The Role of Shared Future Selves and Self-Continuity in Promoting the Presence of Meaning in Life

Abstract

Modern work life is increasingly lacking in structure, which poses challenges to workers’ ability to maintain a sense of meaning in life (MIL). In the current research, we examine the role of perceiving a shared future self and the feeling that who we are is permanent and persists into the future (i.e., temporal persistence) in facilitating the experience of MIL. Across four experimental studies, we find consistent evidence that people who envision a future self that they perceive as shared and verified by those around them leads to the feeling that who they are will persist into the future. This sense of temporal persistence in turn leads to the experience of MIL. We conclude with implications for fields examining questions pertaining to meaning in life, the self-concept, and modern careers.