Social threats, happiness, and the dynamics of meaning in life judgments. Academic Article

abstract

• Four studies examined social relatedness and positive affect (PA) as alternate sources of information for judgments of meaning in life (MIL). In Studies 1 through 3 (total N = 282), priming loneliness increased reliance on PA and decreased reliance on social functioning in MIL judgments. In Study 4 (N = 138), daily assessments of PA, relatedness needs satisfaction (RNS), and MIL were obtained every 5 days over 20 days. Multilevel modeling showed that on days when RNS was low, PA was strongly related to MIL. Results suggest the dynamic ways that social relationships and PA inform judgments of MIL. Informational and motivational accounts of these results are discussed.

authors

• Hicks, Joshua
• Schlegel, Rebecca

published proceedings

• Pers Soc Psychol Bull

author list (cited authors)

• Hicks, J. A., Schlegel, R. J., & King, L. A.

citation count

• 91

complete list of authors

• Hicks, Joshua A||Schlegel, Rebecca J||King, Laura A

publication date

• October 2010

publisher

• SAGE Publications  Publisher

published in

• Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin  Journal

keywords

• Adaptation, Psychological
• Adolescent
• Adult
• Affect
• Existentialism
• Female
• Goals
• Happiness
• Humans
• Judgment
• Knowledge
• Loneliness
• Male
• Missouri
• Multivariate Analysis
• Personal Satisfaction
• Social Support

PubMed Central ID

• 20729336

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

• 10.1177/0146167210381650

start page

• 1305

end page

• 1317

volume

• 36

issue

• 10

URL

• http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0146167210381650