Conservatives Report More Meaning in Life than Liberal

Conservatives are more satisfied with their lives than liberals, but this relationship is relatively weak. One limitation of this area of research is that the well-being measures have been too narrow in scope. We extended this research by examining the relationship between political affiliation and well-being using measures of evaluative (life satisfaction), experiential (affect in the moment), and eudaimonic (a sense of meaning and purpose) well-being. Participants completed well-being measures after reflecting on their whole life (Studies 1 and 2), at the end of their day (Study 3), and in the present moment (Study 4). Across four studies (n = 5,025), conservatives found more meaning in life than liberals at each frame of reference. This finding generally remained significant after controlling for religiosity and was stronger than the relationship between political affiliation and life satisfaction. These findings provide a more holistic view of the relationship between political affiliation and well-being.