Meaning In Life Questionnaire (MLQ) Measurement Research

The Meaning in Life Questionnaire(MLQ)is one of the most commonly used tools to measure an individual’s sense of Meaning in Life(MIL).Although there are many studies about MLQ,the reliability coefficients of different results are different.In addition,the number of items and the correlation between factors of MLQ were different in different populations,countries and regions.Therefore,this paper aims to discuss the measurement performance of MLQ,including two parts respectively.The first sub-study is about the reliability identification of MLQ.The aim of this study is to identify the variance of the reliability of each dimension and to explore the sources of variation that may affect the reliability coefficient.The research method is to generalize the reliability of α coefficients reported in 148 articles by searching the databases of Web of Science,Pro Quest-Psychology Database,Science Direct,EBSCO-Psyc INFO,CNKI,VIP,Wan fang,etc.The second sub-study is based on the confirmatory factor analysis of meta-analysis,which aims to estimate the mean factor load of MLQ,the correlation between subscales and the influence of implicit correlation matrix on the confirmatory factor analysis of meta-analysis.A similar method was used to search the database,and 20 articles were obtained for meta-analysis.This study mainly uses software such as EXCEL 2021,SPSS25.0,and R to process and analyze data.The results show that:(1)The results of reliability generalization indicate that the Cronbach’s alpha mean values of MLQ’s total scale and subscale MLQ-S and MLQ-P are 0.840,0.877,and0.857,respectively.Unpublished literature has a partial impact on the total scale MLQ and sub scale MLQ-P.The mean age of the subjects and the country where the test was conducted can significantly and positively predict the effect size of Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of the MLQ total scale.The mean age of subjects and the way of investigation can significantly and positively predict the effect size of Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of MLQ-S;The measuring country can significantly negatively predict the effect size of Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of MLQ-S.The sample size and testing country can significantly negatively predict the effect size of Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of MLQ-P;The investigation method can significantly and positively predict the effect size of Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of MLQ-P.(2)The correlation under the random effects model without the implicit correlation matrix(MLQ-7M)was smaller than that under the random effects model with the implicit correlation matrix(MLQ-20M)In the confirmatory factor analysis of metaanalysis,the model fitting index including the implicit correlation matrix(MLQ-20M)was slightly better than the model fitting index without the implicit correlation matrix(MLQ-7M),the difference of factor load between them was small(-0.28 ～ 0.07).(3)The results of confirmatory factor analysis of meta-analysis show that the average factor loads of 10 items,except for Item 9,all items meet the measurement standard.There was a positive correlation between MLQ-P and MLQ-S with a correlation coefficient of 0.29.Conclusion: The reliability of MLQ and its subscales is high.MLQ is a reliable tool to evaluate life meaning,and the influence of sample characteristics and research characteristics on Cronbach’s alpha coefficient should be paid attention to.MLQ is a 9-item measure of an individual’s sense of meaning in life,and there is a positive correlation between the subscales of MLQ.