A Path Model of Meaning in Life among University Students: The Roles of Gratitude, Self-Concept Clarity and Self-Construal

The current study aimed to investigate the relationships between meaning in life (presence of meaning, search for meaning), self-construal (integration, differentiation), gratitude and self-concept clarity among university students based on the proposals of Steger’s theory of meaning in life (2009, 2012). The sample consists of 825 students attending a major public university in Turkey. A demographic information form, the Balanced Integration Differentiation Scale (BIDS), the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MIL), the Gratitude Questionnaire (GQ) and the Self-Concept Clarity Scale (SCCS) were utilized to collect data. In a cross-sectional correlational design, a path model was proposed to examine whether gratitude predicts meaning in life directly or indirectly via integration as well as the role of self-concept clarity as a mediator of the relationship between self-construal and meaning in life. Four path analyses were conducted to test the proposed model for the four self-construal types from the BID model by İmamoğlu (1998, 2003). Various significant direct and indirect effects providing support for Steger’s theory of meaning (2009, 2012), were obtained. Implications and future directions are discussed.