Conceptualizing similarities and differences between purpose in life and self‐affirmation

Abstract

Individuals contend with a variety of threats in daily life and may attempt to deal with them using various cognitive strategies. Two constructs borne from different literatures, purpose in life and self-affirmation, serve to promote well-being and to protect individuals from such threats. While self-affirmation has often been examined as a manipulation, purpose has, until recently, been considered a dispositional resource. However, both self-affirmation and purpose seem to confer similar advantages in response to threat. This paper reviews the evidence for the protective benefits of both purpose in life and self-affirmation, describes the mechanisms by which each confers these advantages, and considers the boundary conditions of each. Key similarities and differences are discussed, and we argue that there are broad gaps in the literature regarding where and when these constructs might operate differentially, or why these differences exist. We conclude with a call to researchers to explore empirically how and when these important interventions might be differentially beneficial to those who cultivate them.

The Mediating Role of Prosocial Behavior and Meaning in Life in the Relationship Between Religiosity and Attitude Towards People with Intellectual Disability (ID) of Hong Kong Young Adults

“…The significance of the relationship applies to both presence of meaning and search for meaning. The result matches with several previous studies that when people locate and explore their meaning in life, people's spirit is getting satisfied and have greater motivation on benefiting others and contribute the society (Burd & Burrow, 2017;Czekierda et al, 2017). Moreover, the result shows that search for meaning has a moderate and positive association with prosocial behavior.…”

“…The exploration or achievement of meaning in life will drive to a positive life outcome including psychological well-being and prosocial behavior (Czekierda et al, 2017). Meaning in life is a kind of internal attributes that relates to personal value and belief, while prosocial behavior is a kind of outcome or performance which highly affected by internal attitudes (Burd & Burrow, 2017). With higher achievement of meaning in life, people are getting satisfied and have a motivation and attitude to contribute and change the society (Damon et al, 2003).…”

Purpose in life: A resolution on the definition, conceptual model, and optimal measurement.

“…Research on value affirmation interventions finds support for a direct linkage to purpose (Burd & Burrow, 2017). Respondents contemplate positive features of the self, and this attention is thought to buffer against self-threatening events and information (e.g., G. L. Cohen & Sherman, 2014).…”

“…That said, important distinctions are worthy of investigation becauseInducing purpose may make individuals less likely to abandon unattainable goals as it may provide strong motivation to attain a particular future, whereas with self-affirmation, drawing on other available self-resources already presently available may make individuals more likely to do so by providing an immediate reminder that the present self already has much available. (Burd & Burrow, 2017, p. 9)…”

Restoring and preserving capacity of self-affirmation for well-being in Indian adults with non-clinical depressive tendencies

“…Thus, self-affirmation refers to the process of reflecting upon cherished values or attributes. Self-affirmation has been reported to help people to face internal and external threats and to promote health outcomes ( Epton et al, 2015 ; Sweeney & Moyer, 2015 ), resilience ( Pandey et al, 2020b ), self-worth ( Critcher & Dunning, 2015 ), self-control ( Schmeichel & Vohs, 2009 ), self-efficacy ( Epton & Harris, 2008 ), intrinsic aspirations ( Schimel et al, 2004 ), pro-sociality ( Burd & Burrow, 2017 ) and behavioural engagement ( Epton et al, 2015 ; Sweeney & Moyer, 2015 ) on one hand and to reduce stress ( Cook et al, 2012 ) and defensiveness ( Schmeichel & Martens, 2005 ) on the other.…”