Meaning in life categories of elderly nursing home residents.

Essays were gathered from fifty-three elderly nursing home residents about the strongest meaning in their lives. These elderly nursing home residents most often reported the category of family relationships as central, followed by pleasure and then health. A chi-square analysis showed a significant difference between the type of meaning of the elderly nursing home residents and those of younger adults. An additional chi-square analysis found no significant difference between the nursing home residents and a group of golden anniversary couples' meanings. Finally, our results indicate that elderly nursing home residents do not report an absence of meaning in their lives.