Emotional Awareness, Social Support, and Meaning in Life Among Jordanian University Students: An Explanatory Sequential Mixed-Methods Study
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Objective: To examine the independent and interactive effects of emotional awareness and perceived social support on the presence of meaning in life among Jordanian university students.
Methods and Materials: An explanatory sequential mixed-methods design was used. In the quantitative phase, 428 undergraduates completed the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (Presence subscale only), the Emotional Awareness subscale (DERS-EA), and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS). Hierarchical regression tested main effects and the EA×SS interaction. In the qualitative phase, 20 participants were purposefully selected from the quantitative sample and interviewed, with data analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis.
Findings: Both EA and SS significantly predicted the presence of MIL, with EA emerging as the stronger predictor. A significant positive interaction showed that the EA-MIL relationship was stronger at higher SS levels. Thematic analysis revealed three themes contextualizing this interaction: (1) EA as an internal compass for value-congruent choices; (2) SS as a relational context providing validation, meaning modeling, and burden-sharing; and (3) a dynamic interaction where SS provides safety for emotional exploration, while EA enhances relationship quality.
Conclusion: EA and SS showed a significant interaction in predicting the presence of MIL among Jordanian university students. Findings support an integrative, practice-informed counseling model that strengthens both internal emotional clarity and external relational resources to enhance existential well-being in collectivist academic settings.
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