The meaning of life, self esteem, and social support of homeless people

Abstract

The aim of this research study was to examine the meaning of life for homeless people; examine the differences in their meaning of life in two aspects (the actual sense of life, and the long-term search for a comprehensive meaning of life) in relation to their gender and degree of satisfaction with social support in their environment. The goal of this research was to study the relationship between the components of self-image and the factors of the meaning of life. 104 homeless persons who took part in the research were from the Institute of Christ the High Priest (CHP) in Žakovce. 38% of the sample group were women, the average age of the sample group was 42.6, and the SD equalled 10.21. During the research, the respondents were presented with a survey questionnaire on the meaning of life (Steger, Frazier, Oishi, et al. 2006). The perceived level of surroundings’ social support was monitored by the question At how many percent are you satisfied with the number of persons whom you can rely on in times of trouble?...%, and self-image was studied by the Self methodology (Vasiľová, Bendžalová 2004). A distinctively higher level of planning for the future was observed among homeless males. Individuals who declared greater satisfaction with social support that they received from their surroundings also reported increased levels of a temporary sense of life as well as of a long-term search for a comprehensive meaning in life than the subjects reporting lower and medium levels of satisfaction with perceived social support. It was discovered, that the strongest relationship occurred between the self-image component of desire to help others and the actual meaning of life, and between the self-image component of happiness and the factor of searching for the meaning of life. The results suggested the importance of considering gender traits in measuring personal life satisfaction and a demand for the provision of social support and strengthening self-image in social work with homeless people.