Meaning-in-life orientations and values in youth: Cross-cultural comparison

Abstract

Search for purposes in life and the meaning of life is one of the developmental tasks in youth. The Meaning-in-Life Orientations test (MOL) is often used to assess purposes in life and meaningfulness of life and is often used to compare individuals and groups. It is yet unclear whether this test shows measurement invariance across different countries or not, which was the main object of the current study. First, confirmatory factor analyses were conducted separately for data sets with Russian and Ukrainian students. Second, metric and scalar invariance were tested. Finally, comparisons between Russian and Ukrainian students were made on their scores on the MOL.

Keywords:

• Meaning of life
• Purpose in life
• The Meaning-in-Life Orientations test
• Measurement invariance

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Natalia Gorlova

The current paper was written as part of a writing week organized by the young researchers of the European Association of Developmental Psychology (EADP). We gratefully thank the EADP for the funding for making this research possible.