By Dr. Bjorn Mercer
Department Chair, Communication and World Languages Programs
Note: This article is part 1 of a two-part series exploring the definition of a meaningful life as interpreted by people in different countries.
What is a meaningful life? Every generation has asked this question, and for countless centuries the grind of daily existence has limited the ability for most humans to really ponder what a meaningful life means beyond mere survival.
But contemporary humans, in many countries around the world, have a level of affluence that was unknown to past generations. That affluence has allowed people to really consider what makes a meaningful life and try to achieve it.
Related link: Maintaining Physical and Mental Health during the Holidays
International Survey Reveals People’s Feelings about What Makes Life Meaningful
In a recent Pew Research survey, around 19,000 people in 17 different countries were asked what makes life meaningful. They were specifically asked the following open-ended question: “We’re interested in exploring what it means to live a satisfying life. What aspects of your life do you currently find meaningful, fulfilling or satisfying?”
The countries that were surveyed were high Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita countries that included the European countries of Sweden, France, Greece, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium and Spain. Other countries that were interviewed included typically “Western” countries such as the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, as well as Asian countries including Singapore, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan.
The Pew researchers then took the open-ended questions and coded the responses into 20 “‘units of information’ – words or short phrases or statements that tell you something.” These “units of information” or what people described as meaningful in their lives included:
- General positive
- Don’t know
- Family and children
- Spouse and romantic partner
- Friends
- Service and civic engagement
- Society
- Material well-being
- Retirement
- Freedom
- Occupation and career
- Education and learning
- Nature and outdoor
- Pets
- Spirituality
- Religion and faith
- Physical and mental health
- Hobbies
- Travel
- Difficulties or challenges
- COVID-19
Commonalities Between Pew Research Survey Participants
The results of the Pew Research Survey about what makes life meaningful were interesting, sometimes surprising, and to a point, predictable.
The results of the survey revealed a lot of commonalities amongst people in the surveyed countries. The first standout was that no matter the country and the culture that people were born into, “family and children” are extremely important. All 17 countries had “family” in the top five reasons for a meaningful life with 14 of the countries placing it as number one.
The next common finding was that “occupation” and “material well-being” were in the top five reasons for 15 of the 17 countries. “Occupation” was ranked higher than “material well-being,” with “occupation” ranked as number two for 9 of 17 countries.
For virtually everyone, what you do and your occupation is an important part of existence, considering we will all work around 40 to 50 years of our lives. So no matter what country you are in, what you do as your occupation brings great meaning.
“Material well-being, stability, and quality of life” is another important result of the survey, but it is scattered throughout the top five rankings. The only country that ranked “material well-being” as number one was South Korea.
The U.S., which one would assume would rank “material well-being” high, actually ranked it third. “Material well-being” is also an amorphous description because people within the U.S. have radically different views of what constitutes material well-being. Also, its meaning will also vary from country to country.
After the top three reasons for a meaningful life, “health” and “friends” occurred 11 and 9 times in the top five. Health showed up as a top three reason for Spain, France, Greece, and South Korea, and friends were a top two concern for the U.K. and the U.S.
The last top concern that was common to several countries was “society,” which occurred six times in the top five. The countries that found meaning in society included the fiercely independent countries of Taiwan and Singapore as well as Canada, New Zealand, and Australia, three countries that are very proud of their country’s ethos.
Related link: Podcast: Intersectionality and Understanding What Influences Your Identity
Country-Specific Reasons for What Is Meaningful in Life
In the Pew Research survey, some of the reasons for a meaningful life were country-specific and tell us more about individual countries and what they find meaningful. One example is the U.S., which had “faith” as one of the top five concerns. But “faith” was not a top concern for any of the other countries.
When you dig deeper into the data, you see that the U.S. is an outlier amongst the 17 countries surveyed. Fifteen percent of the U.S. respondents said “spirituality, faith and religion” was a top concern. By contrast, “faith” was the overall median at 2% amongst the 17 countries, with New Zealand coming in second at 5%.
A Wheatley Institution study found that a little over 10% of Americans were home worshipers: those people who not only go to church weekly but pray and study religious texts daily. In addition, 26% of Americans are home worshipers and weekly attendees of church.
Although 26% of the U.S. population is a minority, it is a sizable minority and puts the U.S. as one of the more religiously active countries, on par with Mexico and Peru. The Wheatley Institution study also surveyed European and South American countries.
Another interesting finding is that South Korea and Taiwan stated that “freedom” was a top five concern for survey respondents. For the U.S., “freedom and independence” was actually ranked number nine.
For many Americans, freedom and independence are core issues. However, these core issues are not as palpable as they are for South Korea and Taiwan.
South Korea has North Korea on its border, and the two countries are still technically at war. With the vicious civil war in the 1950s that the U.S. calls the Korean War, having “freedom” as a top five concern is a normal part of living in South Korea.
In addition, Taiwan – created after the Chinese civil war that ended in the late 1940s – has had to deal with decades of China threatening its existence. Even though Taiwan has become a high GDP country separate from mainland China, Communist China still views Taiwan as a renegade province.
In the next article, we will look at GDP per capita, how GDP possibly influences how people find meaning in their lives and discuss the takeaways of this Pew Research report.
If you are interested in what contributes to a meaningful life, there are a variety of courses available at the University. Classes that are available include PHIL101 Introduction to Philosophy, PHIL200 Introduction to Ethics, STEM270 Thinking and Acting Ethically, RELS201 Introduction to World Religions or ANTH202 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology.
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