Confucian ethical spirituality and meaning in life: a longitudinal study of the mediating role of moral identity

Meaning in life is a core component of eudaimonic well-being. Dominant spiritual frameworks in psychology are mostly Western-centric and underrepresent Confucian-based ethical spirituality. Confucian Ethical Spirituality (CES) emphasizes moral self-cultivation, relational harmony, and ethical responsibility, yet its longitudinal association with meaning in life and underlying pathways remain unclear. This study aimed to examine the longitudinal associations between CES and two dimensions of meaning in life (presence of meaning and search for meaning), and to test the mediating role of moral identity in a Chinese college student sample. A three-wave longitudinal design was employed over one year, with 1,385 Chinese college students completing measures of CES, moral identity, and meaning in life at each time point. Longitudinal measurement invariance was tested first. Parallel latent growth modeling was used to examine initial levels and developmental changes across variables. The mediating role of moral identity was tested using a parallel latent growth mediation model at both intercept and slope levels. CES was positively associated with the initial levels and changes in both presence of meaning and search for meaning. Indirect associations through moral identity were statistically significant for presence of meaning at both the intercept and slope levels, whereas the corresponding indirect associations for search for meaning did not reach statistical significance. After accounting for moral identity, the direct association between CES and presence of meaning remained significant at the intercept level but not at the slope level. CES may be linked to the development of meaning in life among Chinese young adults, especially through strengthening moral identity to relate to the experience of meaning presence. The findings support a culturally embedded pathway to meaning and highlight moral internalization as a key process. These results broaden the cultural applicability of meaning in life theory and provide implications for promoting well-being via Confucian ethical and moral cultivation.