Determination of meaning in life among nursing students based on temperament characteristics

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to determine meaning in life among nursing students based on their sociodemographic and temperament characteristics. METHODS: The population and sample of this descriptive study consists of 442 volunteer nursing students who were studying in their 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th year during the 2017–2018 academic year at the Health Sciences Faculty of Nursing Department of a public university in the Aegean Region of Turkey. The Temperament Evaluation of the Memphis, Pisa, Paris, and San Diego Auto-questionnaire (TEMPS-A), The Meaning in Life Questionnaire, and a personal information form were used to collect data. Numbers, percentages, Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis H, Spearman Correlation Analysis was used for data evaluation. RESULTS: The subscale of the Presence of Meaning in Life was found to have a negative and significant correlation with TEMPS-A subscales of depressive, cyclothymic, and irritable temperaments; and a positive and significant correlation with the subscale of hyperthymic temperament (p<0.05). A positive and significant correlation was found between the subscale of the Search for Meaning in Life and TEMPS-A subscales of depressive, cyclothymic, irritable, and anxious temperaments (p>0.05). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: There is a statistically significant correlation between dominant temperament characteristics of nursing students and the Presence of Meaning in Life and the Search for Meaning in Life. Course content that increases purpose and fulfillment in life and enhances positive personality traits should be created for the first years of nursing education © 2021, Kare Publishing. All rights reserved.