The overlooked self-transcendent nature of meaning in life: having a positive impact on others.

The prevailing consensus in the psychological literature regarding the construct of meaning in life typically aligns with a tripartite perspective. In this article, we advance theoretical arguments and present empirical evidence that challenge this prevailing view, arguing that the self-transcendent nature of meaning in life has been overlooked, particularly the importance of evaluating one’s life as having a positive impact. Our introduction puts forth several arguments in favor of our hypothesis and justifies our reasons for exploring this new avenue. In Studies 1 and 2, part of our results indicates that individuals who have a positive impact on others are considered to have a more meaningful life than those who don’t. In Study 3, we find that when participants are asked to rate and rank definitions of meaning in life, having a positive impact on others is among the highest-ranked definitions. In Study 4, we present two key findings. We show that a 4-factor model including measures of impact, purpose, coherence and significance has a better fit to our data than a 1, 2 or 3-factor model. Furthermore, we show that people who see themselves as having a positive impact on others rate their life as more meaningful, and this effect remains after controlling for the other three dimensions of purpose, coherence, and significance.