Joane Adeclas & Taekyun Hur Meaning in Life and Life Satisfaction: A Comparative Study Between French and Koreans Joane Adeclas & Taekyun Hur Korea University …………………………………………………………… Meaning in life and life satisfaction are two important indicators for measuring well-being. General definitions • Meaning in life: refers to an individual’s recognition of their existence, purpose in life and self-accomplishment (Reker & Wong, 1988). Psychologists have defined meaning in life into two distinct constructs: - the presence for meaning  My life is meaningful (about the outcome) - the search for meaning  How to make my life meaningful (about the process) (Steger, Kawabata, Shimai, & Otake, 2008). • Life satisfaction: associated with subjective well-being, which is a person’s satisfaction regarding their needs and pleasure. Therefore, it is a more affective component of well-being and happiness (Diener & Suh, 1997). Previous studies • Negative correlation between: - Search for meaning and presence for meaning - Search for meaning and life satisfaction (Steger, Oishi, & Kesebir, 2011). • Previously proposed that culture moderates the relationship between presence and search for meaning (Steger et al., 2008). • No previous investigation about culture as a moderator between meaning in life and life satisfaction. Present Research Purpose of this study: • To investigate the impact of culture on the relationship between meaning in life and life satisfaction. • To use culture as a moderator between meaning in life and life satisfaction. Hypotheses: H1: Search for meaning as positively related to life satisfaction for Koreans. H2: Search for meaning as negatively related to life satisfaction for French. H3: Culture would moderate the relationship between search for meaning and life satisfaction. Method Participants and Procedure: • 300 Korean (150 men, 150 women) and 300 French (150 men, 150 women) • Participants answered an online survey in their own language. Measure: • The Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ; Steger et al., 2006). The scale is divided into two subscales: - Presence for meaning with 5 items (i.e., “I understand the meaning of my life”). - Search for meaning with 5 items (i.e., “I am searching for a meaning in my life”)  Both used a Likert scale from 1 (not at all) to 7 (strongly agree). • The Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS; Dierner, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985). This scale consisted of 5 items (i.e., “I am satisfied with my life” and “I would change nothing”) measuring individuals’ self-evaluation of their lives in general. A 7-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree) was used.   Results …………………………………………………………… • Cross-cultural comparison on meaning in life and life satisfaction • Relationship between culture, search for meaning and life satisfaction Figure1. Simple Slope Culture and Search for Meaning in Life Satisfaction Discussion ………………………………………..……………… • This study suggests that the relationship between meaning in life and life satisfaction would be moderated by culture. • Culture as a moderator between meaning in life and life satisfaction : - For French, negative relationship between search and presence for meaning + presence for meaning positively related to life satisfaction. - For Koreans, positive relationship between search for meaning and presence for meaning + search for meaning positively related to life satisfaction. Introduction Table 1. Correlations Culture, Presence for meaning, Search for meaning and life satisfaction   1 2 M SD France Search of meaning - 4.02 1.36 2. Presence of meaning -.130* 4.73 1.20 3. Life satisfaction -.127* .512** 4.07 1.33 South Korea 4.85 0.98 .573** 4.50 1.12 .451** .624** 3.60 1.32 Note: * p < .05 (2-tailed), ** p < .001 (2-tailed) References - Crumbaugh, J. C. (1977). The Seeking of Noetic Goals Test (SONG): A complementary scale to the Purpose in Life Test (PIL). Journal of Clinical Psychology, 33, 900–907. - Diener, E., & Suh, E. M. (1997). Measuring quality of life: Economic, social, and subjective indicators. Social Indicators Research, 40, 189-216. - Diener, E., Emmons, R.. A. , Larsen, R. .J. , & Griffin, S. (1985). The satisfaction with life scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 71–75. - Reker, G. T., & Wong, P. T. P. (1988). Aging as an individual process: toward a theory of personal meaning. In J. E. Birren, & V. L. Bengtson (Eds.), Emergent theories of aging (pp. 214–246). New York: Springer Publishing Company. - Steger, M. F., Frazier, P., Oishi, S., & Kaler, M. (2006). The Meaning in Life Questionnaire: Assessing the presence of and search for meaning in life. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 53, 80–93. - Steger, M. F., Kawabata, Y., Shimai, S., & Otake, K. (2008). The meaningful life in Japan and the United States: Levels and correlates of meaning in life. Journal of Research in Personality, 42, 600-678. - Steger, M. F., Oishi, S., & Kesebir, S. (2011). Is a life without meaning satisfying? The moderating role of the search for meaning in satisfaction with life judgments. The journal of Positive Psychology, 6, 173-180. Table 2. Three-way Regression Presence for Meaning, Search for Meaning and Culture on Life Satisfaction   b SE t 1st order Country -0.134 0.096 -3.770* Presence for Meaning 0.555 0.390 16.421* Search for Meaning 0.030 0.038 0.845 F (3,596) = 103.172, p< .001, adjusted 𝑅 2 = .338 2nd order Culture× Presence 0.045 0.092 0.821 Culture× Search 0.136 2.746** Presence X Search 0.014 0.026 0.373 F change (3,593) = 3.982, p = .008, 𝑅 2 change = .013 3rd order Culture × Presence × Search -0.007 0.046 -0.182 F change (1,593) = 0.033, p = .856, 𝑅 2 change = .000 Please contact adeclas.joanne@yahoo.fr for additional questions and inquiries. Thank you.