The within-person dynamics of affect, meaning in life, and perceived stress

While the relationship between meaning in life and affect has been examined extensively in individual differences and experimental studies, we know little about the intraindividual dynamics of the naturally occurring relationships between these constructs. We examined meaning in life, positive/negative affect, and perceived stress across 13 weekly assessments in a sample of 50–95 year-olds (N = 226). Overall, there was qualitative similarity across between-individual and within-individual analyses, each showing unique relationships between positive affect and meaning in life, as well as between positive affect, negative affect, meaning in life, and perceived stress. Moreover, cross-lagged panel analyses confirmed that positive, but not negative affect, may have a causal and unidirectional effect on meaning in life, and that positive affect, negative affect, and meaning in life each have unique lagged, week-to-week effects on stress. These results suggest that each of these related constructs plays a unique functional role in individuals' mental health and well-being.