Zhou Z. Life Goals as a Meaning-Giving Factor in the Lives Representatives of Russian and Chinese Cultures

The article considers the realization of human goals in the main spheres of life activity and the relationship of this process with the meaning of life. Special attention is paid to the role of culture as the most important situational factor. The study was conducted among 293 representatives of Russian and Chinese cultures, including 143 native speakers of Russian, 150 native speakers of Chinese, average age 27.4 ± 7.4 years. Factor, cluster and comparative analyses were applied separately in two samples. The following results were obtained. Goal regulation of human behavior is contextual in nature – in both samples, goal setting and goal attainment are related to a person's assessment of the opportunities provided by his or her life situation. As a result of cluster analysis, the Russian-speaking sample is divided into three groups. As a result of comparative analysis, significant differences were found between all three groups in such indicators as the importance of life goals, assessment of life situation opportunities, and the sense of meaningfulness of life. In the Russian sample, the more important a person considers life goals, the more opportunities sees in life situation to achieve them, the more feels own life is meaningful. The Chinese-speaking sample is divided into two groups by significant differences. In this sample, it is found that the more active a person is in life, he has the more willing to change, the more satisfied he is with his own life, the closer he with his parental family, and the more oriented he is on traditional and family values, the more he feels that life is meaningful.

Key words: life goals, goal regulation, meaningfulness of life, life situation, culture

For citation: Zhou, Z. (2024). Life Goals as a Meaning-Giving Factor in the Lives Representatives of Russian and Chinese Cultures. New Psychological Research, No. 1, 57–78. DOI: 10.51217/npsyresearch_2024_04_01_03