Background
Research on general population posed the importance of social relationships in fostering humans’ sense of meaning in life (MIL)(e.g. Lambert et al., 2013; Stillman et al., 2009; Van Der Heyden et al., 2015), which is considered one of the major wellbeing contributors across the lifespan (e.g. Steger et al., 2009). Although feeling engaged in meaningful relationship is crucial in promoting young adult’s adjustment (Lanz & Tagliabue, 2007), research examining the interplay between MIL and dynamics of close relationships during the transition to adulthood are today lacking (Hadden & Knee, 2018).
Hypotheses/Research Questions
This study aims to investigate the associations between MIL and two indicators of romantic relationship functioning: engagement (‘How are you living your romantic relationship?’) and stability (length of relationship).
Sample Characteristics and Sample Size
201 Italians young adults (age 18-30; M=24,16; DS= 3,143)
Design
This is a cross-sectional work applying a person-oriented approach. Latent profile analysis (LPA; Berlin et al., 2014) was performed on meaning in life (MLQ; Steger et al., 2006) using Mplus 8.4 (Muthén & Muthén, 1998).
Results
Three profiles emerged from the best fit model (AIC=1074.386, BIC=1120.632, Entropy=0.891): Profile1 (83.46%): averaged perception of presence and search of MIL; Profile2 (9,14%): high presence/low search; Profile3 (7,41%): low presence/high search. Latent Regression Model revealed age, stability and engagement to be significative predictors of latent profiles: young adults reporting low presence/high search are the youngest and those who do not live a solid romantic relationship; young adults with a high presence/low search are those who most feel engaged in their relationship.
Scientific Contribution
This study show the importance of relational context in activating the process of meaning-making during the transition to adulthood.