Bias in Meaning in Life Ratings

Abstract

A measure of depth of meaning in life, the Meaning in Life Depth instrument (MILD), was checked for two possible sources of bias in the depth ratings made by 113 college student-judges. The judges rated for depth of meaning 10 essays written by other individuals. The judges also indicated the categories of meaning they personally most preferred. The judges' ratings of the 10 essays were then matched with their own categories of meaning preference to see if they preferred (were biased toward) essays similar in type of meaning to theirs. This type of bias was found, and suggestions were made about dealing with this problem. Age bias, the second type of bias investigated, did not occur; that is, the judges did not systematically prefer essays written by people of their approximate age over those written by older people.