The Meaning of Life

Research Paper # 103963

Philosophy
Psychology

A research study on the meaning of life.

1,969 words () | 20 sources | APA | 2008 | United States

Published on: May 30, 2008

Paper Summary:

This paper provides an adequate research methodology to outline how age and different characteristics or measurement criteria affect the general notion of how an individual accounts for his existence. The paper explains that the meaning of life ,in this study, is analyzed outside the realm of philosophy. The paper then points out that psychology is one of the few social sciences that provides the necessary objective rather than subjective analysis of such a loaded question. The paper then explains the research design and all the variables.

Outline:
Research Questions
Literature Review (Background Research)
Study Design: Variables
Results: VAR Frequencies: Analyzing Meaning of Life Categories for Age Cohorts; Non-Parametric Test (Spearman's Correlation); Independent Samples Test (t-test for Equality of Means)
Discussion

From the Paper:

"As it relates to the idea that specific sources of meaning in life are different in younger compared to older persons; this study proves that this is not the case, in fact, there is a great degree of consistency across age cohorts, as it relates to the categorizations of meaning of life between the two groups (see figure 1 above). What is even more interesting is the similarities between the relative VAR frequencies between the two groups.
"Commitment to meaning in life and the degree of meaning did not have a strong linear relationship; this shows that irrespective of age criterions, individuals associated the relative meaning in life independently from commitment."

Sample of Sources Used:

Battista, J., & Almond, R. (1973). The development of Meaning in Life. Psychiatry, 36, 409-427.
Baum, S. K. & Stewart, R. B. Jr. (1990). Sources of meaning through the lifespan. Psychological Reports, 67, 3-14.
Bower, J., Meyerowitz, B., Desmond K., Bernaards, C., Rowland, J. & Ganz, P. (2005). Perceptions of positive meaning and vulnerability following breast cancer: predictors and outcomes among long-term breast cancer survivors. Annals of Behavioural Medicine, 29, 236-245.
Debats, D. L. (1990). The life regard index: reliability and validity, Psychological reports, 67, 27-34.
Debats, D. L. (1996). Meaning in life: clinical evidence and predictive power. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 35, 503-516.