Life goals such as caring for loved ones can help discover meaning in life, according to new research published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. A number of previous studies have shown that if caring for relatives and loved ones is one of a person's life goals, then it has a positive effect on many aspects of well-being. At the same time, researchers have found that younger generations are less concerned with pursuing life goals. Young people are less likely to interact with traditional structures, such as the church, which traditionally dictated basic life goals to society.
Purpose in life is often associated with great achievement and existential beliefs, but recent theory suggests that ultimately purpose in life may be indicative of successful achievement of basic evolutionary goals.
Evolutionarily meaningful goals in life
In the course of their work, researchers at the University of Arizona were particularly interested in studying life goals such as protecting from danger, preventing disease, maintaining romantic relationships, accepting others, caring for family members and achieving a certain social status. All of these goals, in one way or another, have to do with evolutionary fitness. Five studies involving 1993 individuals provided some evidence to support the hypothesis that the pursuit of evolutionarily meaningful goals is associated with having a purpose in life. Subjects who agreed with statements such as “interacting with others is very important to me,” “it is important for me that other people look at me,” and “being around my family members is extremely important to me” tended to report having goals in life. The researchers also found that when the intentions to achieve family and partner goals are recorded, it leads to increased goals in life.
According to PsyPost, the main conclusion of the study is that we can find meaning in life by pursuing some of the basic social needs. In particular, finding and maintaining a relationship with a romantic partner, caring for a family, and gaining the respect of others seem to give a sense of purpose and even meaning in life.
The results obtained during the last study correlate with the data of previous works. Thus, the pursuit of a goal contributes to the detection of a goal in life, which means that a goal can be detected based on basic social needs. And meeting basic needs doesn't require a special worldview or commitment to any institution. The authors of the article note that their work did not want to underestimate the importance of traditional sources of goals in life, such as the church, and did not set themselves the task of explaining the possible influence of religion on purpose in life.
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Lyubov Sokovikova