What is the meaning of life? Ask a conservative
Date: July 17, 2018
Source: University of Southern California
https://www.sciencedaily.com/release...0717125829.htm
Summary:
A deep analysis of a series of surveys across 16 countries that spanned several years shows that people who are on the conservative end of the political spectrum believe their lives are meaningful while those on the liberal end continue to search for meaning.
A new USC Dornsife-led psychology study shows that conservatives, more so than liberals, report feeling that their lives are meaningful or have purpose.
"Finding meaning in life is related to the sense or feeling that things are the way they should be, and that there is a sense of
order," said David Newman, a doctoral candidate at USC Dornsife's Mind and Society Center. "If life feels
chaotic, then that would likely dampen your sense that life is meaningful."
The results, published on June 15 in the journal
Social Psychological and Personality Science, were
based on five studies examining how strongly conservatives and liberals feel that their lives have purpose.....
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Conservatives believe their lives are more meaningful than liberals, study finds
Olivia Petter
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-s...-a8452446.html
...Researchers examined data acquired from
five studies looking at how liberals and conservatives rate their lives in terms of meaning and purpose in
a dataset spanning four decades.
Participants were asked to rate their political beliefs on a spectrum, ranging from "extremely conservative" to "extremely liberal" and were subsequently asked to respond to statements questioning
the extent to which they felt their lives had purpose such as "I understand my life's meaning".
The study's authors accounted for religious beliefs when analysing the responses and
still found strong links between
those with conservative ideologies having a stronger sense of purpose compared to liberals....
..."I was a bit surprised no one had expanded the research to include other measures of well-being, and I am interested in learning more about differences between
hedonic forms of well-being (e.g., life satisfaction, positive emotions) and
eudaimonic forms of well-being (e.g., meaning in life)."
Newman added that further research is necessary in order to fully establish the links between
conservatives and feelings of a meaningful life.
"A question that still needs to be addressed is
why conservatives find more meaning in life than liberals," he added. ...