| dc.description.abstract | Previous research has shown a strong relationship between meaning in life and life satisfaction. Another contributor to life satisfaction was self-transcendence (ST), but this was not investigated much in the past. Empirical findings on ST and life satisfaction were predominantly studied in the nursing literature and in samples of old adults, and so far no study incorporated all variables (self-transcendence (ST), meaning in life, and life satisfaction) in healthy and young adults’ populations. Therefore, it was initially hypothesized that (1) ST and meaning in life have a positive relationship. It was further hypothesized that (2), without high presence of meaning, search for meaning in life would predict decrease on life satisfaction. Finally, and mainly, (3) it was expected to find high self-transcendence, and high meaning in life would predict increase on life satisfaction. A cross-sectional survey design was conducted in a sample of Turkish and non-Turkish adults (N_=617). All of the hypotheses were confirmed: (1) MANOVA found a significant relationship between ST and meaning in life (p_ _< .001). (2) Search for meaning predicted decreased life satisfaction (β _= -.18). (3) In the two hierarchical regression equations, the best fitting model for predicting life satisfaction was the linear combination of both domains of meaning in life, and self-transcendence (β _= .25). Additional analysis found that search for meaning was positively associated with life satisfaction when individuals had presence of meaning in their lives. Limitations, and recommendations for well-being research, and also some implications to clinical populations were discussed. | |
