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Most people have a version of this thought (I know I do): I’ll start living for what matters once things ease up. Once the pressure lifts and the schedule lightens. Once the tedious obligations quieten down. Once there is finally some room to breathe. Then meaning becomes possible again. We think this as if stress takes up so much space that there is none left for purpose.

A new study questions that assumption.

The study, published in the International Journal of Applied Positive Psychology, set out to understand what drives the sense that life is meaningful (Le Guellaff Pallin, 2026). Using data from 429 participants and three statistical approaches, the researchers compared two possibilities. One was that meaning depends on the balance between autonomous motivation, wanting what you pursue, and controlled motivation, which is driven by pressure, guilt or obligation. The other was that autonomous motivation matters more directly, regardless of how........

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