Perceived meaningfulness in life: a matter of what makes life meaningful

Abstract: The existential psychology’s concern with the feeling of meaningfulness in life forms the basis for the present study aiming to investigate the relationship between perceived meaningfulness, and search for meaningfulness in life, and level of conformity.  An online survey was distributed to employees at a university in Sweden, and included two questionnaires; the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ) and the Concern for Appropriateness (CFA) questionnaire. One hundred and two respondents completed the survey. CFA was found to significantly correlate with MLQ-Presence (r = -.456 p = <.001) and MLQ-Search (r = .307 p = .002). The present study found that the feeling of present meaningfulness was significantly lower among those who cared more about fitting into others´ norms concerning how to behave.