What makes life meaningful?

Abstract

One of the strongest drivers of human behavior is the search for meaning. However, economists largely neglect people’s striving for meaning when studying behavior and decision-making. We designed a survey to get insight into the importance people attach to leading a meaningful life as compared to leading a happy life. We also study the main drivers of a meaningful life and a happy life. We collect data from a representative sample of the Dutch population. Using answers to open questions, vignettes, and questions on self-experienced meaning and happiness, we show that people care about both happiness and meaning and that the drivers of a happy and meaningful life differ in important ways. Moreover, we find interesting and sizeable gender differences. We conclude that people’s striving for meaning is real and can help explain poorly understood aspects of human behavior. Joint paper with Robert Dur and Iris Kesternich.