Life Meaning System Test

Understand what matters most and what truly drives you in about 10 minutes. Get a clear meaning map to focus goals, spot inner conflicts, and build on your strongest resources.

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Questions: 110 minutes

08:30

October 2, 2025

October 2, 2025
Material has been updated

October 2, 2025
Material has been published

23,733 views

2,358 completions

1,909 likes

Verified by Daniel Hall

Psychologist with 25 years of experience

Scale Explorer

How the Scales are Structured

example score

13/24

Altruistic (A)

Measures the degree to which a person is motivated by selfless helping, doing good, and serving others.

Low

Moderate

High

3 – 9: Low | 10 – 17: Moderate | 18 – 24: High

A score of 13 falls in the Moderate range, suggesting altruistic motives are present and meaningful but not the dominant driver of life priorities.

example score

13/24

Cognitive (C)

Measures how strongly a person is driven to understand life events, resolve contradictions, and search for meaning through thinking and interpretation.

Low

Moderate

High

3 – 9: Low | 10 – 17: Moderate | 18 – 24: High

A score of 13 indicates a moderate focus on making sense of experiences and seeking cognitive understanding, without this being the dominant source of meaning.

example score

13/24

Family (F)

Measures how strongly a person’s life meaning is centered on caring for family, living for loved ones, and being involved in their fate.

Lower family focus

Balanced family focus

High family focus

3 – 9: Lower family focus | 10 – 17: Balanced family focus | 18 – 24: High family focus

A score of 13 indicates a balanced level of family-related meaning, where family matters but is not the sole central life driver.

example score

15/24

Communicative (C)

Measures how strongly a person’s life meanings are oriented toward communication, emotional connection, and feeling needed by others.

Low

Moderate

High

3 – 9: Low | 10 – 17: Moderate | 18 – 24: High

A score of 15 indicates a moderate emphasis on communicative meanings, suggesting communication is meaningful but not the dominant source of motivation.

example score

11/24

Status (S)

Measures how strongly career advancement, social position, and public recognition serve as key life meanings for a person.

Low status focus

Moderate status focus

High status focus

3 – 10: Low status focus | 11 – 17: Moderate status focus | 18 – 24: High status focus

A score of 11 indicates a moderate orientation toward status meanings, where recognition and career progress matter but are not the dominant drivers.

example score

11/24

Self-Realization (SR)

Measures the importance a person assigns to self-realization, developing their abilities, and fulfilling their purpose.

Low

Moderate

High

3 – 9: Low | 10 – 17: Moderate | 18 – 24: High

A score of 11 falls in the Moderate range, suggesting self-actualization is a meaningful life orientation but not among the most dominant drivers right now.

example score

14/24

Existential Meanings (EM)

Measures the importance a person places on finding value in living, exercising freedom of choice, and experiencing love as core life meanings.

Lower existential meaning

Moderate existential meaning

Higher existential meaning

3 – 9: Lower existential meaning | 10 – 17: Moderate existential meaning | 18 – 24: Higher existential meaning

A score of 14 indicates a moderate emphasis on existential meanings, suggesting these themes are present and relevant but not the dominant driver of life priorities.

example score

18/24

Hedonistic (H)

Measures the extent to which a person prioritizes pleasure, enjoyment, and positive emotional experiences as key life meanings.

Low

Moderate

High

3 – 9: Low | 10 – 17: Moderate | 18 – 24: High

A score of 18 indicates a high emphasis on seeking enjoyment and pleasant experiences as an important source of meaning in life.

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DATA-BASED USER COHORTS

Who Usually Takes This Test?

Life transition seekers

41%OF USERS

People facing a major change (career shift, breakup, relocation) who want clarity on what matters most before making decisions.

Self-development planners

34%OF USERS

People who set goals regularly and want to align their plans with their real values, priorities, and sources of motivation.

Coaching and therapy clients

25%OF USERS

People working with a coach or therapist who need a structured map of meaning to spot inner conflicts, strengths, and growth areas.

BASED ON AGGREGATED, ANONYMIZED DATA FROM TENS OF THOUSANDS OF FREUDLY USERS.

Benchmarking

See How You Compare

Once you complete the test, your results are compared with real-world data from people in your country.
Below is a preview of how scores are typically distributed across each scale.

Altruistic (A)

Average

12.5

Normal range

8.7 — 16.4

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Cognitive (C)

Average

11.4

Normal range

7.7 — 15

min.

max.

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Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Family (F)

Average

13.2

Normal range

10.1 — 16.3

min.

max.

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Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Communicative (C)

Average

10.1

Normal range

7.2 — 13

min.

max.

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Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Status-driven (S)

Average

10.5

Normal range

6.6 — 14.4

min.

max.

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Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Self-actualization (S)

Average

16.5

Normal range

13.7 — 19.2

min.

max.

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Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Existential (E)

Average

9.7

Normal range

6.4 — 13.1

min.

max.

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Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Hedonistic (H)

Average

17.7

Normal range

14.6 — 20.9

min.

max.

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Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

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SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Example Questions From the Test

Below is a list of 24 statements. These describe life meanings that people may use as guiding orientations in their lives. Please read the entire list carefully. List of Life Meanings ▾ The meaning of my life is … No. 1 …to help other people No. 2 …to be free No. 3 …to experience pleasure No. 4 …to improve myself No. 5 …to achieve success No. 6 …to be with a loved one No. 7 …to pass on the best of everything to my children No. 8 …to understand myself No. 9 …to do good No. 10 …to live No. 11 …to experience happiness No. 12 …to fulfill myself No. 13 …to build a good career No. 14 …to feel that someone needs me No. 15 …to live for my family No. 16 …to know God No. 17 …to make the world better No. 18 …to love No. 19 …to experience as many sensations and experiences as possible No. 20 …to realize all of my potential No. 21 …to hold a достойное position in society No. 22 …to enjoy communicating with others No. 23 …to help my relatives and loved ones No. 24 …to understand life Next, you will provide a graded ranking of the list above. To do so, select three statements that occupy 1st place in your personal system of life meanings, then three statements you would place in 2nd, then three in 3rd, and so on through 8th place. In a fully completed questionnaire, each statement must be assigned a rank from 1 to 8, and each rank (1–8) must be used exactly three times. If the questionnaire does not allow you to proceed to the results, review your responses carefully; most likely, you selected a number more than three times (and, correspondingly, another number was used fewer than three times).

- …help other people
- …be free
- …experience pleasure
- …improve myself
- …achieve success
- …be with a loved one
- …pass on the best of everything to my children
- …understand myself
- …do good
- …live
- …experience happiness
- …fulfill myself
- …build a good career
- …feel that someone needs me
- …live for my family
- …know God
- …make the world better
- …love
- …experience as many sensations and experiences as possible
- …realize all of my potential
- …hold a worthy position in society
- …enjoy communicating with others
- …help my relatives and loved ones
- …understand life

These are 1 of the 1 real questions — the rest appear in the test. No sign-up needed to start.

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WHAT THE TEST MEASURES

About This Assessment

Life Meaning System Test - Symptoms and Signs

meaningfulness

values

This measure is intended to support a structured discussion of perceived sources of meaning and personally salient life domains. The Life Meaning System is used to help clarify how an individual prioritizes broad meaning-related themes and to identify potential areas of alignment or tension.

The instrument includes 1 items and typically requires about 10 minutes to complete. It yields a brief profile that can be used to guide clinical interviewing, case formulation, and goal setting, with interpretation integrated alongside other assessment data and clinical context. The Life Meaning System is attributed to Michael F. Steger.

Author: Michael F. Steger

Literature: Steger, M. F., Frazier, P., Oishi, S., & Kaler, M. The meaning in life questionnaire: Assessing the presence of and search for meaning in life. Journal of Counseling Psychology. 2006.