This study was an effort to objectify and test empirically Tillich's theory. Its purpose was to investigate certain traditional aspects of religion to see whether their presence was associated with purposefulness in life. The variables used in this study were measures of participation in a faith, belief in an afterlife, belief in God, past and current doubts, religious experiences, commitment implied in the consideration of a church related vocation, and of purpose in life. Tillich would say that participation in a faith, a belief in God, and a commitment of some kind are essential elements of one's ultimate concern. The belief in an after life is a common way of avoiding the anxiety of death, which is an element of the anxiety of meaninglessness of today. Doubt concerning the Ultimate undermines ones meaning or purpose in life.

No description available.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease. Despite the debilitating nature of this disease, some evidence suggests patients maintain their quality of life (QOL). Caregivers, on the other hand, experience decreased QOL. Evidence suggests existential aspects of well-being such as purpose in life (PIL) may be unique and stable sources of well-being for patients and caregivers. Furthermore, patients’ and caregivers’ well-being may impact one another. The present study examined the variance structure, trajectory, and dyadic relationship of PIL and QOL in patients with ALS and their caregivers (N = 110 dyads). Data from the Seattle ALS Patient Profile Project were utilized; PIL and QOL were assessed seven times, over eighteen months. PIL was more stable than QOL and therefore a psychological resource for patients and caregivers. PIL and QOL declined with time and disease severity. Individual differences in proximity to diagnosis and death moderated within-individual change. Decline was more rapid following diagnosis and approaching death, suggesting these are critical periods in which individuals need increased support. Well-being within the dyad was interrelated. Average QOL was similar across dyads. PIL within the dyad changed together over time. Dyadic relationships may reflect similar life conditions and a shared disease experience.

Thesis (Master of Arts)--Miami University, Dept. of Comparative Religion, 2009. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 63-66).

This thesis presents a cross-sectional study of psychological meaning making processes involving religious beliefs and the construction of a sense of purpose in life. Previous research has studied the connection between religiosity and purpose in life, but has failed to adequately represent the multidimensionality of meaning and religion, resulting in a lack of understanding of the psychological processes involved in the construction of a sense of purpose in life.  The purpose of this study was to research the connection between specific religious beliefs and a sense of purpose in life in individuals aged 25-40, by testing one hypothesis: There is a significant, positive correlation between the strength of religious belief and purpose in life, and answering two research questions: 1. What specific religious beliefs show a significant correlation to purpose in life?, and 2. How are religious beliefs used in a meaning system for the construction of purpose in life? The study employed a two-phase, mixed methods sequential exploratory design, and a meaning system theory framework, complemented by additional theoretical perspectives in phase 2. The weighting of the data was on the first, qualitative phase of the study  and the data were mixed in the final, joint analysis of both types of data.  Phase 1 consisted of a survey, measuring the strength of religious beliefs (measured by the BVS scale) and sense of purpose in life (measured by the LAP-R and one item of the WHOQOL-BRIEF). The survey was completed by 40 respondents who self-identified as Christian and were members of various Christian congregations in the city of Stockholm and surrounding areas. The results of phase 1 of the study firstly showed a significant, moderate, positive correlation between the strength of religious belief and purpose in life, confirming the hypothesis. The results also showed that purpose in life was positively and significantly correlated to a belief that God is an all pervading presence (tau = 0.35, p<0.05), belief in forces for evil in the universe (tau = 0.40, p<0.01), belief that human physical contact can be a spiritual experience (tau = 0.27, p<0.05), belief in life after death (tau = 0.31, p<0.05), belief that one's life has been planned out (tau = 0.33, p<0.05), belief that there is a heaven (tau = 0.30, p<0,05), belief that the human spirit is immortal (tau = 0.30, p<0.05), and belief that there is a God (tau = 0.32, p<0.05). Phase 2 consisted of interviews with 9 of the survey respondents, yielding qualitative data that were analysed through an interpretative framework based on two hermeneutic theories. The qualitative analysis showed that religious beliefs are used to construct purpose in a meaning making process consisting primarily of three elements in a meaning system. Beliefs regarding what is ultimately good (ultimate concerns) and beliefs regarding the purpose and role of humanity (overall purpose) provides a foundation for the construction of purpose in life. The individual constructs purpose by locating himself/herself (self-definition) in relation to ultimate concerns and overall purpose. The results of phase 2 also showed that both the content and conviction of religious beliefs influence their use in the construction of purpose in life, further explicating the results of phase 1.  The joint analysis of the two phases showed that the results from phase 2 supported the results from phase 1, both regarding the beliefs involved in the construction of purpose in life and the importance of both content and conviction in meaning making processes.  Suggestions for further research include additional research on the connections between the various elements of a meaning system, research on the connection between religious beliefs, purpose and the development of self-definition, as well as further theoretical developments of meaning system theory, and harmonisation of meaning system theory with other, complementary theoretical perspectives.

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No description available.

Bakgrund: Den äldre befolkningen kommer att öka vilket innebär ett ökat behov av vård och stöd för att en bra hälsa ska kunna upprätthållas. Begreppet hälsa innefattar fysiskt, mentalt och socialt välbefinnande. Det blir allt vanligare att man även tar hänsyn till en existentiell dimension när det gäller hälsan. Interventioner riktade mot existentiell hälsa har visat positiva resultat. Arbetsterapeuters arbetsuppgift är att arbeta klientcentrerat och stärka varje patients emotionella och fysiska välbefinnande utifrån varje individs unika förutsättningar. Spiritualitet ingår som en del i varje människa och är därför en viktig del för arbetsterapeuter att beakta. Syfte: Att kartlägga och beskriva interventioner för äldre personer med fokus på existentiell hälsa. Metod: En litteraturstudie i form av en scoping review har använts. Artiklar har samlats in genom sökningar i databaserna AMED, CINAHL och PubMed. Elva artiklar har slutligen använts i arbetet och resultatet har granskats och analyserats numeriskt och tematiskt. Resultat: Interventionerna har kartlagts och beskrivits under följande kategorier: plats för interventionerna, spirituella interventioner, interventioner riktade mot mening och syfte med livet, kommunikationsbaserade interventioner riktade mot existentiell hälsa samt vårdgivarnas utbildning och utförande av interventioner riktade mot existentiell hälsa. Slutsats: Individuellt utformade interventioner riktade mot äldre personers existentiella hälsa ger ett positivt resultat i form av en bättre fysisk och psykisk hälsa. Känslan av att ha ett syfte och en mening med livet är viktig och ger individen ett ökat välbefinnande. Vidare forskning behöver utföras. / Interventions for elderly people with a focus on existential health - A scoping review.Background: The elderly population will increase, which means an increased need for care and support to ensure that good health can be maintained. The concept of health includes physical, mental and social well-being. It is becoming increasingly common to also consider an existential dimension in terms of health. Interventions aimed at existential health have shown a positive result. The duty of occupational therapists is to work client-centered and strengthen each patient's emotional and physical well-being based on each individual's unique conditions. Spirituality is part of every human being and is therefore an important part of occupational therapists to consider. Purpose: To map and describe interventions for elderly people with a focus on existential health. Method: A literature study in the form of a scoping review has been used. Articles have been collected through searches in the databases AMED, CINAHL and PubMed. Eleven articles have finally been used in the work and the result has been reviewed and analyzed numerically and thematically. Results: The interventions have been mapped and described in the following categories: place for the interventions, spiritual interventions, interventions aimed at meaning and purpose of life, communication-based interventions aimed at existential health and the care providers' education and execution of interventions aimed at existential health. Conclusion: Individually designed interventions aimed at the existential health of elderly people give a positive result in the form of better physical and mental health. The feeling of having a purpose and a meaning with life is important and gives the individual an increased well-being. Further research needs to be done.

Background: In 2003, the National Commissioner of the South African Police Service gave instructions that all the new student constables should undergo a personnel capacity-building programme as part of their basic training. This led to the development of the Self-Management Programme by Police Social Work Services. This programme IS, since July 2004, an integral part of the empowerment of more than 8000 recruits annually. A comprehensive study into the short and long-term effects of the programme on recruits, as well as its overall return on investment (ROI), was started in 2004. In this document, only the results that were achieved with the measurement of the programme's decision-making and purpose-in-life components will, however, be covered. Objectives: The study had a twofold purpose. The first was to measure the short and long-term effect of the Financial Management, Planning of Goals, Self-knowledge, Problem-solving and HIV/AIDS Awareness modules on recruit's knowledge, attitude and behaviour. It, secondly, endeavoured to measure the programme's return on investment coefficient. Method: The study utilised an experimental research design, as well as focus groups and triangulation. It involved an average of 400 experimental group respondents, 120 control group members, 12 focus group participants and 14 presenters per module. A total of 23 questionnaires and a focus group schedule was designed and utilised in the generation of data. Results: All five modules had a practical significant effect on the respondents' knowledge, attitude and behaviour and improved their personal and professional functioning considerably. The "decision-making" and "purpose-in-life" components, as well as the programme as a whole, also produced a very high return on investment. It, therefore, implies that the Self-Management Programme should be seen as both a very effective capacity-building tool and a financial asset for the South African Police Service. / Thesis (Ph.D. (MW))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

This diploma thesis is in its theoretical part dealing with religious and philosophical concerns in relation to positive affectivity and subjective well-being. It offers a review of contemporary theories on this topic. In the practical part, it tests the relations of the constructs which have an infuence on personal well-being: positive affectivity, satisfation with life and life engagement. Positive affectivity is assessed with the life orientation test (LOT-R: Life Orientation Test-Revisited, Scheier, Carver, Bridges, 1994), personal well-being with the satisfaction-with-life scale (SWLS: Satisfaction With Life Scale, Pavot et al., 1991) and meaningful life engagement with the life engagement test (LET: Life Engagement Test- Assesing Purpose in Life, Scheier et al. 2006). The test sample consisted of 301 respondents of the common population. Their average age was 38 years, the national contents were 188 people of the Czech citizenship and 113 people of the Slovak citizenship. No correlation was found between positive affectivity and gender, age, education nor nationality. Further there was no correlation between satisfaction with life and citizenship, gender and age. The same applies to life engagement and citizenship and age. On the contrary, the results show that there is a diference in the...