Happiness vs Meaning cont'd

There are important distinctions between the methods of searching for and the benefits of experiencing happiness and meaning. Baumeister and his fellow researchers found that:

• Feeling healthy was related to happiness, but not meaning;
• Feeling good was related to happiness, not meaning;
• Scarcity of money reduced happiness more than meaning;
• People with more meaningful lives agreed that “relationships are more important than achievements;”
• Helping people in need was linked to meaning but not happiness;
• Expecting to do a lot of deep thinking was positively related to meaningfulness, but negatively with happiness;
• Happiness was related more to being a taker rather than a giver, whereas meaning was related more to being a giver than a taker;
• The more people felt their activities were consistent with the core themes and values of their self, the greater meaning they reported in their activities;