Daily activities and purpose in life

Abstract

Purpose in life varies within-person day to day. The present research examines how common daily activities are associated with nightly evaluations of purpose in life and the association between dispositional purpose and likelihood of engaging in these activities. Participants from the Couples Healthy Aging Project (N=303; Mage=51.81 [SD=7.32]; 54.5% female) completed nightly assessments of their engagement in activities (e.g., socializing, physical activity, work for pay) that day and their feelings of a purposeful life for eight days. On days when participants socialized in person (b=4.62, SE=.96), took care of children (b=3.33, SE=.89), were physically active (b=2.02, SE=.69), worked on a hobby (b=2.49, SE=.76) or around the house (b=2.00, SE=.68), they felt their life more purposeful. Not engaging in any social activities (b=-5.66, SE=2.21) and feeling bored (b=-9.05, SE=1.15) were associated with less purpose. Other activities (e.g., work, volunteering, meditation/mindfulness/prayer) were unrelated to daily purpose. Dispositional purpose was only associated with greater likelihood of socializing in person (OR=1.57, 95% CI=1.08-2.28) and meditation/mindfulness/prayer (OR=2.23, 95% CI=1.34-3.70) and lower likelihood of boredom (OR=.35, 95% CI=.24-.51). Relatively few daily activities (6/22) were associated with nightly evaluations of purpose, which highlights the complexity and perhaps personal nature of how daily activities contribute to feelings of purpose in life.