Personality and meaning in life

Associations between personality and two aspects of meaning in life are investigated: meaningfulness and sources of meaning. Three hypotheses are formulated: The first hypothesis (A) states a moderate predictability of meaningfulness by personality factors; the second (B) suggests that personality factors predict meaningfulness via sources of meaning. The third hypothesis (C) assumes that it should be possible to predict specific sources of meaning by personality factors. The first and third hypotheses are supported. (A) 16% of variance in meaningfulness can be explained by personality factors. (C) The attempt to predict specific sources of meaning by personality factors yields highly significant results, showing a differentiated pattern of relationships between personality and sources of meaning. (B) In a path analysis predicting meaningfulness by personality factors via sources of meaning, only one source of meaning (self-transcendence) has a mediating effect; additionally, a direct path from Extraversion to meaningfulness proves fitting. In total, 52% of variance in meaningfulness are explained. The results suggest that individuals have a predisposition for particular sources of meaning, dependent on their personality. Persons with the capability of self-transcendence as well as extraverted individuals are prone to experience their lives as meaningful. Furthermore, some sources of meaning show positive correlations with Neuroticism—a finding that is cautiously interpreted, but will need further clarification.