Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ)
10-item version — Measure your sense of meaning and search for purpose
Do you feel your life has meaning? Are you searching for purpose? The MLQ separates these into two clear scales: Presence of Meaning and Search for Meaning. 10 items, about 3 minutes.
Does your life feel meaningful?
That's a big question, but psychologists have found a way to break it into two measurable parts: presence of meaning (do you feel your life has direction and value right now) and search for meaning (how actively are you looking for it).
The Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ) measures both. Steger and his team put it together in 2006. It's ten items — five for presence, five for search — rated on a 7-point scale.
The two dimensions are surprisingly independent. You can score high on both (actively searching and already feeling your life has meaning), low on both, or any combination. People who score high on presence and low on search tend to report the highest well-being, while those high on search and low on presence tend to report more distress.
It's short enough to fit in any survey, and the presence/search distinction is genuinely useful.
Result Interpretation
After completing the 10 questions, you'll receive an immediate, detailed report with:
- Your score — calculated automatically based on your responses
- Score interpretation — what your score means in practical terms
- Dimension breakdown — separate scores for each sub-scale
- Context — how your results compare to general population norms where available
All results are displayed on screen. No account or login needed.