Meaningful living is a central focus of several humanistic theories and therapies. Measurement of life meaning meets many obstacles, including pragmatic concerns, such as measuring subjective experiences, and theoretical objections often offered by humanistic psychologists. The purpose of this article is to summarize empirical efforts related to logotherapy, a humanistic–existential paradigm, to illustrate the utility of assessment within the larger context of humanistic psychology. An overview of five logotherapeutic measures of meaning is provided. These measures include the Purpose in Life test (PIL), the Life Purpose Questionnaire (LPQ), the Seeking of Noetic Goals test (SONG), the Meaning in Suffering Test (MIST), and the Life Attitude Profile Revised (LAP–R). Directions for use of such measures in future research are also offered.

https://psycnet.apa.org/journals/hum/36/1/31.pdf

On the Measurement of Meaning: Logotherapy's Empirical Contributions to Humanistic Psychology

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is first, to test the validity of a new scale measuring the construct of meaning‐making, defined as the ability to integrate challenging or ambiguous situations into a framework of personal meaning using conscious, value‐based reflection. Second, to explore whether meaning‐making is distinct from other personal resources (self‐efficacy, optimism, mastery, meaning in life), and coping (positive reinterpretation, acceptance). Third, to explore whether meaning‐making facilitates work engagement, willingness to change, and performance during organizational change.Design/methodology/approach – Cross‐sectional survey‐data were collected from 238 employees in a variety of both public and private organizations.Findings – Confirmatory factor analyses showed that meaning‐making can be distinguished from other personal resources, coping and meaning in life. Regression analyses showed that meaning‐making is positively related to in‐role performance and willingness to change, but no...

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Does meaning‐making help during organizational change? Development and validation of a new scale

Religiosity has been related to psychological wellbeing outcomes. Although this relationship is primarily based on studies of church attendance or prayer and wellbeing, more recent work has focused on the potential mechanisms that may mediate the religion-wellbeing findings. One of the major function of religion is finding of meaning of life and improving hope. Recent studies have indicated that hope and meaning of life are the potential variables mediate between religion and wellbeing. It was hypothesized that one pathway through which religiosity may exert its positive influence on psychological wellbeing is through finding meaning of life and improving hope. One study was conducted examining the relationships among spiritual experiences, hope, meaning of life and psychological wellbeing operationalized as satisfaction with life, positive affect and negative affect. The following research tools were used: Daily Spiritual Experiences Scale, Purpose in Life Test, Hearth Hope Index, Cantril Ladder, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule. Meaning of life and hope were noticed to mediate between spiritual experiences and satisfaction with life as well as between spiritual experiences and positive affect. Spiritual experiences were not related to negative affect. Both meaning of life and hope predicted negative affect. This study found meaning of life and hope to be an important factors in the religion-wellbeing relationship and related to positive psychological outcomes, including improved satisfaction with life and positive affect as well as reduced negative affect.

/pdf/do-existential-variables-mediate-between-religious-spiritual-4ilz1kk5p3.pdf

Do existential variables mediate between religious-spiritual facets of functionality and psychological wellbeing.

https://www.jpsmjournal.com/article/S0885-3924(07)00735-X/pdf

The Schedule for Meaning in Life Evaluation (SMiLE): validation of a new instrument for meaning-in-life research.

http://hub.hku.hk/bitstream/10722/229562/1/content.pdf

Relation of career adaptability to meaning in life and connectedness among adolescents in Hong Kong

ing of life? How can meaning of life be defined? How can meaning of life be empirically measured? Which results do studies about meaning of life provide? Which perspectives does the concept of meaning of life provide for psychology? The text is divided into five sections. The first section focuses briefly on important positions concerning the meaning of life theme. The second looks into the definition of meaning of life. The third section reviews empirical approaches to measuring meaning of life. Meaning of life and well-being are addressed in the fourth section. The fifth, and final, section presents a summary and perspectives.

Ann Elisabeth Auhagen

Papers

On the psychology of meaning of life 1