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The pursuit of happiness and meaning are two of our most central motivations in life. A wealth of research inĀ positive psychologyĀ suggests that happiness and meaning are, in fact, essential elements of well-being. Happiness and meaning areĀ strongly correlated with each other, and often feed off each other. The more meaning we find in life, the more happy we typically feel, and the more happy we feel, the more we often feel encouraged to pursue even greater meaning and purpose.Ā
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Parents often report thatĀ they are very happy they had children, but parents who areĀ living with childrenĀ usually score very low on measures of happiness.Ā It seems that raising children can decrease happiness but increase meaning.
Similarly, revolutionaries often suffer through years of violence and discord forĀ a larger purpose, which ultimately brings great satisfaction and meaning to their lives and the lives of others.
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In recent years, a number of studies have further supported the differences between happiness and meaning.Ā Quite predictably, factors such as feeling connected to others, feeling productive, and not being alone or bored contributed to both happiness and meaning.
Some differences:
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It seems that happiness has more to do with having your needs satisfied, getting what you want, and feeling good, whereas meaning is more related to uniquely human activities such as developing a personal identity, expressing the self, and consciously integrating oneās past, present, and future experiences.Ā
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MeaningĀ has at least two major components: theĀ cognitive processingĀ component involves making sense and integrating experiences, and aĀ purposeĀ component, which is more motivational and involves actively pursuing long-term goals that reflect oneās identity and transcend narrow self-interests.Ā
An extensive study found that the frequency of positive emotions was only weakly related to measures of adaptive functioning at follow-up (which ranged from half a year to 7 years). In fact, positive emotionality wasĀ negativelyĀ related to optimism and positively related to emotion suppression at follow-up.
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Ā While happiness may make us feel good in the moment, the avoidance of negative thoughts and feelings may stunt personal development over time. After all, personal development often requiresĀ experiencing a full range of emotions.Ā There is also emerging research that over time, happiness is associated with anĀ increased sense of lonelinessĀ and aĀ decreased sense of well-being.
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The two measures of meaning (cognitive processing and purpose) wereĀ positivelyĀ associated with most of the measures of adaptation. In particular, cognitive processing was very strongly related toĀ gritĀ (passion and perseverance for long-term goals), and self-distancing was robustly related toĀ gratitudeĀ and well-being, andĀ negativelyĀ related to emotion suppression.
TheĀ interactionĀ between cognitive processing and self-distancing was additionally associated with measures of adaptation.
Meaning-making is particularly adaptive if one can maintainĀ a self-detached third-person perspective.
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Years of research on the psychology of well-being have demonstrated that often human beings are happiest when they are engaged in meaningful pursuits and virtuous activities.
A further investigation of the similarities and differences between happiness and meaning can contribute substantially to our understanding of thisĀ āsweet-spotā of well-being: that seemingly magical combination of happiness and meaning that sets off theĀ virtuous cycleĀ that canĀ ultimately leadĀ to a life well-lived.
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