Moral Identity Predicts the Development of Presence of Meaning During Emerging Adulthood

Abstract

We examined change over time in the relationship between moral identity and presence of meaning during emerging adulthood. Moral identity refers to a sense of morality and moral values that are central to one’s identity. Presence of meaning refers to the belief that one’s existence has meaning, purpose, and value. Participants responded to questions on moral identity and presence of meaning in their senior year of high school and 2 years after. Mixed effects model analyses were used to examine how moral identity and presence of meaning interacted during this 2-year period. The findings demonstrated that moral identity positively predicted presence of meaning over time.