Search

Objective: A sense of meaning in life (MIL) is thought to help protect people against experiencing explicit anxiety about death. However, the experience of meaning is complex and subjective and may relate to death anxiety in nuanced ways. We examine how self‐alienation—a feeling of not knowing/being disconnected from one's self—might moderate the relationship between MIL and death anxiety. Method: Across five studies, we tested the hypothesis that MIL would negatively predict death anxiety more strongly for people relatively low in self‐alienation. These studies were similar in design and included exploratory, confirmatory, and pre‐registered tests. Results: A meta‐regression across our five studies (N = 2001) provided clear evidence that MIL was most strongly associated with lower death anxiety at low self‐alienation. We also observed that MIL was positively associated with death anxiety at high self‐alienation. These effects were consistent in direction but inconsistent in strength. Conclusions: We interpreted these results as evidence that MIL is existentially protective when experienced in combination with a relatively strong, clear, and connected sense of self. In contrast, MIL may be existentially problematic when people feel relatively unaware and disconnected from themselves. These findings align with aspects of terror management theory and highlight the potentially complex ways that MIL might relate to death anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we explored the temporal stability of the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI), which has not been comprehensively reexamined since it was first published. Our three specific aims were to determine the utility of PAI indicators of basic protocol validity (inconsistent responses [ICN] and highly unusual/unlikely responses [INF]) in identifying suspect responding; calculate the stability coefficients for each PAI scale and subscale across 3-, 6-, and 9-week spans; and explore whether profile stability across four measurements could be prospectively predicted. We administered the PAI to a sample of undergraduates (N = 579) at four separate timepoints. ICN and INF effectively identified likely attriters and inconsistent responders. All PAI full scales and subscales evidenced good test–retest reliability, with some small exceptions. Finally, all PAI clinical scales were correlated with profile instability although many of these correlations were no longer significant when controlling for mean clinical elevation of the profile. We interpreted these results as evidence for the utility of PAI validity scales, the temporal reliability of the PAI, and the role of psychopathology in response variability over time. We also discussed some preliminary evidence that this variability can be prospectively predicted, suggesting that it in part reflects substantive changes rather than random error variance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many factors likely impact how people create meaning out of their lives. Certain psychological disorders may affect these processes, necessitating the reliance on atypical meaning-making strategies. Across two studies, we tested the hypothesis that the tendency to engage in mental fantasies would be associated with higher meaning in life for people with elevated symptoms of depression. In Study 1 (N = 455Mturk workers), fantasy proneness positively predicted meaning at high levels of depression, but was unrelated at low levels of depression. We replicated this pattern in Study 2 (N = 367), which was preregistered, using the baseline survey of a multi-wave design. In addition, across six weekly measurements, we observed that depression moderated the relationship between fantasy and meaning at the between-person, but not within-person, level. These findings have implications for understanding idiosyncrasies in meaning-making, the role of depression in meaning-making processes, and the potential positive functions of fantasy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]