A closer look at the hedonics of everyday meaning and satisfaction

Contrasts between eudaimonic well-being and hedonic well-being often compare meaning and happiness. Less work has examined the extent to which meaning and satisfaction can be distinguished. Across five diary studies (N = 923) and a large cross-sectional survey (N = 1471), we examined the affective p...

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Main Authors: William TOV, LEE, Huey Woon
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Language:English
Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2016
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Online Access:https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/1879
https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/3136/viewcontent/Tov___Lee__in_press__Satisfaction_and_Meaning.pdf
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spelling sg-smu-ink.soss_research-31362020-03-31T05:24:00Z A closer look at the hedonics of everyday meaning and satisfaction William TOV, LEE, Huey Woon Contrasts between eudaimonic well-being and hedonic well-being often compare meaning and happiness. Less work has examined the extent to which meaning and satisfaction can be distinguished. Across five diary studies (N = 923) and a large cross-sectional survey (N = 1471), we examined the affective profile of meaning and satisfaction in everyday life. Using response surface methodology, both judgments were modeled as a joint function of positive (PA) and negative (NA) affect. Affective discrepancy (preponderance of PA over NA) was more strongly associated with satisfaction than meaning. In general, meaning correlated less with affect than satisfaction, but the two judgments differ more in their correlation with NA than PA. This implies that people are sometimes able to derive meaning (but not necessarily satisfaction) from negative experiences. We content-coded the events reported by participants for goal-directedness, social interactions, and their potential future impact. Interpersonal conflicts and impactful negative events were associated with less satisfaction and meaning at zero-order. However, after controlling for affect and satisfaction, these negative experiences were associated with greater meaning. This effect may reflect additional cognitive processes that enhance meaning but not satisfaction. In all studies, we also observed a positivity dominance effect: At subjectively equivalent levels, PA is weighted more than NA in judgments of meaning and satisfaction. There was no evidence of negativity bias. Results were replicated across different measures and cultural groups (Singapore and the U.S.). 2016-10-01T07:00:00Z text application/pdf https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/1879 info:doi/10.1037/pspp0000081 https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/3136/viewcontent/Tov___Lee__in_press__Satisfaction_and_Meaning.pdf http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Research Collection School of Social Sciences eng Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University eudaimonia happiness meaning negativity bias response surface Applied Behavior Analysis Social Psychology
institution Singapore Management University
building SMU Libraries
continent Asia
country Singapore
Singapore
content_provider SMU Libraries
collection InK@SMU
language English
topic eudaimonia
happiness
meaning
negativity bias
response surface
Applied Behavior Analysis
Social Psychology
spellingShingle eudaimonia
happiness
meaning
negativity bias
response surface
Applied Behavior Analysis
Social Psychology
William TOV,
LEE, Huey Woon
A closer look at the hedonics of everyday meaning and satisfaction
description Contrasts between eudaimonic well-being and hedonic well-being often compare meaning and happiness. Less work has examined the extent to which meaning and satisfaction can be distinguished. Across five diary studies (N = 923) and a large cross-sectional survey (N = 1471), we examined the affective profile of meaning and satisfaction in everyday life. Using response surface methodology, both judgments were modeled as a joint function of positive (PA) and negative (NA) affect. Affective discrepancy (preponderance of PA over NA) was more strongly associated with satisfaction than meaning. In general, meaning correlated less with affect than satisfaction, but the two judgments differ more in their correlation with NA than PA. This implies that people are sometimes able to derive meaning (but not necessarily satisfaction) from negative experiences. We content-coded the events reported by participants for goal-directedness, social interactions, and their potential future impact. Interpersonal conflicts and impactful negative events were associated with less satisfaction and meaning at zero-order. However, after controlling for affect and satisfaction, these negative experiences were associated with greater meaning. This effect may reflect additional cognitive processes that enhance meaning but not satisfaction. In all studies, we also observed a positivity dominance effect: At subjectively equivalent levels, PA is weighted more than NA in judgments of meaning and satisfaction. There was no evidence of negativity bias. Results were replicated across different measures and cultural groups (Singapore and the U.S.).
format text
author William TOV,
LEE, Huey Woon
author_facet William TOV,
LEE, Huey Woon
author_sort William TOV,
title A closer look at the hedonics of everyday meaning and satisfaction
title_short A closer look at the hedonics of everyday meaning and satisfaction
title_full A closer look at the hedonics of everyday meaning and satisfaction
title_fullStr A closer look at the hedonics of everyday meaning and satisfaction
title_full_unstemmed A closer look at the hedonics of everyday meaning and satisfaction
title_sort closer look at the hedonics of everyday meaning and satisfaction
publisher Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University
publishDate 2016
url https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/1879
https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/3136/viewcontent/Tov___Lee__in_press__Satisfaction_and_Meaning.pdf
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