Will to Live: The Fulfillment of Needs for Meaning and Its Relation to Meaning in Life

Abstract

One of the purposes of this study is to develop and test the factor structure of a multidimensional Needs for Meaning Scale (NFMS) and another purpose is to investigate the contribution of needs for meaning fulfillment on experiencing meaning in life by using self-determination theory. Baumeister asserts that meaning in life can be established with the possession of four needs for meaning: need for purpose, need for values and justification, need for efficacy, need for self-worth. To measure NFM, 33-itemed NFMS is constructed. Meaning in life was measured through the Purpose in Life (PIL) test. The data were gathered conveniently from 355 individuals. Both the NFMS and PIL test were investigated through confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) before two structural models were tested. The data were analyzed by means of a SEM analysis using AMOS program. Three different models of NFMS were tested. CFA confirmed four dimensions of NFMS in both a first- and second-order solutions. Additionally, both structural models had a good fit to data and indicated that needs for meaning fulfillment has positive contribution on meaning in life. The fulfillment of need for purpose emerged as the most important predictor of meaning in life. The findings were discussed in the light of explanatory power of the dimensions of needs for meaning on meaning in life.

Keywords

• anlam ihtiyacı
• yaşamın anlamı
• varoluşçuluk
• öz-belirleme kuramı
• ölçek geliştirme
• varoluşsal ihtiyaçlar
• needs for meaning
• meaning in life
• existential needs
• self-determination theory
• scale development