Adolescents' Meaning in Life: Contribution of Self-Mastery, Attachment Orientation and Environmental Variables

Self-identity and a sense of purpose and meaning in life are two of the most important ends of adolescence (Erikson, 1960). The current research examined the way in which adolescents' personal resources (attachment style and self-mastery) as well as environmental resources (family and social relationships) relate to sense of meaning in life and to search for meaning in life.

Based on previous research we hypothesized that there will be negative correlation between anxious or avoidant attachment style and sense of meaning in life. We also expected that self-mastery, appraisal of relationships with parents and felt social support will be positively correlated with sense of meaning in life. We hypothesized that anxious attachment style will be positively correlated with search for meaning in life, whilst avoidant attachment style will be negatively correlated with search for meaning in life. We posed research questions regarding gender differences in meaning in life facets, moderation effect of close relationships on the correlation between attachment style and sense of meaning in life, the connection between interpersonal relationships and search for meaning in life, and the connection between attributes of online communication and meaning in life. We also aimed at calculating the amount of sense of meaning in life and search for meaning in life variance explained by the research independent variables.

The sample included 246 adolescents, 156 females and 90 males, aged 12 to 19 years old. After receiving parent's consent, the participants filled a self-report questionnaire, either online or manually. The questionnaire assessed sense of meaning in life, search for meaning in life, attachment style, self-mastery, appraisal of relationships with parents, felt support from friends and close others, attributes of online activity and socio-demographic details.

In line with our hypotheses, both anxious and avoidant attachment styles where negatively correlated with sense of meaning in life, whereas self-mastery, appraisal of relationships with parents and felt support from friends and close others were positively correlated with sense of meaning in life. Duration of daily online activity was negatively correlated with sense of meaning in life. Search for meaning in life was positively correlated with age, and curve regression revealed parabolic relationship between attachment anxiety and search for meaning in life: meaning search was highest when attachment anxiety was moderate, and lowest when attachment anxiety level was close to the high or low extremity. Interpersonal relationships variables were found to have no moderation effect on the correlation between attachment style and sense of meaning in life.

Results' practical and theoretical implications are presented in the Discussion section.