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People With A Stronger Sense Of Purpose In Life Less Likely To Feel Lonely During The Pandemic

People With A Stronger Sense Of Purpose In Life Less Likely To Feel Lonely During The Pandemic

Though people with a stronger sense of purpose did report feeling lonely, they still showed more willingness to take precautions to prevent COVID-19.

Written by Longjam Dineshwori |Updated : June 17, 2021 5:33 PM IST

The practice of social distancing, which means staying at home and away from others as much as possible, is one of the most effective measures to reduce the spread of spread of COVID-19 disease. But this is also a reason for increase in loneliness and mental health problems, like depression, anxiety and increased stress. But some people can cope with the stress of social isolation better than others. According to a new study, people with a stronger sense of purpose in life are less likely to feel lonely during the COVID-19 pandemic. These people are also more to engage in COVID-19 protective behaviours such as social distancing and hand washing than individuals with a lower sense of purpose.

The study was conducted by researchers from the Communication Neuroscience Lab at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. Titled "Purpose in Life, Loneliness, and Protective Health Behaviours during the COVID-19 Pandemic," it was published this month in The Gerontologist. It concluded that even though people who had a strong sense of purpose did report feeling lonely, they still felt strongly about taking precautions to prevent COVID-19.

In previous studies, having a purpose in life or feeling a sense that your life is guided by meaningful values and goals has been linked to a wide range of positive health outcomes, both physical and psychological.

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According to Yoona Kang, lead author and a Research Director of the Communication Neuroscience Lab, people with higher sense of purpose tend to be more resilient in the face of adversity, like during the COVID-19 pandemic, as they have a clear sense of goals that motivate actions that are aligned with personal values. They may also experience less conflict when making health decisions. Further, the purpose in life motivates people to engage in behaviours to protect themselves and others, he said.

Kang and her collaborators surveyed more than 500 adult participants to understand their levels of purpose in life, their current and pre-pandemic levels of loneliness, and the degrees to which they intended to engage in COVID-19 prevention behaviours. Here are what they found:

  • People with higher levels of loneliness were less likely to engage in behaviours known to prevent the spread of COVID-19. They were also more skeptical that such behaviours would be effective.
  • Those with a stronger sense of purpose was associated with lower levels of loneliness. They also expressed a greater desire to take action to protect themselves from COVID-19 and a stronger belief that COVID-19 prevention behaviours would work.
  • Compared to younger people, older people expressed less loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The study shows that purpose in life can empower people to make life-saving health decisions that protect their own health and those around them, Kang said.

In the future, the researchers hope to study how to enhance purpose in life to bring these benefits to more people.

Loneliness is associated with increased risk of heart disease, stroke, premature death, depression, anxiety, and suicide. So, if you feel like you don't have a strong purpose in life, find or create one in order to be more resilient.

With inputs from agencies