Relationships among life satisfaction, meaning in life and need satisfaction with mixture structural equation modelling

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the current study was to investigate the relationships among life satisfaction, meaning in life and basic psychological need satisfaction. Participants were 384 college students. Balanced Measure of Psychological Needs Scale, Meaning in Life Questionnaire, Satisfaction with Life Scale and demographic information form were utilised for data collection. Data were analysed using mixture structural equation modelling approach. Results of the study indicated that fulfilling competence and autonomy need is indirectly related to life satisfaction through meaning in life. Additionally, need for relatedness and autonomy satisfaction and meaning in life is directly associated with life satisfaction. Findings suggest two latent profiles: (a) a high satisfied and meaningful group and (b) a low satisfied and low meaningful group.

KEYWORDS:

• Life satisfaction
• meaning in life
• need satisfaction
• mixture structural equation modelling

Data availability statement

The data sets generated and/or analysed during the current study are available from the author upon reasonable request.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

İlhan Yalçın

İlhan Yalçın is a Professor in the Department of Guidance and Psychological Counselling, Ankara University, Turkey. His current research focuses mainly on positive psychology, social and emotional skills, marriage and family counselling, professional ethics, and seeking psychological help.