Meaning in life in the federal Republic of Germany: results of a representative survey with the Schedule for Meaning in Life Evaluation (SMiLE)

Background: The construct "meaning- in- life" (MiL) has recently
raised the interest of clinicians working in psycho-oncology and
end-of-life care and has become a topic of scientific
investigation. Difficulties regarding the measurement of MiL are
related to the various theoretical and conceptual approaches and
its inter- individual variability. Therefore the "Schedule for
Meaning in Life Evaluation" (SMiLE), an individualized instrument
for the assessment of MiL, was developed. The aim of this study was
to evaluate MiL in a representative sample of the German
population. Methods: In the SMiLE, the respondents first indicate a
minimum of three and maximum of seven areas which provide meaning
to their life before rating their current level of importance and
satisfaction of each area. Indices of total weighting (loW, range
20-100), total satisfaction (loS, range 0-100), and total weighted
satisfaction (loWS, range 0-100) are calculated. Results: In July
2005, 1,004 Germans were randomly selected and interviewed
(inclusion rate, 85.3%). 3,521 areas of MiL were listed and
assigned to 13 a- posteriori categories. The mean loS was 81.9 +/-
15.1, the mean loW was 84.6 +/- 11.9, and the mean loWS was 82.9
+/- 14.8. In youth (16-19 y/o), "friends" were most important for
MiL, in young adulthood (20-29 y/o) "partnership"