Sources of Personal Meaning For Older and Younger Australian and Israeli Women: Profiles and Comparisons

Abstract

This descriptive study looks at what 372 Australian and 191 Israeli women, aged 18–93, consider to be the most and least important sources of meaning in their lives. The Sources of Meaning Profile (SOMP), an instrument measuring current meaning, gave rise to two major observations. First, there are considerable similarities in attributions of meaning within age-differentiated national samples. Secondly, there are similarities in meaning perceptions between age-matched groups across national samples. Participation in personal relationships was the important source of meaning in all age categories, in Israel and Australia. Leaving a legacy for the next generation, participation in religious activities, and taking part in pleasurable (hedonistic) activities were among the least important sources of meaning cited by both samples. Meaning variables related to the realisation of individual potential (e.g. personal growth, creativity, etc.), were the most differentiating for the Australian age groups, while variables related to altruism, humanistic, social and cultural concerns were the most differentiating for the Israeli women. Theoretical implications are discussed.