Meaning and Purpose in Life and Well-being: a Life-span Perspective

TLDR

The study surveyed 300 adults across five developmental stages, assessing life attitudes and well‑being. Older adults reported higher life purpose and death acceptance, while younger adults reported higher goal seeking and future meaning, and women reported greater life control and will to find meaning, and these attitudes predicted psychological and physical well‑being or discomfort, highlighting their importance for health.

Abstract

Three hundred men and women at five developmental stages from young adulthood to the old-old completed measures of life attitudes and well-being. Significant age differences were found on five life attitude dimensions: Life Purpose (LP), Death Acceptance (DA), Goal Seeking (GS), Future Meaning (FM), and Existential Vacuum (EV). LP and DA increased with age; GS and FM decreased with age; EV showed a curvilinear relationship with age. Significant sex differences were found for Life Control (LC) and Will To Meaning (WM). Women viewed life as more under their control and expressed a stronger will to find meaning as compared with males. FM, LP, and LC were found to predict psychological and physical well-being; EV, GS, and DA predicted psychological and physical discomfort. Preliminary findings attest to the importance of various life attitudes in promoting health and wellness.