Positive affect and the experience of meaning in life.

King, Laura A.; Hicks, Joshua A.; Krull, Jennifer L.; Gaiso, Amber K. Del

doi:10.1037/0022-3514.90.1.179

Cited by 940 publications

(753 citation statements)

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“…Given that individuals who find their lives meaningful perceive their lives as being satisfactory (Jia-Yang, Wong, Joubert, Lai, & Wan, 2008;Kashdan & Steger, 2007), a negative correlation between neuroticism and the presence of meaning in life is not inexplicable. This study also found that positive affect predicts the presence of meaning in life, as do similar studies (Hicks & King, 2007;King et al, 2006;King & Hicks, 2009). Positive affect influences cognition in a way that eases the nature of meaning and assists in the exploration of meaning.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 64%

“…According to Gençöz (2000), a positive affect is "active pleasure and joy one finds in life, " and a negative affect is "the activation of unpleasant affects such as stress, fear, and anger. " Studies about the concept of meaning in life and personal affects (King et al, 2006;King & Hicks, 2009) suggest that positive affects provide are the primary contributors to the perception of meaning in life, and that situations characterized by positive affects could serve as a "natural habitat" for meaning in life. They also imply that negative affects are triggered when individuals' needs for meaning in life are not satisfied (Maddi, 1970;Pan, Wong, Joubert, & Chan, 2007).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…According to King, Hicks, Krull, and Del Gaiso (2006), individuals refer to their affects as sources of information when they attempt to answer whether their lives are meaningful. When questioned about the quality of their lives, people evaluate their purpose based on their existing affects rather than considering all possible pieces of information (Schwarz & Clore, 1996;Schwarz & Strack, 1999).…”

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Personality Traits and Positive/Negative Affects: An Analysis of Meaning in Life among Adults

2015

EDUC SCI-THEOR PRACT

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This study examines the impact of positive and negative affects and personality traits on meaning in life in an adult population. The sample consisted of 335 subjects: 190 females and 145 males, and a Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ), positive and negative schedule (PANAS), and adjective-based personality scale (ABPT) were used in the research. The data were analyzed on a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) as well as a Pearson product moment correlation and hierarchical multiple regression analysis. According to the findings of the study, early adults' search for meaning in life was higher than either middle-aged adults or older adults. Positive affect, extraversion, openness to experiences, agreeableness, and conscientiousness correlated with both the presence of meaning in life and the subject's search for meaning in life. In addition, the results of the Pearson correlation analysis indicated that presence of meaning in life had a significant negative correlation with negative affect and neuroticism. According to the results of multiple regression analysis, presence of meaning in life was predicted by openness to experiences, neuroticism, and positive affect, while the search for meaning in life was predicted by extraversion and negative affect.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 64%

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confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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Personality Traits and Positive/Negative Affects: An Analysis of Meaning in Life among Adults

2015

EDUC SCI-THEOR PRACT

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“…Both types of well-being share some common sources (e.g., perceived social connections) (29) and can reciprocally influence one another (29) [i.e., positive affect predisposes people to find positive meaning (43,44), and finding positive meaning increases positive affect (45)]. As such, the current finding that a purified index of eudaimonic well-being (purged of shared variance with hedonia) predicts a more favorable pattern of gene expression than does a purified index of hedonic well-being (purged of shared variance with eudaimonia) says more about which form of well-being one would not want to do without, rather than which form one would be better to avoid.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A functional genomic perspective on human well-being

Fredrickson

Grewen

Coffey

et al. 2013

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

396

444

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To identify molecular mechanisms underlying the prospective health advantages associated with psychological well-being, we analyzed leukocyte basal gene expression profiles in 80 healthy adults who were assessed for hedonic and eudaimonic well-being, as well as potentially confounded negative psychological and behavioral factors. Hedonic and eudaimonic well-being showed similar affective correlates but highly divergent transcriptome profiles. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from people with high levels of hedonic well-being showed up-regulated expression of a stress-related conserved transcriptional response to adversity (CTRA) involving increased expression of proinflammatory genes and decreased expression of genes involved in antibody synthesis and type I IFN response. In contrast, high levels of eudaimonic well-being were associated with CTRA down-regulation. Promoter-based bioinformatics implicated distinct patterns of transcription factor activity in structuring the observed differences in gene expression associated with eudaimonic well-being (reduced NF-κB and AP-1 signaling and increased IRF and STAT signaling). Transcript origin analysis identified monocytes, plasmacytoid dendritic cells, and B lymphocytes as primary cellular mediators of these dynamics. The finding that hedonic and eudaimonic well-being engage distinct gene regulatory programs despite their similar effects on total well-being and depressive symptoms implies that the human genome may be more sensitive to qualitative variations in well-being than are our conscious affective experiences.

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“…Personal-nostalgia inductions typically (Batcho, 2013;Cheung et al, 2013 rather than by increasing work meaning? This is a pertinent question in light of evidence that (dispositional) PA is correlated with meaning in life (Hicks, Trent, Davis, & King, 2012;King, Hicks, Krull, & Del Gaiso, 2006;Trent, Lavelock, & King, 2013;Steger et al, 2013).…”

Section: Study 2: Testing the Effect Of Organizational Nostalgia On Wmentioning

confidence: 99%

Organizational nostalgia lowers turnover intentions by increasing work meaning: The moderating role of burnout.

Leunissen

Sedikides

Wildschut

et al. 2018

Journal of Occupational Health Psychology

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We report three studies addressing the relevance of organizational nostalgia for the meaning that employees ascribe to their work (work meaning). We hypothesized, and found, that organizational nostalgia enhances work meaning and thereby reduces turnover intentions. In Study 1, an employee survey, spontaneously experienced organizational nostalgia was associated with higher work meaning. In Study 2, an organizational-nostalgia induction increased work meaning, which subsequently predicted lowered turnover intentions. In Study 3, an organizational-nostalgia induction increased work meaning and thereby lowered turnover intentions, especially among employees who reported relatively high levels of burnout. When burnout is high, organizational nostalgia functions as a rich source of meaning that benefits employees' work experience. The Moderating Role of Burnout Most people have a strong need for meaningful work (Cartwright & Holmes, 2006; Pratt & Ashford, 2003;Steger, Littman-Ovadia, Miller, Menger, & Rothmann, 2013). Work meaning entails perceiving one's work as significant and meeting the psychological needs for personal growth and purpose (i.e., eudaimonic wellbeing). It entails a combination of experiencing positive meaning in one's work (i.e., the sense that one's work matters and is meaningful), seeing one's work as a path toward making meaning (i.e., the sense that one's work deepens understanding of one's self and the world), and perceiving one's work to contribute to the greater good (i.e., the sense that one can have a broader, positive impact on others through one's work) (Steger, Dik, & Duffy, 2012).Work meaning confers benefits to employees and their organization. For example, it fosters the sense that work is a key part of one's identity and a vital contributor to well-being (Arnold, Turner, Barling, Kelloway, & McKee, 2007;Harpaz & Fu, 2002). Employees who derive meaning from their work report greater job satisfaction, work unit cohesion, and organizational commitment (Kamdron, 2005;Nord, Brief, Atieh, & Doherty, 1990;Sparks & Schenk, 2001;Steger et al., 2012). On the other hand, low work meaning is associated with high turnover (Steger et al., 2012).With mounting evidence pointing to the merits of work meaning for employees and organizations, it becomes critical to understand its sources. In this article, we focus on one such source: organizational nostalgia. We propose that organizational nostalgia increases work meaning and, by so doing, lowers turnover intentions. We further argue that, if organizational nostalgia replenishes work meaning, it should be particularly beneficial to employees with depleted psychological resources, that is, those with high levels of burnout.Next, we present the rationale for these predictions. Organizational NostalgiaAccording to The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998), nostalgia is "a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past" (p. 1266). Nostalgic recollections typically involve important personal experiences or landmark events from one's lif...

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Positive affect and the experience of meaning in life.

Cited by 940 publications

References 53 publications

Personality Traits and Positive/Negative Affects: An Analysis of Meaning in Life among Adults

Personality Traits and Positive/Negative Affects: An Analysis of Meaning in Life among Adults

A functional genomic perspective on human well-being

Organizational nostalgia lowers turnover intentions by increasing work meaning: The moderating role of burnout.

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