| Course | HW420 Psychological and Spiritual Aspects of Wellness |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 3 |
| Paper type | Self-assessment reflection |
| Length | About 810 words, 5 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | BS in Health and Wellness |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for HW420 Unit 3
Searching Hard, Finding Some: A Unit 3 Self-Assessment Reflection on the Meaning in Life Questionnaire
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
HW420: Psychological and Spiritual Aspects of Wellness
Unit 3 Self-Assessment Reflection
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The writer's scores and circumstances are composite; the questionnaire and the research on its two subscales cited are real.
The Instrument
The Meaning in Life Questionnaire has ten statements, each rated on a seven-point scale from absolutely untrue to absolutely true (Steger et al., 2006). Five items form the Presence subscale, which asks how much a person feels their life has meaning, for example "I understand my life's meaning." Five items form the Search subscale, which asks how actively a person is looking for meaning, for example "I am looking for something that makes my life feel meaningful." One Presence item, "My life has no clear purpose," is reverse-scored. Each subscale ranges from 5 to 35.
The developers designed the two subscales to be distinct, and in their studies they were only weakly related: a person can feel meaning is present and still be searching, or feel little meaning and not be searching at all (Steger et al., 2006).
My Scores
Presence: 21 of 35. Search: 29 of 35.
My Presence score sits near the middle of the range. My Search score is high. Taken alone, either number could mislead. A Presence score of 21 might suggest I am unsure my life has meaning, and a Search score of 29 might suggest restlessness or dissatisfaction.
Reading Them Together
I think the pattern describes a specific moment rather than a stable trait. Two years ago I left a job in hospital administration, where I knew what my work was for, to start this degree while working part time in a gym. Several things that used to supply meaning have loosened: my old role, a group of colleagues and a clear sense of where I was headed. I have not lost meaning; my family and my faith are still there, which I think is why Presence did not fall further. But I am actively looking for what comes next, which shows in the Search score.
Research on the search for meaning suggests that its relationship with well-being depends on presence. In a set of studies, people who were searching for meaning tended to report lower well-being overall, but searching was less troubling, and sometimes linked with curiosity and openness, when a sense of meaning was already partly present (Steger et al., 2008).
I read my scores not as a person short of meaning but as a person in transit between sources of it, searching hard because the old ones have loosened and the new ones are not yet in place.
What the Instrument Cannot See
The questionnaire tells me how much meaning I feel and how hard I am looking. It does not tell me where meaning comes from or where I am looking. It cannot distinguish meaning from faith, family or work, and it does not ask whether my search is anxious or hopeful. It also reflects how I felt on one evening in a busy week.
It cannot see the three facets of meaning either. Coherence, purpose and significance are folded together in the Presence items (Martela & Steger, 2016). If I separated them, I suspect my sense of coherence and significance is reasonably strong, and what is missing is purpose: a clear sense of what I am working toward.
What I Will Do With It
I want to retake the questionnaire at the end of the term and see whether either score changes as my plans become clearer. I also want to watch the quality of my search, not just its strength. If it begins to feel like restlessness rather than curiosity, that would be worth noticing.
How Honest Were My Answers?
Self-report instruments depend on honesty and on mood. I took the questionnaire on a Thursday evening after a long shift, and I noticed that two of the Presence items made me hesitate. On a better day, I might have scored a point or two higher. I also caught myself wanting a respectable score, which is the kind of bias the instrument cannot detect. None of this makes the scores useless, but it reminds me to treat them as one reading, not a verdict.
What the Exercise Taught Me
Before this assignment I thought of meaning as something a person either has or lacks. Reading two scores against each other showed me it can be partly present and actively sought at the same time, and that a single number would have told me less than the pair. That lesson seems likely to apply to clients as much as to me: a wellness professional who sees one low score should ask what the other one says before drawing conclusions.
References
Martela, F., & Steger, M. F. (2016). The three meanings of meaning in life: Distinguishing coherence, purpose, and significance. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 11(5), 531-545. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2015.1137623
Steger, M. F., Frazier, P., Oishi, S., & Kaler, M. (2006). The Meaning in Life Questionnaire: Assessing the presence of and search for meaning in life. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 53(1), 80-93. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.53.1.80
Steger, M. F., Kashdan, T. B., Sullivan, B. A., & Lorentz, D. (2008). Understanding the search for meaning in life: Personality, cognitive style, and the dynamic between seeking and experiencing meaning. Journal of Personality, 76(2), 199-228. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2007.00484.x
The Purdue Global HW420 Unit 3 instructions
The self-assessment unit asks students to complete a measure related to meaning, purpose or spiritual well-being and reflect on the results. Prompts usually want the instrument described accurately, the scores reported, an interpretation that draws on research and a discussion of the instrument's limits. Explain how the instrument is scored, including any reversed items and the range of each subscale. Read subscales together rather than in isolation. Connect the pattern to circumstances in your life without overclaiming. Use research on the instrument to support your reading. Say what the instrument cannot capture and how your mood or situation may have affected your answers. Consider retesting later. The reflection usually fills three or four first-person pages.
Inside the HW420 Unit 3 example
The reflection opens by describing the questionnaire's ten items, its two subscales and the reversed item, citing its developers. Scores of 21 and 29 follow, with a note on how either alone could mislead. A section reads them together against a recent career change, drawing on research about how search and presence interact, and the highlighted sentence offers the reading of a person in transit. A section explains what the instrument cannot see, including the three facets of meaning. Another questions how honest and mood-dependent the answers were. The writer plans a retest and closes by drawing a lesson for working with clients.
Reading the HW420 Unit 3 grading rubric
HW420 self-assessment rubrics typically reward accurate description of the instrument, thoughtful interpretation of the scores and honest discussion of limits. Interpretation earns the most when subscales are read together and connected to the writer's circumstances with support from research. Limits are scored under critical thinking, including what the instrument does not measure and how conditions on the day may have shaped the answers. A plan to retest or apply the findings adds to the reflection score. Readable first-person prose and correct APA make up the remaining marks. A reflection that treats a single score as a verdict on the writer's life, or that describe the instrument inaccurately, usually lose points. Noting the date and conditions under which the instrument was completed is a small detail graders often look for.
HW420 Unit 3 help from the desk
Self-assessment reflections often report scores and then move straight to general thoughts about meaning, without interpreting the numbers. Another weakness is reading each subscale on its own, which can make a high Search score look like a problem when it may reflect a transition. Students sometimes misdescribe the scoring or forget the reversed item. Limits of the instrument are frequently skipped. Some reflections share more than the analysis needs. If you have taken the questionnaire and are unsure how to read your two scores, note the circumstances you were in when you answered, and we can help you build an interpretation that uses both subscales. Retesting later in the term is a simple way to show the reading was taken seriously.
Get an HW420 Unit 3 example written to your instructions
Take whichever instrument the Unit 3 prompt names, or tell us the one you chose, and share your scores only if you want them in the draft; brackets work otherwise. Include the rubric. The reflection describes the instrument, reads your result instead of repeating it, and stays within wellness scope. It arrives in 24-48h, and a first one is free. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
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HW420 Unit 3 questions, answered
What if my scores seem wrong to me?
That disagreement is useful material. Explain which items you hesitated over, what the questionnaire may not capture about your situation, and whether the timing of the sitting affected your answers. A reflection that argues carefully with its own result often earns more than one that accepts it, provided the argument rests on specifics rather than a general distrust of surveys.
Which instrument should a Unit 3 reflection use?
Whichever your prompt names. Common choices on this material include the Meaning in Life Questionnaire, the Spiritual Well-Being Scale and various wellness wheels. Describe the one you use accurately, including who developed it and how it is scored, and say what kind of question it can answer, because the interpretation depends on that.
Where can I find a free HW420 Unit 3 sample paper?
This page holds a complete Unit 3 self-assessment reflection on the Meaning in Life Questionnaire, with two scores read together, margin notes and APA references.
What does a high Search score with a middling Presence score mean?
It often describes someone actively looking for meaning while some meaning is still present, such as during a transition. Research suggests searching is less distressing when some meaning is already there.
How is the Meaning in Life Questionnaire scored?
Ten statements are rated from absolutely untrue to absolutely true. Five form the Presence subscale and five the Search subscale, one Presence item is reverse-scored, and each subscale ranges from 5 to 35.