Page No: 237-245.
Ravikant Pinjarkar and Seema Mehrotra
Maharashtra Institute of Mental Health, Pune NIMHANS, Bangalore
There are a few studies from India that throw light on sources of meaning in life as well
as presence and search for meaning and its links to indices of well-being in young adults.
The differential association of well-being indices with meaning variables has also not
been well documented in the Indian literature. The present study was an exploratory one,
undertaken to address these issues. It utilized a sample of 93 college going urban youth
pursuing varied postgraduate courses. Search for meaning and presence of meaning
in life were assessed using a standard questionnaire, while a measure was developed
to document sources of meaning in life and perceived level of fulfi lment with respect to
one’s important sources of meaning. To be loved, accepted and trusted by signifi cant
persons in one’s life emerged as the most important source of meaning in the overall
sample, although the sources of meaning with relational themes were endorsed more
frequently by women than by men. Presence of meaning was associated with current
as well as general experience of affective well-being (positive and negative affect) and
cognitive well-being (life satisfaction). On the other hand, the experience of search for
meaning co-occurred with reports of higher negative affect in the short term as well as
in general. Meaning variables were more strongly associated with affective as compared
to the cognitive dimensions of well-being.