Journal Article

·2026 OPEN ACCESS

The Mediating Role of Meaningful Living Between Desperation and Boredom and Self-Transcendence

Özkan Kenarlı , Ayşe Yılmaz , Can Sabaner , Beste Erdinç YTU , Nursenem Sarı YTU , Yusuf Akyıl

İnönü Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi

Abstract

Positive and negative experiences happen in life. Reactions to situations and feelings experienced are also influenced by events, personal, and environmental factors. In an event that is evaluatedbased on such factors and from which there seems to be no escape, one may feel desperation and experience boredom. The purpose of this study was to investigate how meaningful living functions as a mediator between boredom, self-transcendence, and desperation. Of the 351 persons who took part in the study, 239 (68.1%) were women, and 112 (31.9%) were men. The participants’ average age was 21.92, SD=4.38. The study employed Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Meaningful living plays a significant mediating role in the link between self-transcendence and boredom. Similarly, it was discovered that the relationship between self-transcendence and state desperation was fully mediated by meaningful living. Between boredom and state desperation, a positive correlation was discovered. Meaningful living and self-transcendence were found to be positively correlated, while boredom and state desperation were found to be negatively correlated. The meaningful living of an individual is adversely affected by boredom and a state of desperation, which in turn harms the degree of self-transcendence.

Keywords

Boredom Identity (music) Life style Psychology Social psychology Developmental psychology Philosophy Humanities Medicine

Subject Areas

Mind wandering and attention ·Cognitive Neuroscience ·Life Sciences
Optimism, Hope, and Well-being ·Applied Psychology ·Social Sciences
Perfectionism, Procrastination, Anxiety Studies ·Clinical Psychology ·Social Sciences