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Psychology

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Feb 8, 2026 – Feb 15, 2026

Existential Digest

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ES

Evgeny Smirnov

4 papers in this digest

Introduction

A new curated collection has appeared in the project, dedicated to scales measuring existential constructs such as death, meaninglessness, freedom, and isolation. Although there aren’t that many instruments, the existing questionnaires can already measure something.

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In this digest, we list only some of them. For more details, see the corresponding collection “Measuring the unmeasurable: Psychometric tools for Existential Concerns”.

1
Must Read
beginner

The meaning in life questionnaire: Assessing the presence of and search for meaning in life.

Michael F. Steger, Patricia Frazier, Shigehiro Oishi et al. · 2006 · Journal of Counseling Psychology

At a Glance

New questionnaire MLQ to measure meaning in life through Presence and Search domains

Summary

The authors created Meaning in Life Questionnaire in a positive context (Frankl's construction of meaning concept). The scale has 2 subscales (Presence and Search), 5 questions each. The tool is heavily used by other researchers and has many adaptations to different languages. Worth using if one needs to assess meaning in life or existential concern of meaninglessness.

A nice replacement of the old PIL scale that can assess the existential concern of meaninglessness, though some questions have arguable discriminant validity. To use!

— ES

Method:
creating and validating a new scale
Background:
basic existential notions (meaning in life); Frankl + Yalom
4
Must Read
intermediate

Existential Concerns Arising From a Threat to the Belief in a Just World: A Mixed-Methods Study(pdf)

Evgeny Smirnov, Maria Makarova · 2025 · Journal of Humanistic Psychology

At a GlanceAI

Threats to belief in a just world are linked to higher existential anxiety, shown via interviews and survey comparisons in Russians.

SummaryAI

This study connects threats to belief in a just world with heightened existential concerns, framing injustice experiences as triggers of existential anxiety. Using in-depth interviews with people who perceived events as unjust, the authors identify themes of existential problems becoming salient after such experiences. A follow-up quantitative comparison across groups with different coping strategies for critical events finds higher existential anxiety among those facing threats to their just-world belief, with medium-to-large group differences. The work positions just-world threat as a psychologically meaningful pathway to existential distress, relevant for research and practice on coping with injustice.

Many people believe that the existential concerns are givens of the existence. However, it could be the case that they are triggered by other fundamental beliefs, such as a belief in a just world.

— ES

Method:AI
Mixed-methods design combining qualitative in-depth interviews with a quantitative survey using standardized scales.
Background:AI
Basic knowledge of belief in a just world, existential anxiety/concerns, and mixed-methods research in psychology.