Presence and search for meaning in sport: Initial construct validation

According to Frankl (1959), the will to meaning is a fundamental human motive. Perceiving life as meaningful is associated with a number of sources and positive outcomes. Similar findings emerged when looking at domain-specific meaning, such as work. Surprisingly, sport-specific meaning is yet to be empirically investigated or measured. Therefore, the purpose of this two-study project was to examine the psychometric properties of the Meaning in Sport Questionnaire (MSQ), a sport-specific meaning measure. Survey responses (n = 329) from Study 1 were used to assess factorial validity and measurement invariance for the MSQ. Results from Study 2 with a different sample (n = 402) supported initial convergent validity for the two subscales of presence and search for meaning in sport. The MSQ is a new measure that can be used to investigate the extent to which athletes perceive their sport to be meaningful and search for such meaning.