The good news is that you will probably feel like you know the answer to this question when you are in your 60s.
This is the age when people report that they have the most meaning in their lives and have the least need to find meaning, according to new research published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.
The study also found that as people feel more meaningful in life, so does their well-being.
"People with a purpose in life are physically and mentally healthier," said Dr. Awais Aftab, a psychiatrist at the University of California, San Diego who led the study.
Previous research has shown that meaning in life is associated with both physical and psychological well-being and an even lower risk of early death. But almost all of the research has focused on fairly young adults, with little information on adults over 60.
Aftab and colleagues used data from a study of adults in San Diego County that deliberately recruited large numbers of people aged 70 and over. This survey included a question about the level of meaning people find in their lives and the level of their search for meaning. The 1,042 adults included in the study also responded by telephone to questions about their mental and physical health.
Overall, the adults in the study felt that their lives were filled with meaning and their level of search for meaning was rather low. Overall physical and mental health was also in line with the average found in previous large-scale studies, and the red flags for dementia were low.
The results showed that both meaning and the search for meaning tend to rise and fall in U-curves throughout a person's life. The presence of meaning starts low in the 20s and gradually rises to a peak around 60 years on average, before declining again. The search for meaning is a mirror image: it starts high in the 20s and falls to an all-time low around 60, before rising at an older age.
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“Young people in their twenties and adults in their thirties are actively seeking careers, friendships and romantic relationships.
People between the ages of forty and fifty tend to have more stable careers and relationships; many of them have families and children. The active pursuit of meaning diminishes, and the perception that their lives are filled with meaning increases.
After 60 years, these trends begin to reverse. With retirement, bereavement, and growing health problems, established sources of meaning in their lives begin to fade, and people tend to look for other sources of meaning."
If you're 60 years old and unsure of the ultimate meaning of life, the universe, and everything else, don't panic: The general curves are based on statistical averages, and people show a lot of variation when their own perception of meaning peaks.
The researchers also found that having meaning in people's lives was associated with physical and mental well-being in all age groups, as well as higher cognitive function in adults over 60. The search for meaning has been associated with lower mental well-being in all age groups and lower cognitive function in older adults.
It's unclear whether health and well-being makes people feel like life has meaning, or whether people who find meaning in life become healthier.
“I suspect the relationship is going both ways,” Aftab said.
“How healthy and functional we are affects how meaningful we feel in our lives, and that meaning in our lives, in turn, contributes to further health and well-being.”