The meaning in life questionnaire: Assessing the presence of and search for meaning in life.

TLDR

Counseling psychologists aim to enhance well‑being and reduce distress, and perceived meaning in life—a key component of humanistic theories—is a central well‑being factor that has been under‑studied due to poor measurement. Three studies show that the 10‑item Meaning in Life Questionnaire has strong internal consistency, temporal stability, a clear factor structure, and superior convergent and discriminant validity compared with existing scales, providing a brief, non‑overlapping measure of both presence and search for meaning.

Abstract

Counseling psychologists often work with clients to increase their well-being as well as to decrease their distress. One important aspect of well-being, highlighted particularly in humanistic theories of the counseling process, is perceived meaning in life. However, poor measurement has hampered research on meaning in life. In 3 studies, evidence is provided for the internal consistency, temporal stability, factor structure, and validity of the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ), a new 10-item measure of the presence of, and the search for, meaning in life. A multitrait-multimethod matrix demonstrates the convergent and discriminant validity of the MLQ subscales across time and informants, in comparison with 2 other meaning scales. The MLQ offers several improvements over current meaning in life measures, including no item overlap with distress measures, a stable factor structure, better discriminant validity, a briefer format, and the ability to measure the search for meaning.