FACTORIAL STRUCTURE OF THE EXISTENCE SCALE

Abstract

research articleExistential meaning in life is becoming an increasingly important measure of personal assessment. In search of a suitable instrument to measure existential meaning, the authors reviewed several measures. Eventually, they selected the Existence Scale (ES), doing so on theoretical grounds. The ES is a fairly new self-rating instrument that assesses the degree of personal search for existential meaning in life. The aim of the current study is to examine the construct validity of the ES empirically by analyzing the factor structure of the scale. Confirmatory factor analysis was applied. Inventory responses from 1,187 participants were used as the overall sample, which was based on four samples, consisting of elementary school teachers (N = 215), elementary school principals (N = 514), pastors (N = 266), and social workers (N = 192). The results show that confirmatory factor analysis did not confirm the construct validity of the ES. The ES has been developed to measure existential meaning in life. There is no evidence in the current study that the ES is a valid, and acceptable measure of existential meaning