Stauner, N., Stimson, T. S., & Boudreaux, M. J. (2010). The curve of the quest for a more meaningful life. Poster presented at the 11th convention of the Society of Personality and Social Psychology, Las Vegas, NV.

1. Introduction References
Meaning in life – “The sense made of, and significance felt regarding, the Kashdan, T. B., & Steger, M. F. (2007).
nature of one’s being and existence.” (Steger, Frazier, Oishi, & Kaler, 2006) Figure 1. Quadratic regression of presence of meaning predicting search for meaning Curiosity and stable and dynamic
pathways to wellness: Traits, states,
The search for meaning – “The strength, intensity, and activity of people’s and everyday behaviors. Motivation
desire and efforts to establish and/or augment their understanding of the and Emotion, 31, 159-173.
meaning, significance, and purpose of their lives.” (Steger, Kashdan, Steger, M. F., Frazier, P., Oishi, S., &
Sullivan, & Lorentz, 2008) Kaler, M. (2006). The Meaning in
Life Questionnaire: Assessing the
These constructs are intimately related; yet their relationship has eluded presence of and search for meaning
conclusive description. Measures of both comprise the Meaning in Life in life. Journal of Counseling
Questionnaire (MLQ; Steger et al., 2006). While consistently negative, Psychology, 53, 83–93.
correlations between the Presence and Search subscales vary significantly
Search for Meaning
Steger, M. F., & Kashdan, T. B. (2007).
in strength across samples: Stability and specificity of meaning
r = -.01 to -.25 (Steger & Kashdan, 2007) in life and life satisfaction over one
r = -.09 to -.24 (Steger et al., 2006) r = -.16 to -.20 (Steger et al., 2008) year. Journal of Happiness Studies, 8,
r = -.25 to -.26 (Steger et al., in press) r = -.39 (Kashdan & Steger, 2007) 161–179.
Steger, M. F., Kashdan, T. B., Sullivan,
Further results suggest that presence of meaning affects search for B. A., & Lorentz, D. (2008).
meaning, and not vice versa (Steger & Kashdan, 2007): Understanding the search for
Presence predicts search one year later (r = -.22, p < .05) meaning in life: personality,
Search does not relate to presence one year later (r = -.05, ns) cognitive Style, and the dynamic
Steger et al. (2008) identified moderators for this negative correlation, between seeking and experiencing
including relatedness, autonomy, approach and avoidance orientation, and meaning. Journal of Personality, 76,
openness to experience. The failure of openness and approach orientation 199-228.
to invert the negative correlation between MLQ subscales was taken as Steger, M. F., Pickering, N., Adams, E.,
evidence against the influence of search on presence. Burnett, J., Shin, J. Y., Dik, B. J., &
In testing for other moderating effects, it was discovered that presence Stauner, N. (in press). The quest for
moderated its own correlation with search. Hence a quadratic model of meaning: Religious affiliation
presence was tested for fit in predicting search. differences in the correlates of
religious quest and search for
Method Presence of Meaning meaning in life. Psychology of
Participants Fit Method: Religion and Spirituality.
Loess Regression
N = 238 UCR undergraduates Mean age = 18.8 74% female
44% Asian American 22% Hispanic 13% Caucasian
11% African American 10% other / mixed ethnicities
Discussion
Presence predicts search better than we thought.
Measure The inclusion of a quadratic term substantially improves model fit.
Meaning in Life Questionnaire (Steger, Frazier, Oishi, & Kaler, 2006) The first-order slope is greater in magnitude than the correlation found in previous studies.
Two subscales: Presence & Search, each composed of 5 statements This reduces the need to explain previous notions of a weaker relationship through external moderators.
Example Presence item: “My life has a clear sense of purpose.”
Example Search item: “I am always looking to find my life’s purpose.” The motivation to search for meaning decreases at both extremes of presence.
Rated on a 7-point Likert scale for self-referential trueness Search is highest at moderate levels of presence, lowest at high levels of presence, and moderate at low levels of presence.
Meaninglessness does not monotonically create compensatory motivation.
Results Ambivalence or mild absence of meaning may challenge people to seek resolution to existential questions (Steger et al., 2008).
Table 1. Simple statistics of MLQ subscales However, extreme meaninglessness (z < -1) may entail demotivation due to overwhelming depression (r = -.48; Steger et al., 2006), alienation
Subscale Mean St. Dev. Cronbach’s α (r = -.24; Steger et al., 2008), and other problems that preclude existential concern with cognitive overload.
Presence 4.80 1.33 .88 Extreme meaninglessness may represent cynicism or utter disinterest regarding existential questions such as life’s meaning, which would
Search 4.58 1.38 .84_____ imply lower motivation to pursue answers. Such pursuits may be premature for some teens and young adults.
Note. Pearson’s r = -.22, p = .0005.
Beyond average levels of meaning, the motivation to seek more meaning drops rapidly.
Table 2. Regression statistics predicting Search Satiety and complacency may occur at high levels of meaning. Daily pleasure decreases the daily search for meaning (Kashdan & Steger, 2007),
Variable Estimate SEE β p Partial R² and life satisfaction relates to a divergence of presence (r = .30 to .56; Steger & Kashdan, 2007, Steger et al., 2006) and search (r = -.22 to -.38;
Intercept 4.87 .11 .00 <.0001 Steger et al., in press).
Presence -.33 .07 -.31 <.0001 .05 Extreme meaningfulness may represent a foreclosed existential identity that opposes questioning. This is suggested by a number of variables
Presence² -.16 .04 -.29 <.0001 .07 _ with divergent relationships with presence and search, respectively: dogmatism (rs = .43 & -.21; Steger et al., 2008), right-wing
Note. Adjusted R = .34, tolerance = .90. Presence is centered. authoritarianism (rs = .35 & -.14), intrinsic religiosity (rs = .42 & -.17), and religious quest (rs = -.18 & .26).