Have a good day! An experience-sampling study of daily meaningful and pleasant activities

Abstract

We organize our daily lives with a relatively high degree of freedom. Some things must be done; others are optional. Some we find meaningful, some pleasant, some both, and some neither. The present study looks at such evaluations of daily activities and how they relate to perceived meaning in life. Sixty-two students from an Austrian university first completed the meaningfulness scale from the Sources of Meaning and Meaning in Life Questionnaire (SoMe). They then participated in a 1-week experience-sampling assessment, wherein they completed a short questionnaire at five random time-points per day. They indicated their current activity and then reported, on a 6-point Likert scale, how pleasant and meaningful they perceived it to be. Activities could thus be categorized as meaningful, pleasant, both, or neither. Results reflected that activities grouped under culture/music, communication, intimacy, and sports are experienced as both highly meaningful and pleasant. A two-level hierarchical linear regression suggested that people with high trait meaningfulness experience their daily activities as more meaningful than people with lower trait meaningfulness if they also enjoy what they are doing. People with low trait meaningfulness, however, tended to experience their daily activities as rather meaningless, even if they enjoyed them very much. Thus, when looking for advice on how to have a good day, clarifying one’s meaning in life seems to represent the best starting point.

Correlation between Generic and Disease-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaires in Patients with Venous Ulcerations: A Cross-Sectional Study Carried out in a Primary Health Care Setting in Brazil

“…The individual may eventually understand that activities such as a weekly family reunion or a card game entail a great level of satisfaction. A trip with friends to another city or participation in artistic events may not make much sense to the individual; therefore, the fact of not doing such things does not necessarily imply any interference in QoL [ 26 ]. In the context of patients with VU, many report being afraid of hurting someone’s sensitivity or ashamed of exposing their injuries in environments with many people, even when covered with a bandage [ 7 , 15 ].…”

The underpinning of meaningful activities by brain correlates: a systematic review

“…To date, evidence exists that every activity, ranging from basic activities of daily living, such as bathing and clothing, to higher levels of daily activities, such as having a job, has the potential to obtain a degree of meaningfulness (Kreiss and Schnell, 2022 ). In other words, any domain in the “activity and participation” component of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) (World Health Organization, 2001 ) can be meaningful to a person (Van de Velde et al, 2016 ).…”