The relationship between COVID-19 pandemic-related stress and meaning in life: testing the moderating effects of self-compassion and savoring

ABSTRACT

Background and Objectives

The stress people experience in relation to a highly stressful event, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, can undermine their sense of meaning in life. This study examined the relationship between COVID-19 pandemic-related stress and meaning in life and whether self-compassion and savoring positive emotional experience moderated this relationship.

Methods

Participants (N = 498) completed measures of pandemic-related stress, dimensions of meaning in life (comprehension, purpose, mattering), self-compassion (self-kindness, common humanity, mindfulness), and savoring (savoring through anticipation, savoring the moment, savoring through reminiscence).

Results

Results of regression analyses showed that pandemic-related stress related to less meaning in life and that all dimensions of self-compassion and savoring (with the exception of savoring through reminiscence) related positively to a dimension of meaning in life. Only common humanity buffered the relationship between pandemic-related stress and a dimension of meaning in life (purpose) as expected. Unexpectedly, for people high on common humanity the relationship between pandemic-related stress and mattering was positive, and for people high on mindfulness, the relationship between pandemic-related stress and comprehension was negative.

Conclusions

Although cross-sectional, this study’s findings suggest that promoting common humanity might be important for protecting purpose and enhancing one’s sense of mattering during a pandemic.

KEYWORDS:

• COVID-19 pandemic
• pandemic-related stress
• meaning in life
• self-compassion
• savoring
• moderating effects

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

Data from this study are available from the first author upon reasonable request.