You Can’t Always Get What You Need: How Meaning in Life Mediates the Relationship Between Need Satisfaction and Depression You Can’t Always Get What You Need: How Meaning in Life Mediates the Relationship Between Need Satisfaction and Depression

Meaning in life (MIL) is widely recognized as a key factor in well-being and psychological resilience, yet the mechanisms linking psychological needs and MIL remain understudied. This mixed-methods study examined how basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence, and relatedness), as well as cogni...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social indicators research Vol. 179; no. 2; pp. 817 - 837
Main Authors: Russo-Netzer, Pninit, Tarrasch, Ricardo
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.09.2025
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects:
Achievement Need
Altruism
Ambiguity
Ambiguity (Context)
Autonomy
Closure
Cognition
Cognition & reasoning
Competence
Content analysis
Coping
Data
Depression (Psychology)
Economic development
Gender differences
Human Geography
Influence
Life satisfaction
Meaning
Mental depression
Microeconomics
Modeling (Psychology)
Motivation
Organizational Development
Original Research
Prioritizing
Psychological needs
Psychological Patterns
Psychological well being
Psychopathology
Psychotherapy
Public Health
Qualitative research
Quality of Life Research
Recreation
Relatedness
Religiosity
Resilience
Resilience (Psychology)
Satisfaction
Self Determination
Self Efficacy
Social Sciences
Sociology
Structural equation modeling
Well being
Depression
Meaning in life
Need for closure
Well-being
Need for cognition
Basic psychological needs
ISSN:0303-8300, 1573-0921
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Meaning in life (MIL) is widely recognized as a key factor in well-being and psychological resilience, yet the mechanisms linking psychological needs and MIL remain understudied. This mixed-methods study examined how basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence, and relatedness), as well as cognitive needs (need for cognition and need for closure), relate to depression through three meaning-related constructs: search for meaning, prioritizing meaning, and presence of meaning. Quantitative data were collected from 402 participants using validated scales, and qualitative data were drawn from open-ended responses. Structural equation modeling revealed that need satisfaction was significantly associated with prioritizing meaning, presence of meaning, and lower depression levels, but not with the search for meaning. The need for cognition and the need for closure predicted only the search for meaning. Search for meaning was positively associated with prioritizing meaning, which in turn was associated with presence of meaning, which was negatively associated with depression. Gender differences emerged, with females reporting significantly higher need for relatedness and depression. No differences were found across religiosity groups. Qualitative content analysis identified family, recreation, and altruism as key sources of meaning. Notably, participants who mentioned religious engagement reported higher presence of meaning, whereas those seeking religious development, financial improvement, or education reported lower autonomy. Findings underscore the complex interplay between psychological and cognitive needs in shaping meaning-making processes and well-being, offering implications for meaning-centered interventions in clinical and applied settings.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 14
ISSN:0303-8300
1573-0921
DOI:10.1007/s11205-025-03644-4