THE ROLE OF MEANING IN LIFE AND HOPE IN PREDICTING PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING AFTER TRAUMATIC LIFE EXPERIENCES

Abstract

In the current study, the extent to which meaning in life and hope predict the psychological well-being levels of earthquake victims was investigated. The relational survey model was used to investigate the relationships. The study group is comprised of 244 individuals over the age of 18 who have experienced the February 6, Kahramanmaraş-based earthquake. Participants were selected using the convenience sampling method. The participants were reached through Google Forms application. The “Psychological Well-Being Scale”, “Meaning in Life Scale” and “Dispositional Hope Scale” were employed in data collection. A multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to examine the predictive power of meaning in life and hope on psychological well-being. Findings showed that meaning in life and hope significantly predicted the psychological well-being of the participants. Meaning in life and hope together explained 65.10% of the variance in participants’ psychological well-being scores. Thus, higher levels of meaning in life and hope are correlated with improved psychological well-being. The results obtained were discussed within the framework of the relevant literature and recommendations were made for researchers and practitioners

Keywords: Trauma, psychological well-being, meaning in life, hope.

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