The Predictor Role of the Search for Meaning in Life in the Determination of High School Students’ Lifelong Learning Tendencies

Abstract

The current study aims to determine the extent to which high school students’ lifelong learning tendencies are predicted by their search for meaning in life. The study was conducted on a total of 352 senior high school students (165 females, 187 males) attending high schools located in the Bodrum District of the city of Muğla. The data of the study was collected by using a personal information form developed by the researchers, The Lifelong Learning Tendencies Scale developed by Coşkun (2009) and the sub-dimension of the search for meaning in life in the Meaning in Life Scale High School Form adapted to Turkish by Demirbaş-Çelik and İşmen-Gazioğlu (2015). In the analysis of the collected data, Pearson correlation coefficient and simple linear regression analysis were used to determine the relationship between the variables and in relation to the differences, independent samples t-test and one-way variance analysis were employed. All the analyses were conducted in SPSS 20.0 program package. At the end of the study, it was found that the high school students’ lifelong learning tendencies are positively and significantly predicted by their search for meaning in life. Moreover, the high school students’ lifelong learning tendencies were found to be varying significantly depending on gender and the type of the school attended. The findings of the study are discussed in light of the literature.