Emotionally extreme life experiences are more meaningful

Abstract

ABSTRACT What makes an experience meaningful? Diverse lines of research have provided contrasting evidence; that either positive or negative events are found particularly meaningful. In this paper, we propose that the extremity of an event, rather than its valence per se, may drive meaning, and test multiple mechanisms that might explain this effect. Across three studies (including one that was pre-registered), we show for the first time a quadratic relationship between event valence and meaningfulness, such that both extremely painful and extremely pleasant events are more meaningful than milder events. Furthermore, we show that this effect is partly mediated by shared features of extreme events; their emotional intensity and tendency to induce contemplation. While extreme positive and extreme negative events differ in many important ways, this research shows that they share key characteristics (including their extremity) that lead people to find them more meaningful.