Meaning of Life Questionnaire

Meaning in life has been identified as a potential mediator of the link between religiousness and psychological health. A 10-item questionnaire designed to measure two dimensions of meaning in life: (1) Presence of Meaning (how much respondents feel their lives have meaning), and (2) Search for Meaning (how much respondents strive to find meaning and understanding in their lives). Respondents answer each item on a 7-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (Absolutely True) to 7 (Absolutely Untrue).

Constructs Being Measured
Primary: 
Sense of purpose
Secondary: 
Psychological well-being
How to Access and Cite

To access the resource, visit https://newtechnetwork.org/resources/student-literacy-series/.

Outcome Families
Well-being
Connectedness
Awareness
Agency
Mastery
Programmatic Purpose
Classroom-level data and feedback
Program-level monitoring and evaluation
Instrument Characteristics
Type of items: 

10 Likert type questions

Format: 
Self-report
Applicable Grade Levels
Pre-primary
Primary
Secondary
Post-secondary
Supporting Research

Steger, M. F., Frazier, P., Oishi, S., & Kaler, M. (2006). The Meaning in Life Questionnaire: Assessing the presence of and search for meaning in life. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 53, 80-93

Points to Consider

For more guidance on measuring student learning and best practices in adapting measurement tools to your contexts, check out the Portal page on Monitoring and Evaluation. You can also contact Alvin Vista (Knowledge Lead, Student Outcomes) and Robbie Dean (Director of Research) for specific questions.