Interpersonal mattering and the experience of meaning in life

ABSTRACT

Recent research in positive psychology has proposed that the experience of meaning in life (MIL) is multidimensional and consists of three components: mattering, purpose, and coherence. In this model, mattering has been operationalized as the extent to which people feel like they matter on the scale of the universe. The current research suggests this ‘cosmic mattering’ is only part of the picture and explored the relationships between the tripartite components of MIL and one well-established but previously unintegrated context of mattering: interpersonal mattering. Studies 1 and 2 found evidence that interpersonal mattering plays an important role in MIL even while accounting for cosmic mattering, purpose, and coherence. Study 3 experimentally demonstrated that increasing people’s feelings of interpersonal importance increases their sense of MIL. Together, these studies support the idea that interpersonal mattering is a context of existential mattering that contributes to MIL at least as much as cosmic mattering.

KEYWORDS:

• Meaning in life
• existential psychology
• positive psychology
• interpersonal mattering
• social mattering

Disclosure statement

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

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in OSF at https://osf.io/4pqtz/?view_only=bf50b3773086457f9696410daa55c103.

Open Scholarship

This article has earned the Center for Open Science badge for Open Data. The data are openly accessible at https://osf.io/4pqtz/?view_only=bf50b3773086457f9696410daa55c103

Open data badge

This article has earned the Center for Open Science badge for Open Data. The data are openly accessible at https://osf.io/4pqtz/?view_only=bf50b3773086457f9696410daa55c103

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1. The indirect effect of interpersonal importance on global MIL also remained significant when all other mediators were included as covariates instead of mediators.