Having a sense of meaning is less important for your happiness if you ’re rich

By Emily Reynolds Searching for meaning is something many of us experience throughout our lives: finding something to strive for that gives shape, direction, and purpose to the things we choose to do. For some, this meaning is religious; some political; some interpersonal. And having a sense of meaning can bring us happiness (or, if we lack meaning, unhappiness). A new study to be published in Emotion looks at the relationship between meaning and happiness in the context of financial resources. Rhia Catapano from the University of Toronto and colleagues find that meaning is a far weaker predictor of happiness for rich people than poorer people — suggesting economic resources can impact how we experience meaning. The team analysed data from over 500,000 people across 123 countries. The first study used data from a daily poll of US residents collected between 2013 and 2015. Wellbeing was tracked using measures of positive affect — whether, during the day before they were surveyed, participants had smiled or laughed a lot, experienced a lot of enjoyment, or experienced a lot of happiness. Meaning was measured through a daily “purpose index”, which explored the extent to which participants felt that they like what they do every day and are motivated to achieve their goals. (Though this may be more accurately described as a measure of purpose than meaning, the team note that the terms are somewhat interchangeable in this part of the study). Finally...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Emotion Money The self Source Type: blogs