University of Minnesota Moment: Meaning in Life

Transcription

[Announcer]: I'm Rick Moore with the University of Minnesota Moment. Mike Steger, a psychology professor at the University of Minnesota, is trying to answer a fundamental question of human psychology: what factors foster well-being and reduce psychological distress in people's lives? Steger says meaning plays an important role in how we feel about our lives.

[Steger]: We're each faced with small stressors, and we're each faced with numerous decisions about what we need to do with our lives, what we're going to have to spend our time and our energy on and those who are able to sort of take a step back, or at least achieve some sense that their lives matter, that they make sense, that they mean something, that they're going somewhere, they're happier, they're less depressed, less anxious, they tend to be able to formulate better goals, they report having better relationships and they're more satisfied with their lives. So, in a sense, it could be a sign that things are going well. People are kind of getting what is happening to them.

[Moore]: Steger has identified several factors that contribute to the feeling of leading a meaningful life.

[Steger]: Overall, it's thought that the things that foster meaning in life are things like having good goals, being able to ascertain your values and the way that you make judgments about things being good or bad in your life, having quality relationships, having a sense of self worth and the feeling that you can affect your environment in the way that you need to, you can get what you want. Many of those same characteristics show up on lists of how you become more happy, too. So, overall a lot of these things seem to come together.

[Moore]: That's psychology professor Mike Steger for the University of Minnesota Moment.