Value Systems and Commitment to Goals as a Function of Age, Integration of Personality, and Fear of Death

Abstract

The present study examined the relationship between age, integration of personality, and fear of death and two aspects of the meaning of life (content of values and degree of commitment). Three groups (young adulthood; middle adulthood; and late adulthood) of men and women from different cultural origins and various levels of education participated in the study. The subjects were requested to rank order eight types of values (understanding, relationship, service, belief, expression, obtaining, growth, and hedonism). They also responded to a questionnaire on the degree of commitment to the goal actualisation. The findings were analysed by means of analysis of variance, multiple regression, and smallest space analysis (S.S.A.). The results show that the late adulthood group differed from the other two groups in the content of meaning by shifting to a more spiritual set of values. Yet, interpersonal relationship was the most important value for all groups. Content of meaning was also related to one's level of education. The degree of commitment to goals was affected by integration of personality, age, and gender. Fear of death and cultural origin had no impact on content or commitment. The S.S.A. revealed two clear dimensions of the eight value categories: altruistic-egotistic and spiritual-materialistic.

Experiences of meaning in life: A combined qualitative and quantitative approach

“…The Fulfilment (LRI-FU) subscale measures the degree to which persons see themselves as having fulfilled or as being in the process of fulfilling their framework or life-goals. Several studies attest to the satisfactory psychometric properties of the LRI (Battista & Almond, 1973; Chamberlain & Zika, 1988u,b; Debats, 1990; Debats, van der Lubbe & Wezeman, 1993;Florian & Snowden, 1989;Greenblatt, 1976;Katz, 1988;Orbach, Illuz & Rosenheim, 1987;Prasinos & Tittler, 1984). We concluded that, given its psychometric properties, the LRI is a useful tool for the empirical study of the construct of meaning in life.…”

“…Reker, Peacock & Wong, 1987;Ryff, 1989), spiritual well-being (e.g. Ledbetter, Smith & Vosler-Hunter, 1991 ;Paloutzian & Ellison, 1982) and life-span identity development (e.g. Erikson, 1982;Stephen, Fraser & Marcia, 1992) all attest to the importance of meaningful value orientations and of commitments to personal life satisfaction and psychological health.…”

Attitudes toward Life and Death, Religiosity, and Gender in Israeli Children

“…For all children with the exception of the religious girls, the most important rationale for their attitude is interpersonal relationships. This is almost an exact duplication of Orbach, Iluz, and Rosenheim[22] findings with adults and is reminiscent of Sullivan's [23] emphasis on interpersonal relationships as the leading motivating force in human behavior.…”

Identity Processes and Contents Through the Years of Late Adulthood

“…Orbach, Iluz, and Rosenheim (1987) found interpersonal relationships to be the most important of life values among late-life adults. Orbach, Iluz, and Rosenheim (1987) found interpersonal relationships to be the most important of life values among late-life adults.…”