Meaning in Life Assessment MLQfree self-assessment

About this assessment

The Meaning in Life Questionnaire, or MLQ, was developed by Michael Steger and colleagues in 2006. It breaks a very large question into two more manageable ones: whether your life currently feels meaningful and purposeful, and whether you are still searching. These are not opposites. Some people have a clear sense of what matters and continue exploring, while others are trying to build a new answer for a new stage of life. Hong Kong research has also found that Presence of Meaning and Search for Meaning can coexist locally. So continuing to search does not mean that you are lost. It can simply mean that you are still seriously asking yourself how you want to live.

What does it look at?

The questionnaire looks at two areas separately. Presence of Meaning reflects how strongly your life currently feels purposeful, directed, and meaningful. Search for Meaning reflects how actively you are thinking about and exploring life's meaning. Each area receives its own score and there is no overall total. Looking at the two together is usually more informative than looking at either score on its own.

This assessment may suit you if...

• You have recently found yourself asking what all the things you do every day are actually for.
• You are going through a job change, retirement, bereavement, becoming a carer, or another major life transition and your old sense of direction no longer fits.
• Nothing seems obviously wrong on the surface, but you still feel as though something important is missing.