Meaning in Life Framework
Steger, M. F., Frazier, P., Oishi, S. & Kaler, M. · 2006
別名: Presence/Search for Meaning
The framework separates meaning in life into two dimensions that are usually assumed to be one: presence of meaning, the subjective sense that one's life is significant and comprehensible, and search for meaning, the active drive to find or deepen that significance. The separation matters because the two behave differently — presence correlates positively with well-being and negatively with distress, while search is roughly independent of presence and correlates with both curiosity and rumination depending on context. Someone can have a great deal of meaning and no search, or an intense search and little meaning.
Framework distinguishing two dimensions of meaning in life: the presence of meaning (the extent to which one perceives life as having purpose and significance) and the search for meaning (the active pursuit of purpose). These dimensions are partially independent — one can search while already possessing meaning.
- 出典:
- 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(1), 80-93.
- デジタルオブジェクト識別子 — ジャーナル記事への直接リンク。:
- 10.1037/0022-0167.53.1.80
この理論に基づいて構築された検証済みテストを受ける
構成概念について読むことは何であるかを教えてくれます。検証済み測定具はそこでの自分の位置を教えてくれます。無料で受けられ、数分で結果が出ます。
エビデンス概要
- 実証的サポート
- 中程度のエビデンス
- 再現性
- 十分に再現
- 異文化
- ほぼ普遍的
- メタ分析
- 7件索引済み
これらの評価は、理論に関する公開文献を要約したもので、それに基づいて構築された個々のテストの品質ではありません。以下に記載された出典に基づく編集判断であり、エビデンスが蓄積されるにつれて変化します。
歴史的背景
The modern empirical literature traces to Frankl's post-war existential writing and to Crumbaugh and Maholick's 1964 Purpose in Life Test, which conflated meaning with well-being by including items about satisfaction and mood. Steger and colleagues built the Meaning in Life Questionnaire in 2006 specifically to remove that confound and to test whether search was separable from presence; factor analyses supported two dimensions. Subsequent work distinguished three facets within presence — coherence, purpose and significance — proposed by Martela and Steger in 2016 and now the dominant theoretical decomposition.
構成概念
意味の存在
The extent to which one perceives one's life as having a clear sense of purpose, significance, and comprehensibility (Steger et al., 2006). Presence of meaning is associated with greater well-being, life satisfaction, and psychological adjustment.
意味の探求
The active pursuit of purpose and significance in life — the degree to which one is actively exploring, questioning, or striving to establish meaning (Steger et al., 2006). Search and presence are partially independent; one can search while possessing or lacking meaning.
機器
- NOESIS Meaning in Life ScaleNOESIS2026
この理論に基づくテスト
実践的応用
Presence of meaning is a robust correlate of psychological well-being, lower depression and better adjustment to illness and bereavement, and is used as an outcome in meaning-centred psychotherapy for patients with advanced disease. The search dimension is used clinically as a signal about phase rather than deficit: high search with low presence often accompanies life transitions and is not by itself pathological. In career and life design work, the two-dimensional reading prevents the common error of treating an active search as evidence of a problem.
測定方法
Measured with a short self-report Likert scale (MLQ: ten items) producing two independent subscale scores that are interpreted jointly, never summed into one total.
批評と制限事項
The construct overlaps heavily with life satisfaction and positive affect, and critics argue that presence of meaning may be a facet of subjective well-being rather than a distinct construct. The search dimension's correlates are inconsistent across cultures — in some East Asian samples search relates more positively to well-being than in Western samples — which complicates universal interpretation. Self-report of something as abstract as meaning is also strongly mood-dependent, and the field lacks behavioural or informant-report validation criteria of comparable quality.
主要文献
- 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. 10.1037/0022-0167.53.1.80
- Martela, F. & Steger, M. F.. (2016). The three meanings of meaning in life: Distinguishing coherence, purpose, and significance. 10.1080/17439760.2015.1137623
- Frankl, V. E.. (1946). Man's Search for Meaning.