Mental simulation and meaning in life.
Open accessAbstract
Mental simulation, the process of self-projection into alternate temporal, spatial, social, or hypothetical realities is a distinctively human capacity. Numerous lines of research also suggest that the tendency for mental simulation is associated with enhanced meaning. The present research tests this association specifically examining the relationship between two forms of simulation (temporal and spatial) and meaning in life. Study 1 uses neuroimaging to demonstrate that enhanced connectivity in the medial temporal lobe network, a subnetwork of the brain's default network implicated in prospection and retrospection, correlates with self-reported meaning in life. Study 2 demonstrates that experimentally inducing people to think about the past or future versus the present enhances self-reported meaning in life, through the generation of more meaningful events. Study 3 demonstrates that experimentally inducing people to think specifically versus generally about the past or future enhances self-reported meaning in life. Study 4 turns to spatial simulation to demonstrate that experimentally inducing people to think specifically about an alternate spatial location (from the present location) increases meaning derived from this simulation compared to thinking generally about another location or specifically about one's present location. Study 5 demonstrates that experimentally inducing people to think about an alternate spatial location versus one's present location enhances meaning in life, through meaning derived from this simulation. Study 6 demonstrates that simply asking people to imagine completing a measure of meaning in life in an alternate location compared with asking them to do so in their present location enhances reports of meaning. This research sheds light on an important determinant of meaning in life and suggests that undirected mental simulation benefits psychological well-being.
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Mentalizing Deficits Constrain Belief in a Personal God
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Awe, Uncertainty, and Agency Detection
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“Recent research has demonstrated an association between the expanded perception of time and feelings of awe (Rudd, Vohs, & Aaker, 2012), an emotion that generates the feeling of being part of a vast and purposeful universe (Keltner & Haidt, 2003; Valdesolo & Graham, 2013).”
Neural Markers of Religious Conviction
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What do i think you're doing? Action identification and mind attribution.
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“…that the effects of temporal simulation on meaning in life are modulated by the detailed versus general nature of the simulation, consistent with the functions of the MTL subsystem (Addis et al., 2011; Holland et al., 2011; Levine et al., 2004; Nadel & Moscovitch, 1997; Viard et al., 2012).”
The Existential Theory of Mind
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Residents of Poor Nations Have a Greater Sense of Meaning in Life Than Residents of Wealthy Nations
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On the psychometric properties of the life regard index (LRI): A measure of meaningful life
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Intuitions About Origins: Purpose and Intelligent Design in Children's Reasoning About Nature
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On the nature of medial temporal lobe contributions to the constructive simulation of future events
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The power of the past: Nostalgia as a meaning-making resource
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(The Feeling of) Meaning-as-Information
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Fighting the future with the past: Nostalgia buffers existential threat
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Altruism is associated with an increased neural response to agency
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The Egoism and Altruism of Intergenerational Behavior
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Anxious uncertainty and reactive approach motivation (RAM).
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Enhancing the Pace of Recovery
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Hippocampal contributions to the episodic simulation of specific and general future events
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“…that the effects of temporal simulation on meaning in life are modulated by the detailed versus general nature of the simulation, consistent with the functions of the MTL subsystem (Addis et al., 2011; Holland et al., 2011; Levine et al., 2004; Nadel & Moscovitch, 1997; Viard et al., 2012).”
Harmon‐Jones, E., Abramson, L. Y., Sigelman, J. D., Bohlig, A. J., Hogan, M. E., & Harmon‐Jones, C. (2002) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.82.4.610 · Cited by 180 · see citing works
From what might have been to what must have been: Counterfactual thinking creates meaning.
Kray, L. J., George, L. G., Liljenquist, K. A., Galinsky, A. D., Tetlock, P. E., & Roese, N. J. (2010) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0017905 · Cited by 175 · see citing works
Measuring meaning in life: An examination of three scales
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Mental time travel: a case for evolutionary continuity
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Reflecting on God: Religious Primes Can Reduce Neurophysiological Response to Errors
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The Impact of Culture on Adaptive Versus Maladaptive Self-Reflection
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“The generalizability of our results, for example, is confined to a Western population, given that all of the current studies were conducted with samples of participants living in America.”
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It’s Only a Matter of Time: Death, Legacies, and Intergenerational Decisions
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The Default Network Distinguishes Construals of Proximal versus Distal Events
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Self-citationReligious beliefs, social support, self‐efficacy and adjustment to cancer
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“" Following this manipulation of temporal focus, all participants completed the Meaning in Life Questionnaire and completed demographic information.”
Measuring Happiness in Surveys: A Test of the Subtraction Hypothesis
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Long Ago It Was Meant to Be: The Interplay Between Time, Construal, and Fate Beliefs
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Finding meaning in one's past: Nostalgia as an existential resource.
Routledge, C. D., Sedikides, C., Wildschut, T., & Juhl, J. (2012) · American Psychological Association eBooks · doi:10.1037/14040-015 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
Sociality, Spirituality, and Meaning Making: Chicago Health, Aging, and Social Relations Study
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Imbuing Everyday Actions with Meaning in Response to Existential Threat
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Psychosocial factors in outcome in two opiate addiction treatments
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Silveira, S., Graupmann, V., Agthe, M., Gutyrchik, E., Blautzik, J., Demirçapa, I., Berndt, A., Pöppel, E., Frey, D., Reiser, M. F., et al. (2013) · Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience · doi:10.1093/scan/nst157 · Cited by 23 · cited 10× · see citing works
“Image preprocessing then corrected for slice-time acquisition differences (Wellcome Department of Cognitive Neurology, London, United Kingdom) and for head motion (FSL, FMRIB, Oxford, United Kingdom); volumes were then normalized to a T1 EPI template in MNI atlas space This document is copyrighted by the American Psyc…”
InfluentialSpirituality and meaning making in cancer survivorship.
Park, C. L. (2012) · American Psychological Association eBooks · doi:10.1037/14040-013 · Cited by 19 · cited 2× · see citing works
“…from the correlation between MTL connectivity and meaning in Study 1, as well as previous research demonstrating the role of the MTL network and temporal simulation, Study 2 showed that simulating the past or future, compared with considering the present, enhanced perceptions of meaning in life.”
Bonfiglioli, C. (2011) · UTS ePRESS (University of Technology Sydney) · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Gregory, D. W. (2014) · Palgrave Macmillan US eBooks · doi:10.1057/9781137360755_3 · Cited by 16 · cited 1× · see citing works
“Coding the future and past conditions as “1” and the present condition as “0,” we used Hayes’ (2013) PROCESS macro (bias-corrected, 20,000 resamples) to conduct a bootstrapping mediation analyses to determine whether these three variables (entered simultaneously) mediated the relationship between condition and presenc…”
Neural and motivational mechanics of meaning and threat.
Tullett, A. M., Prentice, M. S., Teper, R., Nash, K. A., Inzlicht, M., & McGregor, I. (2012) · American Psychological Association eBooks · doi:10.1037/14040-020 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Counterfactual thinking about one’s birth enhances well-being judgments
Heintzelman, S. J., Christopher, J., Trent, J., & King, L. A. (2013) · The Journal of Positive Psychology · doi:10.1080/17439760.2012.754925 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Adam, D., Katie, A. L., Laura, L., & Neal, J. (2005) · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Twists of fate: Moments in time and what might have been in the emergence of meaning.
Kray, L. J., Ersner-Hershfield, H., George, L. G., & Galinsky, A. D. (2012) · American Psychological Association eBooks · doi:10.1037/14040-016 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
"It was meant to be": Retrospective meaning construction through mental simulation.
Lindberg, M. J., Markman, K. D., & Choi, H. (2012) · American Psychological Association eBooks · doi:10.1037/14040-017 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
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Kalmar, B., & Ruby, H. (1923) · York University Digital Library (York University) · Cited by 1 · see citing works
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The Science of Meaning in Life
King, L. A., & Hicks, J. A. (2020) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-072420-122921 · Cited by 526 · see citing works
Byrne, R. M. J. (2015) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-122414-033249 · Cited by 467 · see citing works
“F or p er so na l u se o nl y. PS67CH06-Byrne ARI 14 November 2015 8:47 Counterfactual explanations also imbue the past with personal meaning—a sense of purpose and coherence—by influencing judgments that certain pivotal events were “meant to be” (e.g., Kray et al. 2010, Waytz et al. 2015).”
BackgroundCohen, R., Bavishi, C., & Rozanski, A. (2016) · Psychosomatic Medicine · doi:10.1097/psy.0000000000000274 · Cited by 447 · see citing works
“Although the literature suggests that life purpose is a component of meaning in life (12,13), for the purpose of this meta-analysis, we were interested in the net effect of purpose and meaning on important health outcomes.”
BackgroundProsocial behavior increases perceptions of meaning in life
Klein, N. (2016) · The Journal of Positive Psychology · doi:10.1080/17439760.2016.1209541 · Cited by 323 · see citing works
Leisure reading and social cognition: A meta-analysis.
Mumper, M. L., & Gerrig, R. J. (2017) · Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts · doi:10.1037/aca0000089 · Cited by 249 · see citing works
The functional theory of counterfactual thinking : New evidence, new challenges, new insights
Roese, N. J., & Epstude, K. (2017) · Advances in experimental social psychology · doi:10.1016/bs.aesp.2017.02.001 · Cited by 218 · see citing works
Loneliness and meaning in life are reflected in the intrinsic network architecture of the brain
Mwilambwe-Tshilobo, L., Ge, T., Chong, M., Ferguson, M. A., Mišić, B., Burrow, A. L., Leahy, R. M., & Spreng, R. N. (2019) · Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience · doi:10.1093/scan/nsz021 · Cited by 110 · see citing works
“An investigation of the neural basis of meaning (Waytz et al., 2015) reported increased connectivity among regions of the medial temporal lobe subsystem of the DN, implicated in autobiographical remembering and mental simulation (Andrews-Hanna et al.”
BackgroundMindfulness Meditation as an On-The-Spot Workplace Intervention
Hafenbrack, A. (2017) · Journal of Business Research · doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2017.01.017 · Cited by 105 · see citing works
An affective neuroscience model of boosting resilience in adults
Tabibnia, G. (2020) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.05.005 · Cited by 109 · see citing works
Carton, A. M., & Lucas, B. J. (2017) · Academy of Management Journal · doi:10.5465/amj.2015.0375 · Cited by 103 · see citing works
A daily diary study of relationships between feelings of gratitude and well-being
Nezlek, J. B., Newman, D. B., & Thrash, T. M. (2016) · The Journal of Positive Psychology · doi:10.1080/17439760.2016.1198923 · Cited by 99 · see citing works
“Assuming the differences in temporal focus suggested by Baumeister et al. (2013) and Waytz et al. (2015), the reports of gratitude we collected probably reflected more hedonic sources of well-being than eudaimonic well-being, i.e. the present rather than an integration of past and future.”
BackgroundGiuntoli, L., Ceccarini, F., Sica, C., & Caudek, C. (2017) · SAGE Open · doi:10.1177/2158244016682293 · Cited by 102 · see citing works
Meaning in life: resilience beyond reserve
Bartrés-Faz, D., Cattaneo, G., Solana, J., Tormos, J., & Pascual-Leone, Á. (2018) · Alzheimer's Research & Therapy · doi:10.1186/s13195-018-0381-z · Cited by 76 · see citing works
“[81] reported a strong relationship between the presence of meaning, PiL, and satisfaction with life in young individuals.”
Shi, L., Sun, J., Wu, X., Wei, D., Chen, Q., Yang, W., Chen, H., & Qiu, J. (2018) · Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience · doi:10.1093/scan/nsy059 · Cited by 77 · see citing works
Dane, E. (2017) · Academy of Management Review · doi:10.5465/amr.2015.0196 · Cited by 74 · see citing works
Psychological distance in consumer psychology: Consequences and antecedents
Maglio, S. J. (2019) · Consumer Psychology Review · doi:10.1002/arcp.1057 · Cited by 67 · see citing works
King, M. L. (2019) · Cognitive Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.3758/s13415-019-00720-4 · Cited by 67 · see citing works
“…Xue, et al., 2016 +*/ns ns +* nr +* +* nr nr nr nr Luo et al., 2014 -*/+* +* +* nr -* nr nr nr nr nr Luo et al., 2016 -* -* nr nr nr nr nr nr nr nr Waytz et al., 2015 nr +* nr nr nr nr nr nr nr nr Summary of PET findings Martikainen et al., 2015 nr nr nr nr - nr nr nr nr nr Volkow et al., 2011 +*…”
BackgroundResultInfluentialPrefactual Thoughts: Mental Simulations about What Might Happen
Epstude, K., Scholl, A., & Roese, N. J. (2016) · Review of General Psychology · doi:10.1037/gpr0000064 · Cited by 60 · see citing works
Self-Regulation Facilitates Meaning in Life
Tongeren, D. R. V., DeWall, C. N., Green, J. D., Cairo, A. H., Davis, D. E., & Hook, J. N. (2017) · Review of General Psychology · doi:10.1037/gpr0000121 · Cited by 55 · see citing works
“However, it also allows us to mentally time travel and forecast meaningful versions of our self that we’d like to emulate (Waytz et al., 2015).”
BackgroundExperiential appreciation as a pathway to meaning in life
Kim, J., Holte, P. N., Martela, F., Shanahan, C., Li, Z., Zhang, H., Eisenbeck, N., Carreno, D. F., Schlegel, R. J., & Hicks, J. A. (2022) · Nature Human Behaviour · doi:10.1038/s41562-021-01283-6 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Slater, M. D., Oliver, M. B., & Appel, M. (2016) · Communication Research · doi:10.1177/0093650215623838 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
Using Metaphor to Find Meaning in Life
Landau, M. J. (2017) · Review of General Psychology · doi:10.1037/gpr0000105 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
“For example, people can retrieve a nostalgic memory (Routledge et al., 2013), think counterfactually about the conditions of their birth (Heintzelman, Christopher, et al., 2013; Waytz et al., 2015), or notice patterns in nature (Heintzelman, Trent, et al., 2013).”
BackgroundMeaning of Manual Labor Impedes Consumer Adoption of Autonomous Products
de Bellis, E., Johar, G. V., & Poletti, N. (2023) · Journal of Marketing · doi:10.1177/00222429231171841 · Cited by 49 · see citing works
“…(a sense of comprehensibility and one ’ s life making sense), purpose (a sense of core goals and direction in life), and signi fi cance (a sense of life ’ s inherent value and having a life worth living; Heintzelman and King 2014; Martela and Steger 2016; Waytz, Hersh fi eld, and Tamir 2015).”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialMoscovitch, D. A., Moscovitch, M., & Sheldon, S. (2023) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/17456916221141351 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
The meaning of action: Do self-regulatory processes contribute to a purposeful life?
Vazeou‐Nieuwenhuis, A., Orehek, E., & Scheier, M. F. (2017) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/j.paid.2017.04.040 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Luo, Y., Qi, S., Chen, X., You, X., Huang, X., & Yang, Z. (2017) · Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience · doi:10.1093/scan/nsx078 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
“As thinking about past and future vs the present enhances the meaning of life or eudaimonic well-being (Routledge et al., 2011; Waytz et al., 2015; Sedikides et al., 2016), increased intrinsic functional connectivity of pDMN may indicate that people with eudaimonic dominance are more likely to…”
BackgroundResultInfluentialGlobal reports of well-being overestimate aggregated daily states of well-being
Newman, D. B., Schwarz, N., & Stone, A. A. (2020) · The Journal of Positive Psychology · doi:10.1080/17439760.2020.1725608 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
The implicit meaning of (my) change.
O’Brien, E., & Kardas, M. (2016) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/pspi0000073 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
Rethinking time: Implications for well‐being
Mogilner, C., Ersner-Hershfield, H., & Aaker, J. L. (2017) · Consumer Psychology Review · doi:10.1002/arcp.1003 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
“For example, Waytz, Hershfield, and Tamir (2015) found that people who had an easier time simulating the past and future (measured both neurally and behaviorally) also reported greater meaning in their lives.”
BackgroundImagination Is the Seed of Creativity
Gotlieb, R. J. M., Hyde, E., Immordino‐Yang, M. H., & Kaufman, S. B. (2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781316979839.036 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
Moral Future-Thinking: Does the Moral Circle Stand the Test of Time?
Law, K. F., Syropoulos, S., Coleman, M. B., Gainsburg, I., & O’Connor, B. B. (2024) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/01461672241284324 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Metaphors can give life meaning
Baldwin, M. W., Landau, M. J., & Swanson, T. (2017) · Self and Identity · doi:10.1080/15298868.2017.1368696 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Imaging Happiness: Meta Analysis and Review
Tanzer, J. R., & Weyandt, L. L. (2019) · Journal of Happiness Studies · doi:10.1007/s10902-019-00195-7 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Katsumi, Y., Kondo, N., Dolcos, S. M., Dolcos, F., & Tsukiura, T. (2020) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117650 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
“Other studies ave found that some aspects of well-being (e.g., meaning in life) were ositively correlated with intrinsic functional connectivity within the edial temporal lobe subsystem of the DMN, including the retrospleial cortex and parahippocampal cortex ( Waytz et al., 2015 ).”
BackgroundZhang, S., Fu, Y.-N., Liu, Q., Turel, O., & He, Q. (2022) · Children and Youth Services Review · doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2022.106600 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Perceiving a Stable Self-Concept Enables the Experience of Meaning in Life
Chu, C., & Lowery, B. S. (2023) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/01461672221150234 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
“…or the process of “mentally transcending the ‘here-and-now’ to occupy psychologically a different time (past or future), a different place, a different person’s subjective experience, or a hypothetical reality,” has been found to lead to feelings of meaning in life (Waytz et al., 2015, p. 336).”
BackgroundResultInfluentialLenhart, J., Richter, T., Appel, M., & Mar, R. A. (2023) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-023-35346-7 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
“Most of the empirical evidence concerning whether stories promote social-cognition stems from cross-sectional correlational data 24–27 or experiments examining short-term effects 6,28,29 .”
BackgroundWhen the mind’s eye prevails: The Internal Dominance over External Attention (IDEA) hypothesis
Verschooren, S., & Egner, T. (2023) · Psychonomic Bulletin & Review · doi:10.3758/s13423-023-02272-8 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
“For instance, the unique human ability for detaching from the present moment and traveling through imagined scenarios is considered a great evolutionary strength (Bulley et al., 2016; Suddendorf & Corballis, 2007; Waytz et al., 2015).”
Agent-based modelling and mental simulation for resilience engineering in air transport
Stroeve, S., & Everdij, M. H. C. (2016) · Safety Science · doi:10.1016/j.ssci.2016.11.003 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
A systematic review of the neural correlates of well-being reveals no consistent associations
de Vries, L. P., van de Weijer, M. P., & Bartels, M. (2023) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105036 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Lau, C. Y. H., & Tov, W. (2023) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1093412 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Webster, J. D., Vowinckel, J. C., & Ma, X. (2021) · Europe’s Journal of Psychology · doi:10.5964/ejop.2415 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Xue, L., Yan, Y., Fan, H., Zhang, L., Wang, S., & Chen, L. (2023) · Journal of Adolescence · doi:10.1002/jad.12219 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
An agenda for psychological distance apart from construal level
Maglio, S. J. (2020) · Social and Personality Psychology Compass · doi:10.1111/spc3.12552 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Do episodic counterfactual thoughts focus on controllable action?: The role of self-initiation
Roese, N. J., Smallman, R., & Epstude, K. (2017) · Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2017.05.006 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Restoring meaning in life by meaning‐focused coping: The role of self‐distancing
Wang, Y., Lippke, S., Miao, M., & Gan, Y. (2019) · PsyCh Journal · doi:10.1002/pchj.296 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Lenhart, J., Dangel, J., & Richter, T. (2022) · Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts · doi:10.1037/aca0000341 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
The subjective quality of episodic future thought and the experience of meaning in life
Vess, M., Hoeldtke, R. T., Leal, S. A., Sanders, C. S., & Hicks, J. A. (2017) · The Journal of Positive Psychology · doi:10.1080/17439760.2017.1291851 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
“Based on suggestive evidence that the vividness of mental simulations may be critical for their effect on meaning (Waytz et al., 2015), we hypothesized that simulating events in familiar vs.”
BackgroundMethodResultInfluentialThe mind is its own place: The difficulties and benefits of thinking for pleasure
Wilson, T. D., Westgate, E. C., Buttrick, N. R., & Gilbert, D. T. (2019) · Advances in experimental social psychology · doi:10.1016/bs.aesp.2019.05.001 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Carton, A. M., Knowlton, K. K., Coutifaris, C. V., Kundro, T., & Boysen, A. (2021) · Academy of Management Journal · doi:10.5465/amj.2018.1019 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Purpose in life promotes resilience to age-related brain burden in middle-aged adults
Abellaneda‐Pérez, K., Cattaneo, G., Cabello‐Toscano, M. R., Sánchez, J. S., Mulet‐Pons, L., Vaqué‐Alcázar, L., Perellón‐Alfonso, R., Solé‐Padullés, C., Bargalló, N., Tormos, J. M., et al. (2023) · Alzheimer s Research & Therapy · doi:10.1186/s13195-023-01198-6 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
“[79], reporting that meaning in life is associated to greater connectivity of the medial temporal lobe subsystem of the DMN.”
BackgroundHow Does Leisure Reading Affect Social Cognitive Abilities?
Mumper, M. L., & Gerrig, R. J. (2019) · Poetics Today · doi:10.1215/03335372-7558080 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
An investigation of the impact of encounters with artistic imagination on well-being.
Totterdell, P., & Poerio, G. L. (2020) · Emotion · doi:10.1037/emo0000779 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Zhou, Z., Zheng, L., Qi, W., & Miao, M. (2022) · Journal of Pacific Rim Psychology · doi:10.1177/18344909221138710 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
“For example, Waytz et al. (2015) suggested that futureorientated mental simulations could promote MIL, suggesting that the people who think more about the future would perceive that life is meaningful.”
BackgroundDai, N., Yuqi, C., Zonglin, S., Chenglong, D., Na, L., Liu, F., Zhou, C., & Xu, X. (2020) · Psychiatry Research Neuroimaging · doi:10.1016/j.pscychresns.2020.111101 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Inagaki, T. K., & Meyer, M. L. (2019) · Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience · doi:10.1093/scan/nsz052 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
“general and these subsystems in particular during rest (Greicius, 2008; Reineberg et al., 2015; Waytz et al., 2015; Gratton et al., 2018; Meyer et al., 2019).”
BackgroundEffects of past and future autobiographical thinking on the working self-concept
D’Argembeau, A., & Jimenez, C. G. (2023) · Memory · doi:10.1080/09658211.2023.2269324 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
“Some previous studies found that recalling a nostalgic event increased meaning in life (van Tilburg et al., 2019), and it could be that this increased sense of meaning is speci fi cally related to nostalgic events rather than any kind of self-de fi ning event (but see Waytz et al., 2015).”
How Future Work Selves Guide Feedback Seeking and Feedback Responding at Work
Anseel, F., Strauss, K., & Lievens, F. (2017) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781315626543-13 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Chapple, M., Williams, S., Billington, J., Davis, P. M., & Corcoran, R. (2021) · Research in Developmental Disabilities · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2021.104003 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
You, B., Wen, H., & Jackson, T. (2021) · Psychophysiology · doi:10.1111/psyp.13921 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Challenging Empathic Deficit Models of Autism Through Responses to Serious Literature
Chapple, M., Davis, P. M., Billington, J., Williams, S., & Corcoran, R. (2022) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.828603 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Ortíz, D. A. C., & Davis, M. A. (2016) · Management Research The Journal of the Iberoamerican Academy of Management · doi:10.1108/mrjiam-04-2016-0665 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Dewitte, L., Schellekens, T., Steger, M., Martela, F., Vanhooren, S., Vandenbulcke, M., & Dezutter, J. (2021) · Journal of Happiness Studies · doi:10.1007/s10902-020-00351-4
Kehr, H. M., Voigt, J., & Rawolle, M. (2021) · Organizational Psychology Review · doi:10.1177/20413866211061364 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
“In contrast to other prospective techniques, such as mental time traveling (Suddendorf et al., 2009), temporal mental simulation (Waytz et al., 2015), episodic foresight (Bulley et al., 2016), or goal imagery (Schultheiss & Brunstein, 1999), Carton and Lucas (2018) instructed study participants to…”
BackgroundMethodYaşamın-İşin Anlam Kaynakları ve İyi Oluş İlişkisi Üzerine Bir Araştırma
Alparslan, A. M., Yastıoğlu, S., TAŞ, M. A., & Özmen, M. (2022) · Süleyman Demirel Üniversitesi Vizyoner Dergisi · doi:10.21076/vizyoner.947733 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Demir-Kassem, S., Frey, A.-L., & McCabe, C. (2024) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2024.09.106 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Ma, M., Zhao, N., & Zhang, L. (2021) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.708117 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Sattler, D. N., & Smith, A. (2020) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-32007-2_11 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
de Vyver, J. V., Abrams, D., Spinner, L., Pelletier, J., Ali, S. Y., & Kapantai, I. (2019) · Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.appdev.2019.101069 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Ford, M. E., & Smith, P. R. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108869164 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Scene Construction and Spatial Processing in Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
Marlatte, H., Beaton, D., Adler-Luzon, S., Abo-Ahmad, L., & Gilboa, A. (2022) · Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2022.888358 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
“These recollections are more often related to the trauma or to their life beforehand and cause greater rumination (Schönfeld and Ehlers, 2017), a reduced self-reported meaning of life (Waytz et al., 2015), and to a lack of sense of a positive and hopeful future (Feldman and Snyder, 2005).”
BackgroundWhat Indicates Your Life is Meaningful? A New Measure for the Indicators of Meaning in Life (3IML)
Shuv‐Ami, A., & Bareket‐Bojmel, L. (2020) · Journal of Happiness Studies · doi:10.1007/s10902-020-00244-6 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Brain imaging studies of emotional well-being: a scoping review
Richter, C. G., Celine Mylx, L. I., Turnbull, A. G., Haft, S. L., Schneider, D., Luo, J., Lima, D. P., Lin, F. V., Davidson, R. J., & Hoeft, F. (2024) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1328523 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
A second-order adaptive network model for emotion regulation in addictive social media behaviour
Fokker, E. S., Zong, X., & Jan Treur, A. (2021) · Cognitive Systems Research · doi:10.1016/j.cogsys.2021.07.006 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
The effects of awe on interpersonal forgiveness: the mediating role of small-self
Liao, S. M., Liu, Y.-C., & Yuan, B. (2024) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1336068 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
“According to research on psychological distance, transcending an egocentric viewpoint helps people see the big picture, think holistically and abstractly, and make sense of and perceive meaning from their life events (Trope and Liberman, 2010; Kross and Ayduk, 2011; Waytz et al., 2015).”
BackgroundHuang, J., Chen, L., Zhao, H., Xu, T., Xiong, Z., Yang, C., Feng, T., & Feng, P. (2025) · Cerebral Cortex · doi:10.1093/cercor/bhaf092 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Goswami, D., Verma, B., Sinha, S. K., & Mittal, A. (2025) · Journal of Internet Commerce · doi:10.1080/15332861.2025.2546494 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Zhang, D.-X., Xu, Z.-J., Yang, Z., Zhou, W.-J., Cheung, P. M., Lee, E. K.-P., Zhong, B., Xu, D., Li, X., Xie, Y. J., et al. (2022) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/s12889-022-14699-0 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Chen, Y., Ma, J., Zhu, H., Peng, H., & Gan, Y. (2023) · Behavioral and Brain Functions · doi:10.1186/s12993-023-00214-x · Cited by 10 · see citing works
“In other words, the study provides support for the regulatory role of DMN in meaning-making [17].”
BackgroundMethodResultInfluentialRelation Between Daydreaming and Well-Being: Moderating Effects of Otaku Contents and Mindfulness
Sugiura, Y., & Sugiura, T. (2019) · Journal of Happiness Studies · doi:10.1007/s10902-019-00123-9 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Viewing challenging art lends meaning to life by stimulating integrative complexity
Hagtvedt, H., & Vohs, K. D. (2021) · The Journal of Positive Psychology · doi:10.1080/17439760.2021.1975159 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
“For instance, people report more meaning in life after mentally linking their life right now to past, future, or coun-terfactual realities (Kray et al., 2010; Waytz et al., 2015).”
Womick, J., Eckelkamp, J., Luzzo, S., Ward, S. J., Baker, S., Salamun, A., & King, L. A. (2021) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0256759 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
“Although meaning in life is relatively stable, it is a subjective feeling that can be affected by manipulations, including exposure to stimuli that make sense [24], reminders of the reality of death [25,26], social exclusion and ostracism [27] and mental simulation [28].”
BackgroundEken, A. (2021) · Biomedical Signal Processing and Control · doi:10.1016/j.bspc.2021.102645 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Chen, Y., Zeng, X., Tao, L., Chen, J., & Wang, Y. (2022) · Frontiers in Public Health · doi:10.3389/fpubh.2022.1021642 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
“Books can provide an immersive simulation of the real social world, where readers can project themselves into situations and enhance their understanding of characters (80).”
BackgroundRoseby, W., Kettner, H., Roseman, L., Spriggs, M. J., Lyons, T., Peill, J., Giribaldi, B., Erritzøe, D., Nutt, D. J., & Carhart-Harris, R. L. (2025) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1580663 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
“For example, increased resting state FC within the medial temporal lobe subsystem of the DMN has been found to predict a greater presence of meaning in life, but not scores on other related scales assessing life satisfaction (Waytz et al., 2015).”
Fang, D., & Maglio, S. J. (2023) · Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2023.104544 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Construction of a Meaning Effectiveness Model: A new interpretation of meaning in life
Wang, W., & Ma, W.-J. (2021) · New Ideas in Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.newideapsych.2021.100876 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
The role of sensuality, imagination, and curiosity in high and optimal sexual satisfaction
Jamea, E. N. (2020) · Sexual & Relationship Therapy · doi:10.1080/14681994.2020.1714023 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
“The literature suggests that the process of imagination or using mental imagery has the capacity to enhance meaning in life (Waytz et al., 2015), strengthen the adaptive skill of creativity (Carson, 2010), and aid in healing (Maya et al., 2012) and stress management (Beck et al., 2015).”
BackgroundFactors Affecting the Meaning in Life of Teachers
Suyatno, S., Pambudi, D. I., Amurdawati, G., Wantini, W., & Ningrum, M. V. R. (2020) · Pedagogika · doi:10.15823/p.2020.139.3 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
“Furthermore, the meaning of life is also believed to be influenced by factors other than affective experience (Heintzelman & King, 2014; Waytz et al., 2015).”
BackgroundMorgan, R. H., Braun, S., & Epitropaki, O. (2025) · Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology · doi:10.1111/joop.70014 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Basic psychological needs mediate connectedness and meaning in life among Chinese college students
Cai, Y., & Zhan, D. (2025) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-025-16688-w · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Is Meaning in Life Constituted by Value or Intelligibility?
Landau, I. (2021) · Philosophical Papers · doi:10.1080/05568641.2021.1898288 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
“Yet others discuss both intelligibility and value but do not take one of them to be foundational or hermeneutically prior to the other (e.g., King et al. 2006, 180; Steger et al. 2006, 81; Steger 2012, 65; Waytz, Hershfield, and Tamir 2015, 338).”
BackgroundXue, L., Fan, H., Yan, Y., Zhang, L., Jiang, Y., & Chen, L. (2024) · Current Psychology · doi:10.1007/s12144-024-06521-4 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
“For example, Waytz et al. (2015) demonstrated that thinking more vividly about the future significantly enhanced the presence of meaning compared with thinking about the future in general.”
Caycho‐Rodríguez, T., Vilca, L. W., Cervigni, M., Gallegos, M., Martino, P., Calandra, M., Anacona, C. A. R., López-Calle, C., Moreta‐Herrera, R., Chacón-Andrade, E. R., et al. (2022) · Current Psychology · doi:10.1007/s12144-022-03465-5 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Vazeou‐Nieuwenhuis, A. (2016) · The Journal of Positive Psychology · doi:10.1080/17439760.2016.1257047 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Looney, K., El‐Leithy, S., & Brown, G. P. (2020) · Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy · doi:10.1017/s1352465820000806 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Chen, Y., Zheng, L., Ma, J., Zhu, H., & Gan, Y. (2025) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/63407 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
“Previous studies have frequently used mental time travel as a stable paradigm to elicit meaning-making, often inviting participants to imagine past or future events [44-46].”
Tov, W., Ng, S. H., & Kang, S. (2019) · The Journal of Positive Psychology · doi:10.1080/17439760.2019.1689426 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
“Alternatively, this may indicate a boundary condition on the effects of mental simulation on meaning (Waytz et al., 2015).”
BackgroundDevelopment of Taiwan College Students' Sense of Life Meaning Scale
Wu, H.-T., Chou, M.-J., Meng-Shan, L., Jing-Fang, H., & Ming-Hsyang, W. (2015) · Universal Journal of Educational Research · doi:10.13189/ujer.2015.030809 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Envision A Bright Future to Heal Your Negative Mood: A Trial in China
Zhou, W., Li, P., Lei, X., & Yuan, H. (2021) · Cognitive Therapy and Research · doi:10.1007/s10608-021-10246-0 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
- Authors
- Waytz, A., Hershfield, H. E., & Tamir, D. I.
- Affiliations
- Northwestern University (US)
- Princeton University (US)
- Venue
- Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
- Published
- 2015-02
- Volume
- 108
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 336-355
- ISSN
- 0022-3514 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1315
- PMC
- PMC4480924
- OpenAlex
- W2107411906
- Cited by
- 176
- References
- 164
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 22 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 28 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 17 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 3 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 18.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Identity, Memory, and Therapy
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Mind wandering and attention
- Keywords
- mental simulation, meaning in life, temporal simulation, spatial simulation, prospection, retrospection, default mode network, medial temporal lobe, self-projection, psychological well-being
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Arousal, Brain, Brain Mapping, Character, Female, Humans, Imagination, Individuality, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Mental Processes, Motivation, Nerve Net, Projection, Surveys and Questionnaires, Reality Testing, Social Environment, Statistics as Topic, Echo-Planar Imaging
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