The Sources of Meaning and Meaning in Life Questionnaire (SoMe): Relations to demographics and well-being

Shortfalls of widely used measures of meaning in life are described. Their use results in biased correlations and restriction of the complexity inherent in experiences of meaning. To qualify results, the Sources of Meaning and Meaning in Life Questionnaire (SoMe) is employed. It offers separate scales to measure a positive and a negative dimension of meaning: meaningfulness–a fundamental sense of meaning and belonging, and crisis of meaning–the evaluation of life as frustratingly empty and lacking meaning. Both intercorrelate moderately (?.38/?.35). Additionally, the SoMe assesses 26 sources of meaning. Based on a representative sample, relationships between meaningfulness, crisis of meaning, and sources of meaning with demographics are reported (Study 1). In Study 2, SoMe scales are correlated with positive (mood, satisfaction with life) and negative (neuroticism, anxiety, depression) indicators of well-being. SEM reveals that meaningfulness predicts positive well-being, but is not predictive of negative well-being. Crisis of meaning is a strong predictor for both positive and negative well-being.     

The Epic of Evolution as a Framework for Human Orientation in Life

This article sketches what is required of a world picture (religious or nonreligious) that is intended to provide orientation in the world for ongoing human life today. How do we move from conceptions and theories prominent in the modern sciences—such as cosmic and biological evolution—to an overall picture or cosmology which can orient us for the effective address of today's deepest human problems? A biohistoricalconception of the human is proposed in answer to this question.