Abstract
M.A. (Counselling Psychology)
understanding mental health. Positive psychology focuses on expanding the understanding of
well-being, mental health, and positive character strengths. This study explores the
relationship between hope, meaning in life (MIL), and well-being. Understanding these
relationships may be useful in formulating psychological interventions and treatment plans,
and may lead to an increased theoretical understanding of these interrelationships
The study had three aims: (1) to examine the relationship between hope, MIL, and wellbeing;
(2) to examine the moderating role of MIL (the presence of meaning in life [PMIL]
and the search for meaning in life [SMIL] distinctly) in the relationship between two facets of
hope (cognitive and perceived hope) and well-being; and (3) to examine the mediating role of
PMIL in the relationship between two facets of hope (cognitive and perceived hope) and
well-being. To achieve these aims a quantitative cross-sectional survey design was
implemented. Purposive sampling was implemented, comprising 252 university students.
Participants were asked to answer online questionnaires in order to measure the variables
pertaining to the research aims. The measurements utilised were the Mental Health
Continuum - Short Form (MHC-SF, Keyes, 2006a), The Adult Hope Scale (AHS; Snyder,
Irving, and Anderson, 1991), The Perceived Hope Scale (Krafft, Martin-Krumm, &
Fenouillet, 2017) and The Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ; Steger, Frazier, Oishi, &
Kaler, 2006). Firstly, the data was analysed using a Pearson product moment correlation to
examine inter-correlations among well-being, hope, and MIL. Secondly, the Process Macro
by Hayes (2013) was implemented to examine the moderating effect of PMIL and SMIL on
the relationship between both facets of hope and well-being. Lastly a mediation regression
analysis (Hayes, 2013) was utilized to examine PMIL’s effect on both facets of hope and
well-being.
The results indicated that correlations exist among well-being and both facets of hope, wellbeing
and PMIL, and both facets of hope and PMIL. However, a negative correlation was
found between SMIL and well-being, as well as between SMIL and both facets of hope.
There was no moderating effect evident, implying that pre-existent levels of PMIL or SMIL
will not influence the strength of the relationship between both facets of hope and well-being.
However, results did indicate that PMIL mediates the relationship between both facets of...