Abstract
The present study was based on two theoretical conceptions—Deci and Ryan’s self-determination theory and its characteristic approach to values, and the conception of meaning in life derived from the Logotherapy of Frankl. The aim of the study was to verify the thesis that values realized in personal strivings play a significant role in experiencing meaning in life. The study was also designed to explore the relationships between types of motivation and meaning in life. A semi-open method was used to study values and striving motivations, one based on the Personal Striving Assessment by Emmons and the Purpose in Life Test by Maholick and Crumbaugh. The sample comprised 353 students of Wrocław-based universities (159 women and 194 men). The findings of this study demonstrated that meaning in life is related to motivation as well as to certain values that participants reported as realized in their personal strivings. Predictors of meaning in life were the value of financial success for men, and the value of intimacy/friendship for women. Another predictor of meaning for both groups was external motivation. Further interesting results discussed in this paper were obtained by comparing individuals with low and those with high levels of meaning in life. The latter group was found to attribute greater importance to autonomous motivation and to attach greater meaning to their everyday strivings by associating them more closely with both intrinsic and extrinsic values.
Highlights
The need for meaning in life, which attains its existential significance in adolescence and the stages of human development that follow it, is strongly related to developing selfidentity, searching for one’s place in the world, and taking up specific social roles.Achieving meaning in life is doubtless related to performing goal-oriented activities (e.g. Ryff and Singer 1998a, b; Emmons 2003a, b)
The findings of this study demonstrated that meaning in life is related to motivation as well as to certain values that participants reported as realized in their personal strivings
The results provided information on the strongest predictors of meaning life, which turned out to differ across the sexes: the strongest predictor for men is the extrinsic value of financial success, whereas for women—the intrinsic value of intimacy/friendship
Summary
The need for meaning in life, which attains its existential significance in adolescence and the stages of human development that follow it, is strongly related to developing selfidentity, searching for one’s place in the world, and taking up specific social roles.Achieving meaning in life is doubtless related to performing goal-oriented activities (e.g. Ryff and Singer 1998a, b; Emmons 2003a, b). Others claim the need for meaning in life is best satisfied by distinguishing an actual intention for action, that is, its overriding reason associated with specific values This relationship is emphasized by existential and humanistic psychologists, as well as those applying self-determination theory (SDT; Frankl 1959/2006; Maslow 1962; Emmons 2003a; Stras-Romanowska 2005; Weinstein et al 2012). According to Frankl, the precursor of exploring and studying meaning in life, the essence of human existence manifests itself in taking on responsibility and living one’s life in freedom and consistently with one’s values He believed the sense of feeling lost was the source of a wide range of problems, including addictions, depression, aggression, and neurosis. The sense of disorientation and lack of meaning in life results from peoples’ downplaying the importance of spiritual life and their preference for ‘‘having’’ over ‘‘being’’ (Frankl 1978, 1959/2006)
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