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I Gotta Say, Today Was a Good (and Meaningful) Day: Daily Meaning in Life as a Potential Basic Psychological Need

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Abstract

Prior research has found that global meaning in life promotes several forms of well-being such as better coping and lower stress, and suggests that meaning in life is a common experience that is shaped by daily experiences. We build on this research by testing the possibility that meaning is a basic psychological need. In Study 1, participants (N = 195) completed a 21-day diary that included daily assessments of depressive symptomology, affect, and self-esteem. In Study 2, participants (N = 142) completed a 14-day diary, adding stress and vitality as additional indicators of well-being. Across both studies, we found that meaning in life is a consistent predictor of psychological well-being. Further, in Study 2, we tested the unique role of meaning in life against other basic psychological needs (i.e., autonomy, competence, relatedness), finding that meaning in life continues to predict well-being even in the presence of other psychological needs.

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Notes

  1. Direction and significance of results is unchanged when including a random slope for meaning in life.

  2. Direction and significance of results is unchanged when including a random slope for meaning in life.

  3. Direction and significance of results is unchanged when including a random slope for meaning in life.

  4. When competence is the only predictor, it is in fact associated with less negative affect (\(b = - .07 \left[ { - .10, - .04} \right], p < .001\)). When only meaning in life is omitted from the model, competence is not significantly related to negative affect, though the sign is positive (\(b = .02 \left[ { - .02, .04} \right], p > .250\)). Thus, meaning in life does not appear to be redundant with perceived competence.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Psychological Sciences, Purdue University, 703 Third Street, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA

    Benjamin W. Hadden

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Mississippi, P.O. Box 1848, University, MS, 38677, USA

    C. Veronica Smith

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  1. Benjamin W. Hadden
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  2. C. Veronica Smith
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Correspondence to C. Veronica Smith.

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Hadden, B.W., Smith, C.V. I Gotta Say, Today Was a Good (and Meaningful) Day: Daily Meaning in Life as a Potential Basic Psychological Need. J Happiness Stud 20, 185–202 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-017-9946-y

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