In Study 1, we examined experimentally whether imagining an increase in future happiness enhanced the meaningfulness of behaviors in the present. Next, we tested in Study 2 whether anticipated happiness was more pronounced for people high (vs. low) in search for meaning in life to test the motivational process underlying these forecasts. Study 3 integrated these prior approaches by testing whether the meaning gained from experimentally induced anticipated happiness were more pronounced for people high (vs. low) in search for meaning in life.

Study 1: Anticipated Happiness Imbues Behavior with Meaning

In Study 1, we tested if anticipated happiness yields an existential benefit by bestowing meaning to behaviors in the present. Specifically, if anticipated happiness has this proposed existential function, then meaningfulness would be attributed to behaviors that serve future happiness compared to behaviors that do not serve this goal. In order to test this prediction, we manipulated the degree of anticipated happiness and then measured evaluations of the meaningfulness of behaviors. Anticipated happiness was manipulated by having participants either focus on happiness in the future or on the future without explicit reference to happiness (control condition). Given that this procedure would make future happiness more salient in one than in the other condition, we predicted increases in anticipated happiness in the experimental versus the control condition. Importantly, based on our assumption that happiness forecasts yield an existential benefit, we further expected that a focus on future happiness would increase the meaningfulness of one’s behavior.

If anticipated happiness has the hypothesized existential benefit of identifying meaning in one’s behavior, then this likely only applies to behaviors that are perceived to be instrumental for happiness and not to behaviors that are of little perceived instrumentality for obtaining future happiness. We thus included an additional variation to test for the benefit of anticipated happiness. Specifically, we contrasted three clusters of four behaviors perceived as generally high versus moderate versus low in their instrumentality for contributing to a happy future. We predicted that the future happiness focus would increase the perceived meaningfulness of behaviors that serve the happiness goal, but that it would decrease the perceived meaningfulness of the less instrumental behaviors.

Method

Participants and Design

Fifty students (13 men, 37 women; M age = 19.22, SD = 1.49) took part in a 2 (future focus: happier vs. control) × 3 (behavior cluster: high instrumentality vs. neutral vs. low instrumentality) mixed subjects design with the future focus variation as between-subjects factor and the behavior cluster as within subjects factor. Post-hoc power analysis for this 2 × 3 mixed design indicated a power of (1 − β) = .91 for detecting effects of η2 = .10, assuming a two-tailed α of .05, and a correlation between repeated measures of r = − .25.

Materials and Procedure

Students were approached on campus and asked for their willingness to take part in a short paper-and-pencil study. Upon agreement, participants gave their informed consent and reported demographic information. Participants in the happier future focus condition were then requested to jot down three happy things that they anticipated in the future; participants in the control condition instead listed future things without being explicitly instructed that these related to happiness. Thus, although participants focused on the future in both conditions, only in the happier future focus condition they explicitly focused on potentially becoming happier. We then instructed participants to “Consider the following list of behaviors and consider how meaningful you think they are. Please rank these behaviors in the order from 1 to 12, with 1 being the most meaningful behavior and 12 being the least meaningful”. We conducted two pilot studies in order to test for the effectiveness of the experimental manipulation and the instrumentality associated with each of the 12 behaviors.

Pilot Study 1: Anticipation of Greater Happiness

A pilot study among thirty-nine students confirmed that those who focused on a happier future anticipated happiness to a greater extent (M = 5.72, SD = 1.02) compared to the control condition (M = 5.00, SD = 1.12), F(1, 36) = 4.28, p = .05, η2 = .11, rated on the item “To what extent do you think that you will become happier in the future?” (1 = not at all, 7 = very much). The manipulation was thus effective.

Pilot Study 2: Behaviors as Source of Happiness

We generated 12 behaviors as part of a lab meeting discussion. In a pilot study, fifteen students then ranked these twelve behaviors The results indicated that the four most instrumental behaviors for future happiness, among students, were visiting family, making friends, having a laugh, and partying, which we subsequently labeled the high instrumentality behavior cluster (M = 3.40, SD = .77). The least helpful behaviors, according to students, were saving money, watching a movie, snacking, and watching soaps on television (M = 9.40, SD = .89). These four behaviors were subsequently labeled the low instrumentality behavior cluster. The four remaining behaviors, exercising, attending a concert, eating healthy, and studying were ranked in between (M = 6.72, SD = 1.27) and hence constituted our neutral behavior cluster.

At the end of each pilot study and the main study, we explained to participants the goals of each study and thanked them for their participation.

Results

Average evaluation scores were computed for each cluster with low numbers indicating greater perceived meaningfulness. The behaviors’ evaluations were subjected to a repeated measure ANOVA with the forecast focus manipulation as between-subjects factor and the behavior cluster (high vs. neutral vs. low instrumentality) as within-subject factor. The results indicated no main effect of the future focus manipulation (F < 1), a main effect of the behaviors’ cluster, F(2, 47) = 335.07, p < .001, η2 = .77, and the critical interaction, F(2, 47) = 5.25, p < .01, η2 = .06 (illustrated in Fig. 1).

Fig. 1 Meaningfulness of Behavior Following the Future Focus Manipulation (Study 1). The ranked meaningfulness of three behavior clusters of participants who focused on future happiness relative to control condition. Lower averages indicate greater perceived meaningfulness Full size image

The high instrumentality behavior cluster received, on average, the lowest scores (i.e. most meaningful; M = 3.59, SD = .94), followed by the neutral cluster (M = 7.32, SD = 1.41); the highest scores were given to the low instrumentality behavior cluster (M = 8.60, SD = 1.20). Importantly, participants who focused on a happy future scored the behaviors of the high instrumentality cluster as lower (i.e. more meaningful; M = 3.33, SD = .94) compared to those in the control condition (M = 3.85, SD = 1.00), F(1, 48) = 4.11, p = .05, η2 = .08. The opposite was true for the behaviors in the low value behavior cluster which were scored higher among those who focused on a happier future (M = 9.00, SD = 1.04) compared to the control condition (M = 8.20, SD = 1.24), F(1, 48) = 6.14, p = .02, η2 = .11. No significant differences existed between the neutral behavior scores of the happier future focus condition (M = 7.18, SD = 1.20) compared to the control condition (M = 7.45, SD = 1.61; F < 1).

Discussion

In the current study, we examined whether anticipated happiness yields an existential benefit. Specifically, we proposed that envisioning a happy future contributes to the perceived meaningfulness of behaviors deemed instrumental in the pursuit of this envisioned increases in happiness. Indeed, the results confirmed that those focusing on future happiness ranked behaviors as more meaningful relative to a control condition. Moreover, this increase in perceived meaningfulness did not occur for all behaviors indiscriminately, but was specific to those that were deemed highly instrumental for facilitating happiness.

These results reflect that increased happiness forecasts contribute to perceived meaningfulness of behavior, but only for behavior that serves happiness. When behavior is not instrumental for this goal, then anticipating happiness reduces the perceived meaningfulness of that behavior. The results are consistent with our assumption that happiness forecasts serve the superordinate goal of perceiving everyday life as meaningful and that people focus on activities that are instrumental for this goal. These findings are also consistent with those by King and colleagues (2006), but show how not only present but also anticipated future positive affect (here, happiness) contributes to meaning. Study 2 and 3 further tested the existential function of anticipating happiness by considering a crucial variable: search for meaning in life.

Study 2: Search for Meaning in Life Amplifies Anticipated Happiness

In Study 2, we tested the existential function of anticipated happiness from a different angle. Based on our reasoning that imagining a happier future can help to obtain a sense of meaning, we predicted that people who are strongly searching for meaning in life, compared to their less searching counterparts, will be particularly likely to a future replete with happiness. Thus, by conceptualizing search for meaning as a predictor, we directly examined the motivational function that search for meaning in life plays in shaping happiness anticipations.

Method

Participants and Design

Eighty-seven students (24 men, 62 women, 1 unspecified; M age = 24.36, SD = 7.57) were approached on campus and were willing to take part in the study. Post-hoc power analysis for a multiple regression analysis with three predictors indicated a power of (1 − β) = .88 for an overall R2 of .15, assuming a two-tailed α of .05.Footnote 1

Materials and Procedure

After giving informed consent and reporting demographics, participants completed the meaning in life questionnaire (Steger et al. 2006). This measurement consists of two conceptually distinct subscales that assess people’s search for meaning in life (e.g. “I am looking for something that makes my life meaningful”; α = .89) and their perceived presence of meaning in life (“My life has a clear sense of purpose”; α = .88; after recoding the reversed item). Each subscale is measured with five items that have to be rated on seven-point scales ranging from 1 (not at all) to 7 (very much). Next, we asked them to rate their current happiness with the item “On the whole, how happy would you say you are?” on a 10 point scale from 1 (totally unhappy) to 10 (totally happy). Participants rated on similar scales how happy they expected to be in 1–5 years from the present.

Results and Discussion

Expected Happiness

We entered the happiness ratings in a random intercept multilevel analysis with the participant as higher level, and the six happiness ratings as lower level. Linear and quadratic effects of the target time distance of the happiness forecasts (0 through 5 years) were then added as fixed predictors of happiness. Importantly, we also added as fixed predictors participants’ averaged search for meaning in life and the interaction between the search for meaning in life with the linear effect of time.

The analysis revealed both a significant linear effect of time distance, γ = .26, S e = .10, t(509) = 2.55, p = .014, a significant quadratic effect of time distance on happiness, γ = − .04, S e = .01, t(509) = 2.55, p = .011, and a significant effect of the search for meaning in life, γ = − .32, S e = .11, t(509) = 2.98 p = .003. These results indicate that happiness was generally expected to increase as a function of time, and that this expected increase gradually reached a ceiling. Moreover, the search for meaning in life was associated with somewhat lower overall happiness. Importantly, however, the more participants were in search for meaning in life, the more they anticipated their happiness to increase, as signified by a significant interaction effect, γ = .05, S e = .02, t(509) = 3.47, p = .001.Footnote 2 These results imply that, as predicted, people who are searching for meaning in life imagine a brighter future compared to those less in search for meaning. Figure 2 provides a graphical illustration of these findings where the modeled expected happiness forecasts are plotted at 1 standard deviation below and above the sample’s average search for meaning in life.

Fig. 2 Forecasted and Observed Happiness as a Function Time and the Search for Meaning in Life (Study 2). Four regression lines representing the modeled associations of real age with participants’ observed happiness (between subjects effect), and the modeled increase in happiness that participants expected over 5 years (within subjects fixed effect), all plotted at one standard deviation below and above the average search for meaning in life. Note that direct comparisons between the two observed happiness lines with the two current and predicted happiness lines should be made with caution as these lines reflect estimates from different levels of analysis Full size image

We conducted the same multilevel analysis as before but added the averaged presence of meaning in life scores and the presence of meaning in life × linear time distance interaction as fixed predictors of participants’ happiness ratings. The results of this analysis were very similar of the previous multilevel model. A significant linear effect of the distance in time, γ = .26, S e = .10, t(418.84) = 2.56, p = .011, and a significant quadratic effect of time distance on happiness were observed, γ = − .04, S e = .01, t(419.18) = 2.63, p = .009. In addition, a significant effect of presence of meaning in life was observed, γ = .80, S e = .16, t(114.64) = 4.96, p < .001, as well as a significant presence of meaning in life × time interaction, γ = − .07, S e = .03, t(419.93) = 2.85, p = .005, suggesting that the more participants viewed their lives to be meaningful, the happier they were and the less they expected happiness to increase over time. Also, the effect of search for meaning in life was reliable, γ = − .32, S e = .10, t(114.03) = 3.35, p = .001. Most importantly, however, the critical interaction between time and participants’ search for meaning in life remained significant and was very similar in magnitude as in the original analysis, γ = .05, S e = .01, t(418.50) = 3.55, p < .001.Footnote 3

In the current study, we tested whether imagined increases in happiness serve an existential function by considering individual difference in search for meaning in life. As predicted, participants high in search for meaning in life anticipated greater happiness than other participants. In addition, the interaction between increased anticipated happiness and search for meaning in life remained significant after controlling for actual presence of perceived meaning in life. Overall, this study demonstrates that people who search for meaning in life are particularly inclined to imagine a happier future.

Study 3: Anticipated Happiness and Meaning in Life

In Study 3, we combined the approaches of the previous studies in order to test the existential function and benefit of anticipated happiness by both manipulating anticipated happiness and measuring people’s search for meaning in life. After observing in Study 1 that a focus on a happier looming future accentuates the meaning attributed to specific behaviors, complemented by the finding from Study 2 that predictions of increased happiness become more pronounced with increasing levels of meaning search, we next examined whether people consider life to become more meaningful after imagining a happier future.

Importantly, similar to Study 2 we examined the moderating effect of search for meaning to test whether the predicted meaning boost stemming from considering a happier future is partly originating from this motivational source. We predicted that by having people focus on increasing future happiness (vs. control) subsequently increases anticipated meaning in life, especially among people high in search for meaning in life.

Method

Participants and Design

Eighty-two students (17 men, 65 women; M age = 22.17, SD = 6.35) took part in the study. Participants were randomly assigned to either a happier future focus or control condition. Post-hoc power analysis for a multiple regression analysis with three predictors indicated a power of (1 − β) = .91 for an overall R2 of .15, assuming a two-tailed α of .05.

Materials and Procedure

Participants gave their informed consent and reported demographic information. After completing the search for meaning in life scale (α = .92; Steger et al. 2006; see Study 2), they were assigned to either the happiness focus condition or the control future condition (see Study 1). After the manipulation, participants engaged in forecasting happiness and meaning in life by indicating their responses to the items “To what extent do you think that your happiness will increase in the future?” and “To what extent do you think that your perceived meaning in life will increase in the future?” on scales from 1 (not at all) to 7 (very much).

Results and Discussion

A one-way ANOVA confirmed that relative to the control condition (M = 4.78, SD = 1.12), the focus on a happier future amplified levels of anticipated happiness (M = 5.36, SD = 1.14), F(1, 80) = 5.41, p = .02, η2 = .06. Thus, the manipulation was effective.

A multiple-regression analysis with the effect coded forecasting manipulation (− 1 = control, 1 = happier future focus), the standardized search for meaning in life scores, and their interaction as predictors of meaning in life indicated a significant interaction effect, B = .40, S e = .17, t(78) = 2.39, p = .02, as well as a significant partial effect of search for meaning, B = .64, S e = .17, t(78) = 3.90, p < .001; the partial effect of the manipulation was not significant (t < 1). A simple slope analysis (Hayes and Matthes 2009) confirmed that the search for meaning in life was significantly and positively associated with anticipated meaning in life amongst those who focused on a happier future, B = 1.04, S e = .22, t(78) = 4.75, p < .001, whereas no reliable association emerged for the control condition, B = .25, S e = .25, t(78) = 1.01, p = .32 (Fig. 3).Footnote 4

Fig. 3 Anticipated Meaning in Life as a Function of Future Focus Manipulation and the Search for Meaning in Life (Study 3). Bars represent the predicted levels of anticipated happiness gains for − 1 and + 1 standard deviation above the mean search for meaning Full size image

Overall, conceptually replicating Study 1, the current study indicated that anticipating future happiness increases anticipated meaningfulness. Moreover, consistent with Study 2, those who are strongly searching for meaning in life used the opportunity to reflect on a happier future to make future life seem more meaningful, as opposed to people who were less searching for meaning in life. Extending Study 1 and 2, Study 3 thus shows how that the imagined increase in future happiness among those high in meaning search subsequently lends more anticipated meaning. Thus, this experiment integrates and completes the prior studies by demonstrating that anticipating a happier future yields the existential benefit of envisioning a more meaningful life, a strategy employed especially by those high in search for meaning in life.