Meaninglessness in the Second Half of Life: The Development of a Construct

Abstract

A new construct of meaninglessness in the second half of life was presented. We found that four theoretically based components of the construct of meaninglessness were expressed in the self- and life-descriptions of 95 percent of 153 Dutch independently living aged adults (age between 58 to 90 years old). The self- and life-descriptions were assessed by a content analysis of participants' answers on a sentence completion questionnaire for personal meaning (SELE). With respect to the content of the components of meaninglessness, we found that a lack of goals and an impoverishment of meaning was responsible for most motivational meaninglessness. On the affective level, meaninglessness is far more characterized by dejection-related emotions, than by agitation-related emotions. Alienation from one's self, others, or society appeared to be characteristic for most of the cognitive component of meaninglessness. The self-evaluative component was mainly characterized by low self-esteem. A tentative explanation was presented for the differences in proportion of each of the components, pointing to the cumulative character of the construct itself. Meaninglessness correlates positively with the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) (r = .37, p < .01) and negatively with the Sense of Coherence Questionnaire (SOCQ) (r = -.31, p < .01), which contributes to the cross-validation of the construct.

Experiencing meaningfulness climate in teams: How spiritual leadership enhances team effectiveness when facing uncertain tasks

“…Conversely, in teams with weak meaningfulness climate, members will collectively hold the belief that the meaningfulness of work tends to be ignored. They are likely to feel bored, dejected, and deenergized (Lam et al, 2016;Pines, 1993;van Selm & Dittmann-Kohli, 1998). As a result, they will not be motivated to work on team goals or go extra miles.…”

Individuality and relatedness in middle and late adulthood: A study of women and men in the Netherlands, East- and West-Germany

“…The common factor concerning the "possible selves" is that the person in question sees them as possible modes of being for themselves. The SELE has been tested and employed in the Netherlands as well as in Germany (see for example Dittmann-Kohli, 1995a, 1995bDittmann-Kohli, Bode & Westerhof, 2001;Katzko, Steverink, Dittmann-Kohli & Herrera, 1998;Timmer, 2000;van Selm, 1998). For this study about individuality and relatedness inductor 16 ("My body ...") is not used, because it is the only one which invites a statement concerning a particular domain.…”

What is the problem? A Taxonomy of Life Problems and their Relation to Subjective Well-Being in Middle and Late Adulthood

“…Van Selm and Dittmann-Kohli (1998) found evidence for the existence of these components in accounts of meaninglessness.…”

“…A hierarchical coding scheme was developed for this study to categorize the sentence completions, building on previous work (Dittmann-Kohli, 1995;Van Selm and Dittmann-Kohli, 1998). The first step categorizes answers about self and life as negative, neutral, or positive.…”