Table 2.
Factor loadings and measurement error terms from higher-order factor model (N = 1,011)
| Construct | Factor loadinga | Measurement errorb |
|---|---|---|
| Lower-order coefficients | ||
| Values—Wave 5 | ||
| System of valuesc | .792d | .372 |
| Philosophy of life | .814 | .337 |
| Come to terms with what’s important | .695 | .517 |
| Purpose—Wave 5 | ||
| See reason for being here | .740 | .453 |
| I am living fully | .761 | .421 |
| Found significant meaning | .870 | .242 |
| Discovered satisfying purpose | .872 | .239 |
| Goals—Wave 5 | ||
| Have clear goals and aims | .867 | .248 |
| Have sense of direction | .919 | .156 |
| Good sense of what I will accomplish | .844 | .288 |
| Reconciling the Past—Wave 5 | ||
| Feel good about what I have done | .784 | .386 |
| Satisfied with accomplishments | .784 | .385 |
| Make sense of unpleasant things | .644 | .585 |
| I am at peace with my past | .749 | .439 |
| Life makes sense—Wave 5 | ||
| Understand self fairly well | .757 | .428 |
| Understand others well | .604 | .635 |
| Things happen for a reason | .692 | .521 |
| Make sense of things that happen | .815 | .335 |
| Values—Wave 6 | ||
| System of values | .745 | .444 |
| Philosophy of life | .811 | .342 |
| Come to terms with what’s important | .712 | .493 |
| Purpose—Wave 6 | ||
| See reason for being here | .737 | .456 |
| I am living fully | .749 | .439 |
| Found significant meaning | .889 | .210 |
| Discovered satisfying purpose | .896 | .197 |
| Goals—Wave 6 | ||
| Have clear goals and aims | .877 | .231 |
| Have a sense of direction | .906 | .179 |
| Good sense of what I can accomplish | .849 | .280 |
| Reconciling the Past—Wave 6 | ||
| Feel good about what I have done | .786 | .382 |
| Satisfied with accomplishments | .817 | .332 |
| Make sense of unpleasant things | .640 | .591 |
| I am at peace with my past | .754 | .431 |
| Life Makes Sense—Wave 6 | ||
| Understand self fairly well | .761 | .421 |
| Understand others well | .579 | .665 |
| Things happen for a reason | .727 | .471 |
| Make sense of things that happen | .807 | .349 |
| Higher-order coefficients | ||
| Meaning in life—Wave 5 | ||
| Values | .817e | .333f |
| Purpose | .930 | .135 |
| Goals | .895 | .200 |
| Reconciling the past | .822 | .325 |
| Life makes sense | .865 | .252 |
| Meaning in life—Wave 6 | ||
| Values | .827 | .316 |
| Purpose | .935 | .126 |
| Goals | .902 | .187 |
| Reconciling the past | .832 | .308 |
| Life makes sense | .874 | .237 |
The first and second-order factor loadings are from the completely standardized solution. The first-listed item for each latent construct was fixed to 1.0 in the unstandardized solution
The first and second-order measurement error terms are from the completely standardized solution. All factor loadings and measurement error terms are significant at the .001 level
Item is paraphrased. See Table 1 for the complete text of each item
The unstandardized first-order factor loadings for identical items were constrained to be equivalent over time
The unstandardized second-order factor loadings for identical dimensions of meaning were constrained to be equivalent over time
The unstandardized second-order measurement terms were constrained to be equivalent over time