Open AccessSearching for meaning is associated with costly prosociality
Author(s) -
Brodie C. Dakin,
Simon M. Laham,
Nicholas Poh-Jie Tan,
Brock Bastian
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0258769
Subject(s) - prosocial behavior , meaning (existential) , happiness , psychology , social psychology , altruism (biology) , seekers , association (psychology) , psychotherapist , political science , law
The study of meaning in life has largely centered on its relationship with personal well-being, while a focus on how meaning is related to enhancing the well-being of others has received less research attention. Although searching for meaning may imply lower personal well-being, we find that meaning-seekers are more motivated to perform costly prosocial actions for the sake of others’ well-being, given the perceived meaningfulness of these behaviors. Studies 1–4 ( N = 780) show that meaning-seeking correlates with the motivation to engage in a range of costly prosocial behaviors. Meaning-seeking is further shown to be distinct from pursuing happiness in its relationship with costly prosociality ( Study 2 & 3) and to share a stronger association with high-cost than low-cost prosociality ( Study 3 & 4). Study 5 ( N = 370; pre-registered) further shows that the search for meaning is related to costly prosocial behavior in the recent past. While our studies are cross-sectional, the pattern of findings suggests that seeking meaning (rather than happiness) may play an important role in motivating altruistic tendencies.