IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jhappi/v17y2016i1p431-445.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Measuring Meaning in Life: An Empirical Comparison of Two Well-Known Measures

Author

Listed:
  • Bruno Damásio
  • Nelson Hauck-Filho
  • Sílvia Koller

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the extent to which two widely used psychometric instruments (i.e., MLQ-Presence and SoMe-Meaningfulness subscales) measure the same meaning in life latent trait. Participants were 3,020 subjects (63.9 % women), ranging in age from 18 to 91 years old (M = 33.92; SD = 15.01), sampled from 22 Brazilian states. Confirmatory factor analyses supported the unidimensionality of MLQ-Presence scale, but suggested that two distinct latent variables explained the items of SoMe-Meaningfulness scale. This result was further supported by a bi-factor exploratory structural equation modeling, which showed that items 4 and 5 of the SoMe-Meaningfulness scale were primarily influenced by a second latent trait rather than by MIL. Further analyses showed that this second latent trait was more closely related with self-transcendence issues (generativity and spirituality, specifically) instead of MIL. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2016

Suggested Citation

  • Bruno Damásio & Nelson Hauck-Filho & Sílvia Koller, 2016. "Measuring Meaning in Life: An Empirical Comparison of Two Well-Known Measures," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 431-445, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:17:y:2016:i:1:p:431-445
    DOI: 10.1007/s10902-014-9602-8
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10902-014-9602-8
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10902-014-9602-8?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stephen Sireci, 1998. "The Construct of Content Validity," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 83-117, November.
    2. Andrew Howell & Holli-Anne Passmore & Karen Buro, 2013. "Meaning in Nature: Meaning in Life as a Mediator of the Relationship Between Nature Connectedness and Well-Being," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 14(6), pages 1681-1696, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ana Blasco-Belled & Radosław Rogoza & Cristina Torrelles-Nadal & Carles Alsinet, 2020. "Emotional Intelligence Structure and Its Relationship with Life Satisfaction and Happiness: New Findings from the Bifactor Model," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(6), pages 2031-2049, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Neal Krause & Kenneth I. Pargament, 2017. "Losing My Religion: Exploring the Relationship Between a Decline in Faith and a Positive Affect," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 12(4), pages 885-901, December.
    2. Holli-Anne Passmore & Ying Yang & Sarena Sabine, 2022. "An Extended Replication Study of the Well-Being Intervention, the Noticing Nature Intervention (NNI)," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(6), pages 2663-2683, August.
    3. Sarah Koller, 2021. "Towards Degrowth? Making Peace with Mortality to Reconnect with (One's) Nature: An Ecopsychological Proposition for a Paradigm Shift," Environmental Values, , vol. 30(3), pages 345-366, June.
    4. Migle Baceviciene & Rasa Jankauskiene, 2022. "The Mediating Effect of Nature Restorativeness, Stress Level, and Nature Connectedness in the Association between Nature Exposure and Quality of Life," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-15, February.
    5. Claude-Hélène Mayer, 2021. "Understanding Wildlife Crime from Eco-Existential and African Perspectives: A Psycho-Philosophical Investigation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-19, November.
    6. repec:zbw:bofrdp:2006_032 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Volkan Yeniaras & Tugra Nazli Akarsu, 2017. "Religiosity and Life Satisfaction: A Multi-dimensional Approach," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 18(6), pages 1815-1840, December.
    8. Jie Wen & Miao Miao, 2022. "Relationships Between Meaning in Life, Positive and Negative Affect, and Eating Behaviors: A Daily Diary Study," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 1315-1331, April.
    9. Alison Pritchard & Miles Richardson & David Sheffield & Kirsten McEwan, 2020. "The Relationship Between Nature Connectedness and Eudaimonic Well-Being: A Meta-analysis," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 1145-1167, March.
    10. Trinidad Luque-Vara & Marta Linares-Manrique & Elisabet Fernández-Gómez & Adelina Martín-Salvador & María Angustias Sánchez-Ojeda & Carmen Enrique-Mirón, 2020. "Content Validation of an Instrument for the Assessment of School Teachers’ Levels of Knowledge of Diabetes through Expert Judgment," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(22), pages 1-13, November.
    11. Gary F. Gebhardt & François A. Carrillat & Robert J. Riggle & William B. Locander, 2020. "A Market-Based Procedure for Assessing and Improving Content Validity," Customer Needs and Solutions, Springer;Institute for Sustainable Innovation and Growth (iSIG), vol. 7(1), pages 19-41, June.
    12. Andreia Teixeira & Ronaldo Gabriel & José Martinho & Graça Pinto & Luís Quaresma & Aurélio Faria & Irene Oliveira & Helena Moreira, 2021. "Connectedness to Nature Does Not Explain the Variation in Physical Activity and Body Composition in Adults and Older People," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(22), pages 1-20, November.
    13. A. Feliu-Soler & E. Royuela-Colomer & J. Navarrete & N. N. Jørgensen & M. Mariño & M. Demarzo & J. Soler & J. García-Campayo & J. Montero-Marín & J. V. Luciano, 2024. "Assessing the Impact of the Way of Saint James on Psychological Distress and Subjective Well-being: The Ultreya Study," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 25(7), pages 1-30, October.
    14. Lígia Passos & João Tavares & Daniela Figueiredo, 2021. "Assessing Caregivers’ Skills in Assisting People with Dementia during Mealtime: Portuguese Cultural Adaptation of the Feeding Skills Checklist," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(12), pages 1-13, June.
    15. Holli-Anne Passmore & Ashley N. Krause, 2023. "The Beyond-Human Natural World: Providing Meaning and Making Meaning," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(12), pages 1-14, June.
    16. Victoria Houlden & Scott Weich & João Porto de Albuquerque & Stephen Jarvis & Karen Rees, 2018. "The relationship between greenspace and the mental wellbeing of adults: A systematic review," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(9), pages 1-35, September.
    17. Dahlberg, Tomi & Öörni, Anssi, 2006. "Finnish consumers' expectations on developments and changes in payment habits : survey in connection with the research project "Finnish payment habits 2010"," Research Discussion Papers 32/2006, Bank of Finland.
    18. Sheppard, Leah D. & O'Reilly, Jane & van Dijke, Marius & Restubog, Simon Lloyd D. & Aquino, Karl, 2020. "The stress-relieving benefits of positively experienced social sexual behavior in the workplace," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 38-52.
    19. Samantha Keaulana & Melissa Kahili-Heede & Lorinda Riley & Mei Linn N. Park & Kuaiwi Laka Makua & Jetney Kahaulahilahi Vegas & Mapuana C. K. Antonio, 2021. "A Scoping Review of Nature, Land, and Environmental Connectedness and Relatedness," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-30, May.
    20. Simon Høegmark & Tonny Elmose Andersen & Patrik Grahn & Anna Mejldal & Kirsten K. Roessler, 2021. "The Wildman Programme—Rehabilitation and Reconnection with Nature for Men with Mental or Physical Health Problems—A Matched-Control Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-20, October.
    21. Dahlberg, Tomi & Öörni, Anssi, 2006. "Finnish consumers' expectations on developments and changes in payment habits: survey in connection with the research project "Finnish payment habits 2010"," Bank of Finland Research Discussion Papers 32/2006, Bank of Finland.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:17:y:2016:i:1:p:431-445. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.