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Individual meaning in life assessed with the Schedule for Meaning in Life Evaluation: toward a circumplex meaning model

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 June 2015

Martin Fegg ,
Dorothea Kudla ,
Monika Brandstätter ,
Veronika Deffner  and
Helmut Küchenhoff
Martin Fegg*
Affiliation:
Department of Palliative Medicine, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Munich, Germany
Dorothea Kudla
Affiliation:
Department of Palliative Medicine, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Munich, Germany
Monika Brandstätter
Affiliation:
Department of Palliative Medicine, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Munich, Germany
Veronika Deffner
Affiliation:
Statistical Consulting Unit, Department of Statistics, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Munich, Germany
Helmut Küchenhoff
Affiliation:
Statistical Consulting Unit, Department of Statistics, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Munich, Germany
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to Martin Fegg, Marchioninistr. 15, 81377 Munich, Germany, Phone +49-89-24216130, Fax +49-89-24216135, E-mail: martin@fegg.de. Website: www.meaninginlife.info.
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Abstract

Objective:

The experience of “meaning in life” (MiL) is a major aspect of life satisfaction and psychological well-being. To assess this highly individual construct, idiographic measures with open-response formats have been developed. However, it can be challenging to categorize these individual experiences for interindividual comparisons. Our study aimed to derive MiL categories from individual listings and develop an integrative MiL model.

Method:

University students were asked to rate 58 MiL providing aspects recently found in a nationwide study using the Schedule for Meaning in Life Evaluation (SMiLE), an MiL instrument allowing for open responses. Pearson's correlations and factor analyses were used to test the unidimensionality of subsequently derived higher-order MiL categories. Multidimensional scaling, cluster analysis, and factor analysis were performed to further analyze a latent MiL structure.

Results:

A total of 340 students participated in the study. Some 11 unidimensional categories consisting of 34 meaning-providing aspects were summarized into a circumplex model with four MiL domains: leisure/health, work/finances, culture/spirituality, and relationships (family, partnership, social relations).

Significance of results:

This model seems to incorporate a major portion of individual respondent-generated MiL listings. It may be useful for future idiographic MiL studies to help organize individual experiences of MiL and allow for higher-level interindividual comparisons. Further studies including different samples are necessary to confirm this model or derive other MiL domains, for example, in palliative care patients or patients who are confronted with a loss of meaning.

Keywords

Meaning in lifeSMiLEStructure of meaning in lifeCluster analysisMultidimensional scaling
Type
Original Articles
Information
Palliative & Supportive Care , Volume 14 , Issue 2: Measurement Development in Palliative and Supportive Care , April 2016 , pp. 91 - 98
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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