Correlation of meaningfulness of life to psychological time in personality

Abstract

© 2014 Canadian Center of Science and Education. The article considers the issue of correlation between the meaning of life and psychological time of a personality, while the temporal distribution of the meaningful constituents in the human life is a very important aspect of the meaning of life. The specific issue concerning the ratio of the meaning of life's quantitative aspect manifested by means of its meaningfulness' level to some peculiar characteristics of the personality's psychological time was raised within the frames of the denoted problem. The aim of the present empirical research was to reveal the above mentioned correlation. The level of the meaningfulness of life was determined applying the Life-Purpose Orientations Questionnaire (LPO) that consists of five factors: goals in life, emotional intensity of life, self-actualization satisfaction, life locus of control, Ego locus of control. The parameters of the psychological time were estimated using the Estimation of Five-Year Intervals Method (EFI) that reveals the life way by means of its perceived efficiency's temporal dynamics. The current research surveyed the postgraduate students of the Kazan Federal University (n=140). The obtained findings reported that the level of the meaningfulness of life and such a parameter of the personality's psychological time, as a developmental age, demonstrate no interconnections: the surveyed, who are psychologically either younger, or older than their chronological age is, equally estimate their life as meaningful. At that, quantitative data on the meaningfulness of life are closely interconnected to other characteristics estimated by means of the EFI method to both the actualization and emotional intensity of life. The peculiarities of interconnections between the criteria of the meaningfulness of life and parameters of actualization and general emotional intensity of life for men and women were also detected. The men better evaluate the emotional intensity of both the past and future of their life at higher level of the meaningfulness of life. The women with the higher level of the meaningfulness of life better estimate its eventual intensity in the future, while they evaluate their past as poorer for events.