Types and depth of meaning in life and existential vacuum : a comparison between nursing students and college students

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  • 生きる意味の類型・深さと実存的空虚感との関連 : 看護学生と大学生の比較から
  • イキル イミ ノ ルイケイ フカサ ト ジツゾンテキ クウキョカン トノ カンレン カンゴ ガクセイ ト ダイガクセイ ノ ヒカク カラ

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Abstract

The present study examined the relationship between the types and depth of meaning in life and existential vacuum by comparing nursing students with college students. The Meaning Essay Document (MED) and Existential Vacuum Scale (EVS) were administered to 150 nursing students. To classify the study participants, a new meaning category "being" was added to the original eight categories in the previous study. The main results were as follows: Nursing students reported the category of "growth" as central, followed by "relationships" and "pleasure". The college students also reported these three meaning categories as central. However, a chi-square analysis showed a significant difference between categories; the college students emphasized pleasure more strongly than the nursing students did. The first- grade nursing students scored higher than the second-grade students on the EVS, and those classified as the relationships type scored significantly higher than the pleasure type on the MED and significantly lower on the EVS. The results of this study suggest that interpersonal relationships are important for creating or discovering a deep meaning to life, and that personal pleasure is not necessarily positively related to a deep meaning or purpose in life.

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