Giving Compass' Take:

• According to Pew Research Center's 2017 survey of Americans, individuals with higher life satisfaction and rating found meaning in friends, career, romantic partnerships, and good health. 

• Is it possible to not find meaning in those areas and still be satisfied with your life? What outlets or organizations can Americans turn to if they do not find meaning in these areas? 

• Read about how a happiness index of certain areas could help shape public policy. 

Discovering where people find meaning in life is a challenging task. One way is to give them an opportunity to write, in their own words, about the things that give them a sense of meaning and satisfaction with their lives.

When we asked U.S. adults in a survey conducted last year, respondents mentioned many different topics, with family emerging as the most common source of meaning. But of the 30 topics that were studied, only four were universally associated with higher levels of life satisfaction: a person’s good health, romantic partner, friends and career.

Regardless of age, income, religion and other demographic factors, Americans who mentioned these parts of their lives as meaningful were more likely to rate their lives as satisfying than those who did not, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of responses from 4,492 adults surveyed in September 2017.

These are the four areas where people with higher life ratings said they found a sense of meaning:

  • Friends. One-in-five Americans mentioned friends when describing where they find meaning in life.
  • Career. Americans’ jobs and careers had a substantial bearing on how highly they rated their lives, and the topic was mentioned by a third of all respondents when they were asked to describe what gives meaning to their lives.
  • Romantic partner or spouse. One-in-five Americans specifically brought up their spouse or romantic partner as someone who affects their sense of meaning and satisfaction.
  • Good health. Many Americans mentioned good health for themselves or their loved ones when describing what gives them a sense of meaning and satisfaction – 16% did so.

Read the full article about life satisfaction by Patrick van Kessel and Adam Hughes at Pew Research Center