Meaning in Life among University Students in Iran:A Qualitative Study

The aim of this study was to investigate the Iranian university students' perception of meaning in life. The search method was descriptive phenomenography. 40 university students aged 18-28 were selected using the volunteering sampling method and in order to collect data focal interview was used. The 40 participants were assigned in 4 focused groups randomly. Each focused group consisted of 10 participants and three members of the research team. The three members facilitated the conversations, recorded the information, and summarized each session. The data were analyzed using the Colaizzi strategy. The process of data analysis resulted in 117 primary codes, 8 themes, and 23 sub-themes. The 8 themes included: peace and satisfaction, progress and learning, spirituality, hope, socializing, altruism, having virtues, and meaninglessness. The results showed that among the resources of meaning in life of Iranian youths in the present study, individual resources (e.g. progress and learning) were of more importance and emphasis rather than collective ones (e.g. altruism).