The Relationship between Life's Meaningfulness, Hope, Happiness, Life Satisfaction and Depression

This study investigates the relationship between meaningfulness of life and hope, happiness, depression and life satisfaction. Participants consist of 382 women who work in schools and other educational organizations in Shiraz. The techniques used include Life Regard Index (LRI), Depression- Happiness Scale (DHS), Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), and Adults Dispositional Hope Scale (ADHS). In order to examine reliability of measures Cronbach alpha coefficient is used. Similarly, factor analysis and internal consistency methods are applied to determine validity. Results show that (a) There is a positive and significant relationship between life's meaningfulness and hope, happiness and life satisfaction whereas there exists a negative and significance relationship between meaning in life and depression. (b) Results of sequential simultaneous multiple regressions show the significance of the mediating role of hope in the relationship between meaning in life and indices of mental well-being (happiness, life satisfaction) and depression. Meaning in life increases happiness and life satisfaction. In other words meaning in life indirectly and in interaction with hope can increase happiness and life satisfaction and at the same time decrease depression.