1. 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,
- 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,
- 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,
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) = , 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 for additional questions and inquiries. Thank you.