The interplay between loneliness, mindfulness, and presence of meaning. Does search for meaning matter?

The aim of the study was to investigate the interplay between loneliness and mindfulness in predicting presence of meaning (POM), taking into consideration the additional role of search for meaning (SFM). A sample of 415 participants from Poland, aged 18 to 55 (M = 27.88, SD = 8.66), completed a set of three questionnaires: the De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale, the Mindful Attention and Awareness Scale, and the Meaning in Life Questionnaire. Our results indicate that mindfulness partially mediated the relationship between loneliness and POM. This effect was moderated by SFM. Specifically, an indirect effect was found in the participants with medium and high levels of search for meaning but not in the participants with a low level of this variable. It also turned out that SFM enhanced the relationship between mindfulness and POM. These results are discussed in the context of the evolutionary theory of loneliness, the meaning-making mechanisms of mindfulness, and the schema-like properties of SFM.