in life (i.e., sense of purpose and value; Cohen & Cairns, 2012;Steger & Kashdan, 2007). It is important to note that maintaining consistently high levels of meaning and positive relationships is key, regardless of the fluctuations in these experiences throughout one's daily life. ...
PERMA is a multidimensional framework that explains well-being through five hedonic and eudaimonic psychological elements–Positive emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, Accomplishment. Soon after the PERMA framework was proposed, PERMA-Profiler was introduced as a validated assessment tool for measuring these five elements of well-being from a global perspective. The current study aimed to shed further light onto the measurement of PERMA elements, extending it beyond global evaluations, to daily life assessments and the examination of individual differences in their dynamic characteristics. We introduce mPERMA (momentary PERMA), as an EMA-adapted version of the PERMA-Profiler measure, to assess well-being in daily life. Using data collected in an Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) study (N = 160), we first demonstrate the factor structure of mPERMA through a multilevel factor analysis and next examine within-person means and the dynamics of change (e.g., intra-individual variability) in the PERMA elements. Findings revealed that mPERMA displays convergent validity with two global measures of hedonic and eudaimonic well-being, namely Flourishing and Subjective Well-Being. Moreover, dynamical characteristics of the five elements of well-being measured over time, map onto their corresponding hedonic or eudaimonic global measures of well-being. Results of this paper present how dynamical features of well-being in daily life provide novel insights into predicting global well-being.
... In the literature, there are studies in which there is a significant difference between the meaning of life and gender as well as studies that support the opposite of the results in our study [29,30,31]. Accordingly, Demir and Murat reported that there was no significant difference between male and female pre-service teachers in terms of happiness, optimism and meaning of life [30]. ...
Esta investigación analiza la relación entre el sentido de vida y diversos factores sociodemográficos en estudiantes universitarios con el propósito de demostrar sí existen relaciones estadísticamente significativas entre el nivel de sentido de vida de un individuo y diversas características personales, familiares, de salud, entre otros. Se realizó un estudio entre estudiantes de Educación Superior, utilizando un instrumento de medición sobre el que se adaptó el test de propósito de vida de Crumbaugh y Maholick. Se demostró que existe una correlación estadísticamente significativa con un grado de asociación bajo y positivo entre el nivel de sentido de vida y los factores sociodemográficos de hábitos alimenticios, horas de sueño promedio al día, percepción del nivel socioeconómico familiar y actividad laboral.
Objective:
A sense of meaning in life (MIL) is thought to help protect people against experiencing explicit anxiety about death. However, the experience of meaning is complex and subjective and may relate to death anxiety in nuanced ways. We examine how self-alienation-a feeling of not knowing/being disconnected from one's self-might moderate the relationship between MIL and death anxiety.
Method:
Across five studies, we tested the hypothesis that MIL would negatively predict death anxiety more strongly for people relatively low in self-alienation. These studies were similar in design and included exploratory, confirmatory, and pre-registered tests.
Results:
A meta-regression across our five studies (N = 2001) provided clear evidence that MIL was most strongly associated with lower death anxiety at low self-alienation. We also observed that MIL was positively associated with death anxiety at high self-alienation. These effects were consistent in direction but inconsistent in strength.
Conclusions:
We interpreted these results as evidence that MIL is existentially protective when experienced in combination with a relatively strong, clear, and connected sense of self. In contrast, MIL may be existentially problematic when people feel relatively unaware and disconnected from themselves. These findings align with aspects of terror management theory and highlight the potentially complex ways that MIL might relate to death anxiety.
Öz İnsan, yaşamı boyunca bir anlam arayışı içindedir. Ruhsal sağlığı için kendisinin ve diğerleriyle olan ilişkisinin konumunu belirlemek, bu konumu anlamlandırmak durumundadır. Yapılan birçok araştırmaya göre yaşamda anlam ile öznel iyi oluş, umut, yaşam doyumu, mutluluk gibi olumlu duygularla pozitif yönlü; depresyon, bağımlılık, kaygı, intihar gibi olumsuz duygularla negatif yönlü ilişkili olduğu görülmektedir. Psiko-somatik, psiko-nevrotik birçok hastalığın sebeplerinin büyük ölçüde stres ve sıkıntı kaynaklı olduğunu düşünürsek yaşamda anlam çağımızın en önemli konularından biridir diyebiliriz. Bu araştırmada ergenlerde yaşamda anlam, maneviyat, kişilik arasındaki ilişki, maneviyat ve kişiliğin yaşamda anlam üzerinde yordayıcı etkisi incelenmiştir. Araştırmanın örneklemi lise eğitimi gören 15-18 yaş aralığında 582 öğrenciden oluşmaktadır. Araştırma verileri Yaşamda Anlam Ölçeği, Maneviyat Ölçeği ve On-Maddeli Kişilik Ölçeği kullanılarak elde edilmiştir. Verilerin analizi için SPSS Statistics 26 programı kullanılmıştır. Analiz sonuçlarına göre anlam varlığının maneviyat ölçeğinin tüm boyutları, kişilik alt boyutlarından “yumuşak başlılık” ile pozitif yönlü anlamlı ilişkili olduğu ve maneviyat alt boyutlarından “anlam”, “manevi hoşnutluk”, “manevi başa çıkma” değişkenlerinin anlam varlığını pozitif yönde yordadığı bulgularına ulaşılmıştır. Anahtar Kelimeler Yaşamda anlam, Maneviyat, Anlam varlığı, Anlam arayışı, Kişilik
Purpose
This study aims to create a more humane and responsible workplace, individuals’ gratitude and meaningfulness seem of utmost importance. This study is an effort to understand the role of gratitude intent of potential managers.
Design/methodology/approach
This study examines the psychological characteristic of business students in India. The researchers surveyed 333 Indian students as future managers. The collected data has been analysed with the Smart PLS 3 version to assess the formative-reflective scale by comparing model fit, measurement model and structural modelling.
Findings
The results establish that gratitude significantly affects the life satisfaction of future managers. Findings also show that materialism is negatively related to life satisfaction and meaningfulness. The importance–performance map analysis finding suggests that meaningfulness in life is a potential indicator of life satisfaction for the population studied.
Originality/value
Due to the limited research available on the psychological underpinnings in the Indian context, there is a massive value in examining how materialism and gratitude concurrently and distinctively predict meaning in life and the life satisfaction of future managers. This paper gives a formative explanation of the model consisted gratitude, materialism and meaningfulness in life on the life satisfaction of future managers. This study establishes the importance of meaningfulness of life in attaining life satisfaction for young managers.
This chapter presents an analysis of evidence that addresses the issue of the stability of personality traits across the life span. Traits are descriptive constructs, intervening variables inferred from behavior and invoked to account for the relations among observable variables. In the past decade, consensus has emerged on the number of traits that are sufficient to describe personality, with a Five-Factor model (FFM) receiving widespread acceptance. With the increasing adoption of the FFM, psychologists have reinterpreted past findings in light of current research. Reliability is a property of a psychometric instrument. Test-retest reliability indices are Pearson product-moment correlations between scores obtained at two different time periods for the same group of individuals. Differential or rank-order stability refers to invariance in the relative placement or rank-ordering of individuals' scores or ratings on a given trait within a particular cohort. Individuals within a group differ from one another on trait ratings. Mean stability for each of the five age groups increases in a stepwise fashion, from a low in the teenage years to a maximum for the oldest participants, with a slight but significant decrease for individuals in their forties.
The psychometric properties of Antonovsky's Sense of Coherence (SOC) Scale were examined. Subjects (N = 374) completed the SOC scale and a battery of theoretically relevant questionnaires. Principal-components analysis with a Varimax-Promax rotation produced a solution with 5 factors, which were further reduced to 1 factor, suggesting that the SOC scale is a unidimensional instrument. Additional analyses indicated satisfactory internal consistency as well as test-retest reliability at 1 and 2 weeks. Evidence for the validity of the SOC scale was obtained in that nonclinical subjects obtained higher SOC scores than did clinical subjects. Additional validity evidence was provided by negative correlations between SOC scores and self-reports of (a) perceived stress, (b) trait anxiety, and (c) current depression. Discriminant evidence for the validity of the SOC scale was mixed.
In recent years considerable interest has been focused on the relationship between religiosity and psychological wellbeing. This article examines religiosity as a predictor of different components of wellbeing, in the context of several measures of meaning in life, with a sample of women. It is proposed that religiosity may show different relationships to the major wellbeing dimensions of life satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect. The results demonstrate the religion-wellbeing relationship to be variable. The pattern of results was not consistent, with specific results finding direct (zero-order) and mediated, suppressed, or interactive (second-order) associations between religiosity and specific components of wellbeing, when life meaning was taken into account. The findings support earlier research in demonstrating that the religiosity-wellbeing relationship, where it does occur, is positive but small.
This article reports the development and validation of a scale to measure global life satisfaction, the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS). Among the various components of subjective well-being, the SWLS is narrowly focused to assess global life satisfaction and does not tap related constructs such as positive affect or loneliness. The SWLS is shown to have favorable psychometric properties, including high internal consistency and high temporal reliability. Scores on the SWLS correlate moderately to highly with other measures of subjective well-being, and correlate predictably with specific personality characteristics. It is noted that the SWLS is suited for use with different age groups, and other potential uses of the scale are discussed.
ABSTRACT Cross-sectional studies show that divorced people report lower levels of life satisfaction than do married people. However, such studies cannot determine whether satisfaction actually changes following divorce. In the current study, data from an 18-year panel study of more than 30,000 Germans were used to examine reaction and adaptation to divorce. Results show that satisfaction drops as one approaches divorce and then gradually rebounds over time. However, the return to baseline is not complete. In addition, prospective analyses show that people who will divorce are less happy than those who stay married, even before either group gets married. Thus, the association between divorce and life satisfaction is due to both preexisting differences and lasting changes following the event.
The SWLS consists of 5-items that require a ratingon a 7-point Likert scale. Administration is rarely morethan a minute or 2 and can be completed by interview(including phone) or paper and pencil response. The in-strumentshouldnotbecompletedbyaproxyansweringfortheperson.Itemsofthe SWLSaresummedtocreatea total score that can range from 5 to 35.The SWLS is in the public domain. Permission isnot needed to use it. Further information regardingthe use and interpretation of the SWLS can be foundat the author’s Web site http://internal.psychology.illinois.edu/∼ediener/SWLS.html. The Web site alsoincludes links to translations of the scale into 27languages.