Esta pesquisa tem como problema de investigação o sentido de vida na adolescência. E os objetivos a alcançar foram: discutir questões atuais relativas à adolescência; analisar questões centrais da Logoterapia, propostas por Viktor Frankl; e investigar empiricamente o sentido de vida na adolescência. Na pesquisa ex post facto realizada, foram submetidas à corroboração cinco conjecturas, relacionando adolescência, sexo, orientação confessional da escola e sentido de vida. Os participantes foram 230 alunos, cuja idade variou de 16 a 18 anos, sendo 91 do sexo masculino e 139 do sexo feminino, todos eles matriculados em escolas públicas e privadas do Ensino Médio da cidade de Petrópolis, Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. Foram selecionadas duas escolas públicas, uma estadual e uma municipal, além de quatro escolas privadas, sendo duas leigas e duas confessionais, que atendem alunos de classe sócio-econômica diferenciada. Utilizamos o Logo-Teste, originalmente elaborado por Elizabeth Lukas, como instrumento de medida do sentido de vida dos participantes. Das cinco conjecturas testadas, duas foram corroboradas: a de que não há diferença significativa no sentido de vida entre adolescentes do sexo masculino e do sexo feminino e a de que não há diferença significativa no sentido de vida entre adolescentes de escolas públicas e particulares leigas. Além disso, observou-se que as médias obtidas por todos os grupos de participantes situam-se na faixa da estabilidade psíquica, sem riscos de ocorrência de neurose noógena ou depressão noógena. / This research aims at investigating the meaning of life in the adolescence. And the objectives to be achieved were: to discuss present questions relative to adolescence; to analyse core questions of Logotherapy, proposed by Viktor Frankl, and to investigate empirically the meaning of life in adolescence. In the research made ex post facto, five conjectures have been submitted to corroboration, relative to adolescence, sex, school confessional orientation, and the meaning of life. The participants were 230 students aged between 16 and 18, of those 91 males and 139 females, all of them attending public and private high schools in the city of Petropolis, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Two public schools have been selected, one belonging to the state and the other to the municipality and also four private schools, two laic and two confessional private high schools which cater for students belonging to middle class and the upper middle class. We have used the Logo-test, originally devised by Elizabeth Lucas, as an instrument for measuring the meaning of life of the participants. Of the five conjectures that have been tested, two have been corroborated: the fact that there is no significant difference among male and female adolescents, and that there is no significant difference in the meaning of life among adolescents attending public schools and private laic schools. Furthermore it has been observed that the average marks obtained by all groups of participants belong to the rank of psychic stability, without any risk of noogenous neurosis or noogenous depression.

Esta pesquisa tem como problema de investigação o sentido de vida na adolescência. E os objetivos a alcançar foram: discutir questões atuais relativas à adolescência; analisar questões centrais da Logoterapia, propostas por Viktor Frankl; e investigar empiricamente o sentido de vida na adolescência. Na pesquisa ex post facto realizada, foram submetidas à corroboração cinco conjecturas, relacionando adolescência, sexo, orientação confessional da escola e sentido de vida. Os participantes foram 230 alunos, cuja idade variou de 16 a 18 anos, sendo 91 do sexo masculino e 139 do sexo feminino, todos eles matriculados em escolas públicas e privadas do Ensino Médio da cidade de Petrópolis, Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. Foram selecionadas duas escolas públicas, uma estadual e uma municipal, além de quatro escolas privadas, sendo duas leigas e duas confessionais, que atendem alunos de classe sócio-econômica diferenciada. Utilizamos o Logo-Teste, originalmente elaborado por Elizabeth Lukas, como instrumento de medida do sentido de vida dos participantes. Das cinco conjecturas testadas, duas foram corroboradas: a de que não há diferença significativa no sentido de vida entre adolescentes do sexo masculino e do sexo feminino e a de que não há diferença significativa no sentido de vida entre adolescentes de escolas públicas e particulares leigas. Além disso, observou-se que as médias obtidas por todos os grupos de participantes situam-se na faixa da estabilidade psíquica, sem riscos de ocorrência de neurose noógena ou depressão noógena. / This research aims at investigating the meaning of life in the adolescence. And the objectives to be achieved were: to discuss present questions relative to adolescence; to analyse core questions of Logotherapy, proposed by Viktor Frankl, and to investigate empirically the meaning of life in adolescence. In the research made ex post facto, five conjectures have been submitted to corroboration, relative to adolescence, sex, school confessional orientation, and the meaning of life. The participants were 230 students aged between 16 and 18, of those 91 males and 139 females, all of them attending public and private high schools in the city of Petropolis, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Two public schools have been selected, one belonging to the state and the other to the municipality and also four private schools, two laic and two confessional private high schools which cater for students belonging to middle class and the upper middle class. We have used the Logo-test, originally devised by Elizabeth Lucas, as an instrument for measuring the meaning of life of the participants. Of the five conjectures that have been tested, two have been corroborated: the fact that there is no significant difference among male and female adolescents, and that there is no significant difference in the meaning of life among adolescents attending public schools and private laic schools. Furthermore it has been observed that the average marks obtained by all groups of participants belong to the rank of psychic stability, without any risk of noogenous neurosis or noogenous depression.

Several researchers have called for further research devoted to exploring positive psychology constructs among African Americans. In the present study, I addressed the aforementioned calls for African American positive psychology and existentialism research by utilizing the autoethnographic approach to explore the processes and resources that four African Americans accessed to critically think about and make sense of their lived experiences. Given the current sociopolitical climate, I wanted to intentionally use my academic and class privilege to amplify the voices and strivings of four African Americans for survival and meaning in life. I utilized the autoethnographic approach to share my personal narrative of developing critical consciousness to explain the contextual factors influencing my worldview. For this dissertation study, I also conducted in-depth interviews with three other African Americans over a series of interview sessions to explore what made their lives meaningful. A thematic analysis of the participant data was conducted to analyze and identify emergent themes. The thematic analysis produced six emergent themes and 18 subthemes to contextual powerful influences shaping their perceptions of meaning in life, existence and critical consciousness development. I am hopeful that readers will gain four different perspectives on how, as African Americans, the participants define and understand their existence, facets of life that make their lives meaningful, and how they have come to make sense of their worlds.

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Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / US military personnel often experience ongoing distress after being exposed to traumatic events, and many develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder (MDD). Both general theories of stress and coping and cognitive theories of PTSD suggest that traumatic events give rise to distress by negatively influencing important beliefs and goals related to the self, other people, and the world. According to these theories, more positive belief- and goal-systems are associated with less severe symptoms of distress. Two constructs that tap into these systems are general self-efficacy and subjective meaning in life. The overall goal of the current study was to examine the ways general self-efficacy and subjective meaning in life relate to posttraumatic stress and depressive symptoms and symptom clusters in US military personnel, both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Data from a VA-funded intervention study (n = 191) were examined. Results demonstrated that meaning in life is consistently associated with posttraumatic stress and depressive symptoms and symptom clusters cross-sectionally, whereas general self-efficacy is only associated with some aspects of depressive symptoms. Longitudinal analyses further revealed that meaning in life is associated with the Cluster D symptoms of PTSD and the cognitive-affective symptoms of depression. Interpretations, possible explanations, implications, and future directions are provided. Continued research in this area may identify important targets for treatment that enhance ongoing efforts to facilitate recovery from trauma.

Šiame moksliniame darbe analizuojamos įkalintų asmenų vilties ir gyvenimo prasmės patirtys atradus Dievą. Darbu siekta atskleisti egzistencialistinės paradigmos taikymo galimybes socialiniame darbe su nuteistaisiais, atskirai aptariant Vilties ir Logoterapijos teorijų raišką; atskleisti atsivertimo ir tikėjimo prasmę laisvės atėmimo vietose esantiems asmenims bei parodyti tikėjimo į Dievą atradimo sąsajas su nuteistųjų vilties ir gyvenimo prasmės patirtimis; apibūdinti krikščioniškąjį Alfa kursą, kaip tikėjimu į Dievą grįstą socialinio darbo su įkalintais asmenimis modelį, ugdantį nuteistųjų motyvaciją reintegruotis į visuomenę, atskleidžiant nuteistųjų tarpusavio pasidalijimo asmenine gyvenimo ir tikėjimo patirtimi grupėje reikšmę vilties ir gyvenimo prasmės atradimui; atskleisti pažinties su kitų žmonių sėkmės istorijomis ir jų asmeninio tikėjimo bei gyvenimo liudijimo reikšmę įkalintų asmenų vilties ir gyvenimo prasmės patirčiai ir jų motyvacijai reintegruotis į visuomenę. Tyrimo objektas – įkalintų asmenų vilties ir gyvenimo prasmės patirtys atradus Dievą. Tyrimo tikslas – atskleisti ir interpretuoti įkalintų asmenų vilties ir gyvenimo prasmės patirtis atradus Dievą. Darbe atliktas kokybinis tyrimas. Tyrimo duomenys rinkti taikant iš dalies struktūruotojo grupinės diskusijos interviu metodą, duomenys analizuoti naudojant interpretuojamąją fenomenologiją. Tyrimo dalyviai atrinkti taikant kriterinę atranką. Tyrime dalyvavo 7 įkalinti asmenys, atitinkantys šiuos kriterijus... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / In this scientific research paper there is the analysis of imprisoned people‘s experiences of hope and the meaning of life after the discovery of God. The objective of my paper is to reveal the application opportunities of existentialist paradigm in social work with the imprisoned; in addition to discussing the expression of the Theories of Hope and Logotherapy. Moreover, I aim to reveal the significance of conversion and faith to people who are in prison as well as to show the relations of discovered faith in God with imprisoned people‘s experiences of hope and the meaning of life. I also try to define the Alpha course as the model of social work with the imprisoned based on faith in God, which generates prisoners‘ motivation of reintegration into society by revealing the importance of sharing one‘s personal experience of life and faith in the group for the sake of the discovery of hope and the sense of life. Furthermore, I aim to reveal the significance of learning about other people‘s success stories and their witnesses about their personal faith and life for imprisoned people‘s experiences of hope and the meaning of life and their motivation for reintegration into society. The research object is imprisoned people‘s experiences of hope and the meaning of life after the discovery of God. The research aim is to reveal and interpret experiences of hope and the meaning of life after the discovery of God. The qualitative research has been done in the paper. The research data... [to full text]

Amidst widespread concerns about aging on several levels ranging from the personal to the societal, this dissertation examines the construction of meaning in life and older age in contemporary Japan. Based on an ethnographic account of a community salon in Southern Osaka, it explores the experiences of older people and their ideas of the good and meaningful life, while arguing that than an anthropology of the elderly can reveal a far wider scope of issues than aging alone. Drawing on a socio-narratological approach, I show how stories connect people, form a shared body of knowledge, inform our understanding of the everyday, and provide frameworks for our choices. I argue that the capacity of narratives to create coherence and make sense of seemingly random and unconnected events can help to reveal existential issues, and that narrative analysis may therefore be a powerful tool for creating an existential anthropology capable of elucidating and understanding deeply personal dilemmas in their social and cultural context. The ethnography and life stories of elderly salon goers, volunteers and others involved in a local Non-Profit Organisation raise important issues of autonomy and dependence, sociality and isolation, care and concern. People express concern for others through practices ranging from gift-giving, visiting, balanced forms of polite yet friendly discourse, the provision of information, and volunteering in the salon and beyond. I argue that older Japanese are as much providers of care as recipients of it, thereby challenging the constructed image of the elderly as frail and dependent, even though maintaining independence relies paradoxically on cultivating multiple dependencies on others. Navigating the tensions between the benefits of rich social ties and a desired level of separation in which the burden imposed is minimised, or between dependence and freedom, emerges as central to the balancing acts required for living well.

Extant literature has provided evidence suggesting that ethnic minority individuals experiencing discrimination report poor mental health outcomes, including depression, anxiety, and an overall lower sense of belongingness with the majority culture, but empirical research examining how ethnic identity affects this relationship is extremely scarce. The first goal of the current study was to replicate the results of previous studies demonstrating a strong relationship between discrimination and selected wellbeing indicators: meaning in life, American affirmation, depression, and life satisfaction. The second goal of the study was to examine a moderation model and two moderated moderation models that depict the relationships among adult attachment, the affective component of ethnic identity, exploration and commitment to ethnic identity, and wellbeing indicators. Data was collected from 206 students who were recruited from undergraduate psychology courses. Findings provided partial support to the direct effects of discrimination on various wellbeing indicators but did not support the moderating effect of ethnic identity. Additionally, adult attachment, ethnic identity, and discrimination were not found to significantly interact, but the relationship between discrimination, ethnic identity, and American affirmation was found to be significantly moderated by the affective component of ethnic identity. Discussion on the findings, limitations of the study, future research directions, and counseling implications are addressed.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T19:20:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Edson Adelio Tagliaferro.pdf: 901361 bytes, checksum: deae6f41cb8c1ba961ab948e2082591e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-05-19 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The purpose of our study is to analyze one of the deepest questions of humanity, which is the question about the meaning of life. Concerning this issue, we find contrary and favorable positions to the possibility that life has a meaning and, so, there are people who believe that it s not possible to be found, and the ones who believe that without finding it we fall in an empty existence, where neuroses are generated. Among these is Victor Emil Frankl, founder of Logotherapy and existential analysis. We associate this issue with the thinking and acting of Christianity, which is a generating source of meaning and an axiological promoter within the social relations. Thus, this work tends towards finding the interface between these two propositions, in other words, to reflect on the dynamics of the Christian spirit from the practice of Jesus and how this may influence the discovery of meaning, necessary for psychical equilibrium and singular for becoming man, according to the theory of Frankl. While for him it s a possibility of cure for mental problems, for Christians it is a gift and mission, acknowledging and valuing, however, the spiritual dimension of human beings, common to both positions. The hypothesis that man / woman, influenced by scientific knowledge and by the comfort and consumerism generated by post-modernity, have rejected the institutional religions does not dismiss a serious reflection on the human spiritual dimension, both through the many ways this spirituality has appeared in groups of diverse spiritualities and the analysis of the dimension of the spirit, which, being essentially dynamic, has motivated in many ways the search for human transcendence. Thus, this study, in its first chapter, deals with the life and theory of Victor Emil Frankl, helping us understand the emergence of existential emptiness, which is a strong impression in the historical period in which he lived with the two world wars and the consequences of philosophy with the idea of the death of God, besides the creation of his psychotherapy, whose goal is to find meaning. In the second chapter we write about the spiritual practice of Jesus, who, with his life and actions, reveals through the Gospels how we can live the question of meaning in human existence, despite the suffering, pain and even death, and the role it plays in the life of Christians. In the third chapter we analyze the importance of Christianity as meaning-generating spirituality and the tangible effects that can be felt in the lives of those who embrace such spirituality / A proposta deste nosso trabalho é fazer uma análise de um dos mais profundos questionamentos da humanidade que é a pergunta sobre o sentido da vida. Com respeito a esta questão, encontramos posições tanto contrárias como favoráveis à possibilidade de que a vida tenha um sentido e, desta forma, há pessoas que julgam não ser possível encontrá-lo, e há os que julgam que sem encontrá-lo caímos no vazio existencial, onde as neuroses são geradas. Entre estes encontrase Victor Emil Frankl, criador da Logoterapia ou análise existencial. Associamos a esta questão o pensar e o agir do cristianismo, o qual é uma fonte geradora de sentido e promotor axiológico dentro das relações sociais. Desta forma, o presente trabalho tende a encontrar a interface entre estas duas proposições, ou seja, refletir sobre a dinâmica do espírito cristão a partir da prática de Jesus e como isso pode influir no encontro do sentido, necessário para o equilíbrio psíquico e singular para o devir do homem, segundo a teoria de Frankl. Se para ele é a possibilidade de cura de problemas psíquicos, para o cristãos é dom e missão, reconhecendo e valorizando, porém, a dimensão espiritual do ser humano, a qual é comum a ambas as posições. A hipótese de que o homem / mulher influenciado pelos conhecimentos da ciência e pelo conforto e consumismo gerados pela pós-modernidade, têm rejeitado as religiões institucionais, não dispensa uma séria reflexão sobre a dimensão espiritual do ser humano, tanto pelas inúmeras maneiras como estas espiritualidades tem aparecido em forma de grupos de espiritualidades diversas como pela própria análise da dimensão do espírito que, dinâmico em sua essência, tem motivado, de diversas formas a busca do ser humano pela transcendência de si mesmo. Desta maneira, esta dissertação, em seu primeiro capítulo, trata da vida e teoria de Victor Emil Frankl, ajudando-nos a compreender o surgimento do vazio existencial, forte marca do período histórico em que viveu com as duas guerras mundiais e as consequências da filosofia com a ideia da morte de Deus, além da criação de sua psicoterapia que tem como meta o encontro do sentido. No segundo capítulo discorremos sobre a prática espiritual de Jesus que com sua vida e sua atuação revela pelos evangelhos como podemos viver a questão do sentido na existência humana, apesar do sofrimento, da dor e até mesmo da morte e que papel tem isso na vida dos cristãos. No terceiro capítulo analisamos qual a importância do cristianismo como espiritualidade geradora de sentido e quais os reflexos concretos que podem ser sentidos na vida dos que abraçam tal espiritualidade

<div>While research links the presence of meaning in life to better psychological well-being, the relationship between the search for meaning and psychological well-being is less clear. The search for meaning is generally thought to be psychologically distressing, but there is evidence that this process is moderated by the presence of meaning in life. Because the search for meaning in life can be considered a goal pursuit, goal-related personality traits may also moderate the relationship between the search for meaning and psychological well-being. The first aim of this</div><div>cross-sectional study was to replicate the moderating effect of the presence of meaning on the relationship between the search for meaning and psychological well-being in a sample of undergraduates (N = 246). The second aim was to examine the potential moderating effects of hope and optimism on these relationships. As an exploratory third aim, this study examined whether there was a unique combination of the presence of meaning, the search for meaning, and hope or optimism that differentially predicted psychological well-being. Results suggest that optimism and the presence of meaning, but not hope, are significant moderators of the relationship between the search for meaning and psychological well-being. Implications and limitations of these findings are discussed.</div>