THOSE WHO SEARCH AND THOSE WHO FIND - ASSESSING THE PRESENCE OF AND SEARCH FOR THE MEANING IN LIFE WITH THE HUNGARIAN VERSION OF THE MEANING IN LIFE QUESTIONNAIRE

Research on life meaning – an essential construct in personality and health psychology – has mostly focused on experiencing meaning and paid little attention to searching for meaning in life. In the present study, we reviewed the theoretical frameworks and empirical results indicating that the experience of and the search for meaning in life are largely independent phenomena. Further, we present the Hungarian adaptation (MLQ-H) of the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (Steger, Frazier et al, 2006), measuring both aspects of life meaning, and examine its psychometric properties. Analyzing the data of four independent samples (Ntotal = 1290), we found that the MLQ-H had excellent reliability (.79≤α≤.89) and validity indicators. With the exception of emotional lability, presence of meaning in life was associated positively with the Big Five personality traits, several indicators of well-being and the personal importance of intrinsic life goals. Further, it related negatively to emotional lability and negative emotions. Search for meaning in life was connected positively with extraversion, conscientiousness, openness, personal importance of intrinsic goals, and emotional lability, too. According to our results, the Hungarian version of the Meaning in Life Questionnaire proved to be a reliable and valid instrument for measuring both aspects of life meaning. In addition, our findings support the positive character of experiencing meaning in life and call our attention to the fact, that searching for meaning is an ambiguous process including the chance of both development and discouragement.