Sources of Meaning: An Investigation of Significant Commitments in Life

Debats, Dominique L.

doi:10.1177/0022167899394003

Cited by 157 publications

(154 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…We also know that relationships with family and friends are most frequently mentioned as being meaningful (e.g., Debats, 1999). It would make sense that meaning from especially important sources of meaning would be the most predictive of overall meaning, but this might not be the case.…”

Section: Sources Of Meaning Predicting Search and Presencementioning

confidence: 99%

Do sources of meaning differentially predict search for meaning, presence of meaning, and wellbeing?

Grouden¹,

Jose²

2015

Intnl. J. Wellbeing

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Meaning in life is vital for human wellbeing. Research has examined important sources of meaning: however, it has not yet investigated whether certain sources of meaning might be more predictive of overall meaning and wellbeing. A community sample of 247 individuals (30 -69 years) rated the degree of meaningfulness they experienced in certain domains and completed 11 wellbeing measures. Presence of meaning was positively predicted by family and interpersonal relations, and negatively by leisure activities; search for meaning was positively predicted by personal growth and religiosity/spirituality. Meaning from family and health aided in the process of searching for meaning leading to presence of meaning; similarly, meaning from family, interpersonal relationships, health, religiosity/spirituality and life in general buffered against impoverished wellbeing when searching for meaning. Presence and wellbeing were both higher if the domains of work, family, interpersonal relations, community/society issues, and life in general were highly endorsed. Lastly, highly endorsing a larger number of sources buffered against negative wellbeing outcomes when searching for meaning. Overall, we found that meaning from important domains such as family and interpersonal relationships, and strongly endorsing a wide variety of sources, protected against negative wellbeing outcomes when searching for meaning.

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Section: Sources Of Meaning Predicting Search and Presencementioning

confidence: 99%

Do sources of meaning differentially predict search for meaning, presence of meaning, and wellbeing?

Grouden¹,

Jose²

2015

Intnl. J. Wellbeing

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“…For example, authors in social gerontology and social psychology have clearly articulated the key importance of human relationships in supporting well-being (Baumeister, 1991;Lawton, 1993;Rowe & Kahn, 1998;Ryan & Deci, 2000). A social perspective on meaningful activity has also been asserted by authors in occupational therapy and occupational science (Hammell, 2004;Hasselkus, 2002), and references to the social nature of activity meaning are replete in qualitative investigations (e.g., Debats, 1999;King, Brown, & Smith, 2003;Unruh, 1983). Additional SEC items suggested meaning relevant to affective activity experiences, expression of values, just right challenge and control.…”

Section: Factor Structurementioning

confidence: 99%

Factor Structure, Reliability, and Convergent Validity of the Engagement in Meaningful Activities Survey for Older Adults

Eakman¹,

Carlson²,

Clark³

2009

OTJR: Occupation, Participation, Health

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This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Engagement in Meaningful Activities Survey (EMAS) (Goldberg, Brintnell, & Goldberg, 2002) in a sample of older adults living in the greater Los Angeles area. The EMAS evidenced moderate test-retest reliability (r = .56) and good internal consistency (α = .89). Exploratory factor analysis (principal components) discerned a twocomponent structure within the EMAS, indicative of Personal-Competence and SocialExperiential meaning. The EMAS demonstrated theoretically predicted zero-order correlations with measures of meaning and purpose in life, depressive symptomology, life satisfaction, and health-related quality of life. Regression analyses discerned that purpose and meaning in life consistently predicted the EMAS and its components. Furthermore, persons reporting greater levels of Social-Experiential relative to Personal-Competence meaning had the lowest levels of physical health-related quality of life. This study offers initial evidence in support of the EMAS as a valid measure of meaningful activity in older adults. KeywordsMeasurement; Meaning and Purpose in Life; Health-Related Qualify of Life; Life Satisfaction There is growing recognition that participation in personally valued activities contributes to individual well-being. For example, Cantor & Sanderson (1999) have argued that well-being may be enhanced when a person participates in life tasks that are intrinsically valued and autonomously chosen. It has also been suggested that the meaning persons derive from their day to day activities ultimately infuse life with meaning (Clark et al., 1991;Hasselkus, 2002;Sharrott, 1983;Thomson, 2003), and consequently have significant implications for both physical and mental health (Jackson, Carlson, Mandel, Zemke, & Clark, 1998;Ryff & Singer, 1998). Further, the meaning persons attribute to their activities may mediate the manner in which those activities are perceived, thereby influencing health, well-being and successful aging (Carlson, Clark, & Young, 1998;Law, Steinwender, & Leclaire, 1998;Little, 1998;Rowe & Kahn, 1998).There has been recurring interest in the nature of meaningful activity engagement in social gerontology. For example, Kelly, Steinkamp, and Kelly (1986) derived five forms of activity meaning related to companionship within an activity, strengthening personal relationships, competence and skill development, expression and personal development, and health and exercise. Lawton (1993) reviewed the status of the meaning of leisure activities, making a distinction between denotative meaning, which refers to the more objective physical characteristics and uses of activities, and connotative meaning, referring to the personally subjective or affective aspects of activity involvement; a difference clearly reflective of NIH Public Access Pierce's (2001) discussion of activity and occupation. Lawton identified three classes of connotative meaning: experiential, developmental and social leisure, and offered the term 'mulitplexity' to sugges...

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“…Houston and Cartwright [13] discovered that employees in public service occupations tend to be more spiritual than those in non-public service occupations, while Sharique et al [14] found that female athletes were more spiritual than males. However Debats [15], in a study on sources of meaning in life did not find significant associations between meaning in life and age, sex, and educational level. The researcher argued that the search for meaning in life seemed to be a basic human drive and a universal phenomenon that is independent of demographic.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Workplace Spirituality and Occupation: A Study of Employees in Higher Education Institutions

Ahmad¹,

Omar²

2016

Proceedings of the 2016 International Conference on Humanities and Social Science

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Abstract. The aim of this paper is to examine workplace spirituality in terms of its dimensions, namely meaningful work, sense of community and allignment of values, among employees in private higher education institutions in Greater Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The differences among the spirituality dimensions according to occupation were explored. Data were collected from a sample of 102 employees using self-administered questionnaires. There were no significant mean differences in overall workplace spirituality scores for occupation. Of the three dimensions, meaningful work significantly differed by occupation. Academics reported significantly higher levels of meaningful work than did administrators. Post-hoc analysis of comparison between means for academic and administrator groups indicated a significant difference.

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Sources of Meaning: An Investigation of Significant Commitments in Life

Cited by 157 publications

References 41 publications

Do sources of meaning differentially predict search for meaning, presence of meaning, and wellbeing?

Do sources of meaning differentially predict search for meaning, presence of meaning, and wellbeing?

Factor Structure, Reliability, and Convergent Validity of the Engagement in Meaningful Activities Survey for Older Adults

Workplace Spirituality and Occupation: A Study of Employees in Higher Education Institutions

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