Some key differences between a happy life and a meaningful life

By Roy F. Baumeister, Kathleen D. Vohs, Jennifer L. Aaker, Emily N. Garbinsky. Journal of Positive Psychology, 2013

862 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Being happy and finding life meaningful overlap, but there are important differences. A large survey revealed multiple differing predictors of happiness (controlling for meaning) and meaningfulness (controlling for happiness). Satisfying one’s needs and wants increased happiness but was largely irrelevant to meaningfulness. Happiness was largely present oriented, whereas meaningfulness involves integrating past, present, and future. For example, thinking about future and past was associated with high meaningfulness but low happiness. Happiness was linked to being a taker rather than a giver, whereas meaningfulness went with being a giver rather than a taker. Higher levels of worry, stress, and anxiety were linked to higher meaningfulness but lower happiness. Concerns with personal identity and expressing the self contributed to meaning but not happiness. We offer brief composite sketches of the unhappy but meaningful life and of the happy but meaningless life.

Subfields: Applied Psychology, Social Psychology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/42d9436284cb11784fc0989283ba020eee75dec4

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Citations in the corpus

Social connectedness as a source and consequence of meaning in life (2016, background): “Finally, relative to intimate and relational connectedness, collective connectedness is more likely to have self-expressive and identity-building functions through its voluntary character, both of which are particularly important for achieving a sense of meaning in life (Baumeister et al., 2013).”
A daily diary study of relationships between feelings of gratitude and well-being (2017, background): “As discussed by Baumeister et al. (2013), hedonic and eudaimonic well-being may differ in terms of temporal focus.”
Nature Involvement Increases Hedonic and Eudaimonic Well-Being: A Two-Week Experimental Study (2014, positive): “In order to provide an overall assessment of mood, a single index of affect balance, net-Positive Affect (netPA), was calculated by subtracting the sum of the negative affect items from the sum of the positive affect items (Baumeister et al., 2013; Sheldon et al., 2002).”
Re-examining the Experiential Advantage in Consumption: A Meta-Analysis and Review (2020, methodology): “It is driven by achieving one’s long-term goals or growth (Baumeister et al. 2013; Ryan and Deci 2001).”
Everyday Understandings of Happiness, Good Life, and Satisfaction: Three Different Facets of Well-being (2017, background): “Reflecting on the wellbeing of oneself or others inescapably involves the use of culturally transmitted symbols and representation systems (Baumeister et al. 2013).”
Finding Meaning in Nostalgia (2018, background): “This sense refers to presence of meaning (a construct distinct from happiness; Baumeister et al., 2013).”