O'Connor K, Chamberlain K
Department of Psychology, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand.
Br J Psychol. 1996 Aug;87 ( Pt 3):461-77. doi: 10.1111/j.2044-8295.1996.tb02602.x.
Meaning in life is integral to psychological functioning. Empirical research into this construct has focused on sources of meaning. Reker & Wong (1988) have proposed a theoretical outline for a multidimensional structure of meaning which challenges a source-based approach. The present study used a qualitative approach to explore people's accounts of their experiences of life meaning and focused on the following key dimensions: sources; cognitive, motivational and affective components; breadth; and depth. Thirty-eight adults at mid-life were interviewed in depth. Five categories of sources accounted for material reported in previous studies, but a sixth was required to contain experiences of meaning relating to the natural environment. All sources revealed cognitive, motivational and affective components. Accounts showed variation in breadth and depth of meaning, although the assessment of depth proved problematic. Results from this qualitative exploration generally confirm Reker & Wong's structural model. Furthermore, many people have coherent frameworks of meaning which structure their life experiences, and serve to integrate these theoretical dimensions.
生活意义是心理功能不可或缺的一部分。对这一概念的实证研究主要集中在意义的来源上。雷克和黄（1988）提出了一个多维意义结构的理论框架，对基于来源的方法提出了挑战。本研究采用定性方法，探索人们对生活意义体验的描述，并关注以下关键维度：来源；认知、动机和情感成分；广度；以及深度。对38名中年成年人进行了深入访谈。五类来源涵盖了先前研究中报道的内容，但还需要第六类来包含与自然环境相关的意义体验。所有来源都揭示了认知、动机和情感成分。描述显示出意义广度和深度的差异，尽管对深度的评估存在问题。这次定性探索的结果总体上证实了雷克和黄的结构模型。此外，许多人拥有连贯的意义框架，这些框架构建了他们的生活经历，并有助于整合这些理论维度。
