Meaning Comes from Giving, Happiness from Getting: A Big Study Delineates the Split

Roy Baumeister and colleagues’ 2013 study of 397 adults finds happiness and meaning largely pull in opposite directions: happiness rises with getting what you want (present-focused, linked to taking), while meaning increases from giving and looking beyond oneself. The two remain correlated but separable, and the method is debated, so the finding isn’t a universal prescription for how to live your life.