Psychological Development and Education ›› 2010, Vol. 26 ›› Issue (4): 431-437.

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Meaning in Life on Psychological Theory and Measurement

CHENG Ming-ming, FAN Fu-min   

  1. Department of Psychology in Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084
  • Online:2010-07-15 Published:2010-07-15

Abstract: The theoretical and empirical study of meaning in life in psychology began in the middle of the twentieth century.From the theories of existentialism psychology,personality and motivation,relativism,to positive psychology,the research on meaning in life was far from the style of Philosophy,and became a most important psychological topic.Since the 1960s,researchers have gradually developed a lot of instruments to measure this concept from two dimensions:sense of meaning in life and the sources of meaning in life.The integration of sources and sense of meaning in life on measurement is the new tendency.There is wide development potential in the theoretical perspective,research content and methods and practical application for the psychological research of meaning in life.

Key words: existential psychology, positive psychology, sense of meaning in life, sources of meaning in life

CLC Number: 

  • B844
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