Experienced meaningfulness in the context of personality traits of future teachers
Abstract
Background. The individually experienced fulfilment of one's own life is utterly unique. It is a very important experience with regard to the quality of life of each individual and their mental health and work performance. This topic has attracted increased research interest in the Czech Republic in recent decades, especially in the discourses of psychology and pedagogy.
Methods. The research study documented in this contribution deals with the experience of life fulfilment and existential grounding in a group of university students who were future teachers (n = 346, of whom 294 were women) aged 19–27 years. Two questionnaires were used to collect the data, specifically the Logo-test and the NEO five-factor personality inventory. The data that was obtained was analysed in the context of selected personality traits (extraversion, friendliness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, openness to experience); other factors that were observed were differences between the sexes, age, year of study, and form of study. The complementary qualitative processing of the data that was obtained also included free subjective statements about the life stories of 282 of the respondents.
Results. The determined level of lived meaningfulness of life was correlated with selected personality variables of the respondents by means of statistical processing. The results of the research show a significant positive link between the degree of lived meaningfulness and the representation of the personality traits of extraversion, friendliness, openness to experience, and conscientiousness. A negative relationship was found between the personality variable of neuroticism and the degree of meaningfulness that was experienced.
Conclusions. The results of the survey can be considered very favourable; they convincingly demonstrate a sufficiently meaningful and existentially rooted life for the majority of the respondents from the ranks of future teachers (95.6% of the respondents). A level of experienced meaningfulness which is questionable and thus endangers the further development of the individualʼs personality or the respondent lacks it altogether was only found in a negligible part of the sample (4.4%). In connection with the future profession of the group of people who were observed, in which they will wield a significant influence on the personality of their pupils and students, it can be concluded that our results are pleasing.
https://doi.org/10.29364/epsy.418
(Fulltext in Czech)
Keywords
life fulfilment, existential frustration, logotherapy, young adulthoodLiterature
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