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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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Metadata
- 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
- 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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