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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2024 Aug 1.
Published in final edited form as: Pers Individ Dif. 2023 May 5;210:112227. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2023.112227

Purpose in life, stress mindset, and perceived stress: Test of a mediational model

Angelina R Sutin 1, Martina Luchetti 1, Yannick Stephan 2, Amanda A Sesker 1,3, Antonio Terracciano 1
PMCID: PMC10194833  NIHMSID: NIHMS1898626  PMID: 37215943

Abstract

Purpose in life is associated with less perceived stress and more positive worldviews. This study examined whether people with more purpose adopt a mindset that views stress as beneficial rather than harmful and whether this mindset is one mechanism between purpose and less stress. We used a short-term longitudinal study (N=2,147) to test stress mindset as a mediator between purpose in life measured prior to the pandemic and stress measured early in the pandemic. We also tested Covid-related worry as a mechanism, given the measurement period spanned pre-pandemic to the first shutdowns in the United States. In contrast to expectations, purpose was unrelated to whether stress was conceptualized as beneficial or harmful (b=.00, SE=.02; p=.710) and thus stress mindset did not mediate the prospective association between purpose and stress. Both purpose in life (b=−.41, SE=.04, p<.001) and stress mindset (b=−.24, SE=.04; p<.001) were independent prospective predictors of stress. Purpose was related to less Covid-related worry, which was a significant mechanism between purpose and stress (indirect effect=−.03, SE=.01; p=.023). A stress-is-enhancing mindset predicted less stress but did not explain why purpose was associated with less perceived stress, whereas fewer Covid-related worries was one pathway from purpose to less stress.

Keywords: Purpose in life, Perceived stress, Stress Mindset, COVID-19, Prospective

A greater sense of purpose in life has been associated with several aspects of stress and stress regulation. Individuals higher in purpose, for example, tend to feel less stress in general (Sutin et al., 2023), have more modest affective and somatic responses to stressors in daily life (Hill et al., 2018), faster physiological recovery from momentary stressors (Schaefer et al., 2013), and better stress management strategies (Li et al., 2016) than individuals lower in purpose. In addition to shaping responses to stress, purpose may also shape perceptions of it. Indeed, the experience of stress in daily life may be due in part to how it is interpreted. That is, stress can be framed as harmful and something to avoid or embraced as something that can enhance performance and well-being (Crum et al., 2013). Such a “stress is enhancing” mindset has been associated with better mental and physical health outcomes, whereas a “stress-is-debilitating” mindset has been associated with worse outcomes (Keech et al., 2020). Given that purpose tends to be associated with more optimism (Kim et al., 2022), it may also be associated with a tendency to perceive stress in a more optimistic way, that is, as more enhancing than debilitating. This mindset may mediate the association between purpose in life and stress: Feeling purposeful may be associated with a more adaptive way of perceiving stress, which may lead to feeling less stressed. The present research tests whether such a stress-is-enhancing mindset accounts for the association between purpose in life and subsequent feelings of stress in a short-term longitudinal study that spans from just prior to the coronavirus pandemic to a few weeks into its acute phase. Even though the follow-up was brief (1–2 months), the interval was not an average 1–2 months: In between assessments, participants experienced the effects of the first worldwide pandemic in over 100 years. The baseline assessment occurred prior to any known (at the time) Covid cases in the United States and prior to any Covid-related shutdowns. Although just two months later, the second assessment was during the President’s 15 days to slow the spread campaign that shut down most of the United States. As such, this time period was not a typical two months; it was a time of significant stress with a significant stressor that affected the entire population, which makes the timing even more relevant for the research question. We expect that both purpose in life and stress mindset will be associated with less stress during the pandemic and that stress mindset will mediate the prospective association between purpose and stress. In addition, given that the uncertainty of the early days of the pandemic increased anxiety related to the pandemic (Robinson et al., 2022), such worry could have contributed to greater feelings of stress. Since purpose can help regulate negative affect, including anxiety (Kashdan & McKnight, 2013), we also test Covid-related worry as an additional mechanism between purpose and stress (i.e., purpose will be associated with lower stress because of less worry about the effects of Covid).

Method

Participants and Procedure

Participants were from the Behavioral, Psychological, and Social Response to the coronavirus pandemic study (BPSR; Sutin et al., 2020). Participants reported on their purpose in life and stress mindset in early 2020 (January 31-February 10, 2020) just prior to the onset of the pandemic in the United States (Wave 1). Participants reported on their feelings of stress in March 2020 (March 18–29, 2020), just after the coronavirus was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (Wave 2). A total of 2,147 participants had baseline data on purpose in life and stress mindset at Wave 1 and follow-up data on stress at Wave 2.

Measures

Purpose in life.

Participants completed a 7-item (e.g., “I have a sense of direction and purpose in my life.”) version of the Purpose in Life subscale of the Ryff Scales of Psychological Well-Being (Ryff, 1989). Items were rated on a scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree), reverse scored when necessary, and the mean taken across items in the direction of higher purpose (alpha=.79).

Stress mindset.

Stress mindset was assessed with the 8-item Stress Mindset Measure (Crum et al., 2013). Items (e.g., “Experiencing stress improves my health and vitality”) were rated on a scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree), reversed scored when necessary, and the mean taken in the direction of greater mindset that stress is enhancing (alpha=.72).

Covid-related worry.

Participants rated 13 items on concerns about the effects of the pandemic (e.g., “How concerned are you about becoming severely ill or dying from the disease caused by the coronavirus?) from 1 (not at all concerned) to 5 (extremely concerned). The mean of the items was taken in the direction of greater Covid-related worry (alpha=.90).

Stress.

Participants rated their current feelings of stress with the item, “I am feeling a lot of stress right now” from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree).

Sociodemographic covariates.

Sociodemographic covariates were self-reported age in years, sex (1=female, 0=male), race (1=Black, 0=all others), ethnicity (1=Hispanic, 0=all others), and education rated on a scale from 1 (less than high school) to 7 (PhD or equivalent).

Statistical Approach

The PROCESS macro (Hayes, 2018) was used to test the mediation model. Specifically, purpose in life was the independent variable, stress mindset and Covid-related worry were the mediators, and feelings of stress early in the pandemic was the outcome. The model controlled for the sociodemographic covariates. A supplemental model tested Covid-related worry as a mediator between stress mindset and perceived stress.

Results

Descriptive statistics for all study variables are in Table 1. Correlations among study variables are in Supplemental Table S1. The results of the mediation analysis are in Figure 1. Higher purpose in life measured just prior to the pandemic was associated prospectively with lower stress during the acute phase of the pandemic. Stress mindset was likewise associated prospectively with lower stress during the pandemic, whereas Covid-related worry was associated with greater stress. Purpose in life and stress mindset, however, were unrelated to each other. As such, stress mindset could not mediate the association between purpose and stress. In contrast, purpose in life was associated negatively with Covid-related worry, and Covid-related worry was a significant mediator between purpose and perceived stress (indirect effect=−.03, SE=.01; p=.023). Purpose, stress mindset, and Covid-related worry were independent prospective predictors of feeling less stressed during the acute phase of the pandemic. The supplemental analysis that tested Covid-related worry as a mechanism between stress mindset and perceived stress indicated that it was not a significant mediator (Supplemental Figure S1).

Table 1.

Descriptive Statistics for All Study Variables

Variable Mean (Standard Deviation) or % (n)
Wave 1
 Age (years) 52.09 (15.49)
 Age range 20–100
 Sex (female=1, male=0) 47.7% (1025)
 Race (Black=1, not Black=0) 16.2% (347)
 Ethnicity (Hispanic=1, not Hispanic=0) 10.0% (215)
 Education1 4.24 (1.49)
 Purpose in life2 3.58 (.76)
 Stress mindset2 2.62 (.67)
Wave 2
 Covid-related worry3 2.89 (.92)
 Perceived stress2 2.88 (1.33)
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Note. N=2,147.

1

Reported on a scale from 1 (less than high school) to 7 (PhD or equivalent).

2

Rated on a scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree).

3

Rated on a scale from 1 (not at all concerned) to 5 (extremely concerned).

Figure 1.

Figure 1

Open in a new tab

Mediation model testing stress mindset in the pathway between purpose in life and perceived stress, controlling for sociodemographic factors. Wave 1 was collected January 31-February 10. Wave 2 was collected March 18–29, 2020.

Discussion

Consistent with expectations, purpose in life and a mindset that stress is beneficial were prospectively associated with feeling less stress during the acute phase of the pandemic. In contrast to expectations, however, purpose was unrelated to construing stress as enhancing (or debilitating) and thus this mindset did not explain why purpose was associated prospectively with less stress. In contrast, less Covid-related worry was a significant mediator between purpose and perceived stress but not between stress mindset and perceived stress.

Purpose in life is associated with less stress in general (Sutin et al., 2023), which may be due, in part, to the better regulation of stressors in daily life (Hill et al., 2018; Li et al., 2016; Schaefer et al., 2013). The present research tested a novel mechanism – stress mindset – and found that it was not a mechanism between purpose and perceived stress. The way in which individuals interpret stressful experiences can shape outcomes associated with stress (Crum et al., 2013; Zahrt & Crum, 2017). Stress and perception of stress, for example, are associated with poor health and risk of premature mortality (Keller et al., 2012). Given that individuals higher in purpose tend to be more optimistic in general (Kim et al., 2022), it was possible that such individuals would also take an optimistic approach and interpret stress to be enhancing rather than debilitating. There was, however, no association between purpose and stress mindset. Consistent with the separate literatures on purpose and stress and stress mindset and stress during the pandemic, both factors were independently associated with feeling less stressed. This mindset was just not one mechanism of the association between purpose and stress.

Other mechanisms may explain the associations between purpose and less stress. The present research, for example, identified feeling less worried about the effects of the pandemic as a mechanism between purpose and less stress: Participants higher in purpose tended to have fewer worries about the negative effects of Covid, which accounted for some of the association with less perceived stress. There are likely to be other behavioral and social mechanisms in this pathway. Individuals higher in purpose, for example, tend to engage in more health-promoting behavior, such as physical activity and eating a healthy diet (Hill et al., 2019). Such behaviors may help regulate stress and maintain well-being and offset stressors during the pandemic. Purpose is also associated with greater social integration (Sutin et al., 2022), which was critical especially in the first few months of the pandemic to stay emotionally connected with others when physical connection was not possible (Lee et al., 2022). Further, the healthier emotion regulation strategies associated with purpose (Balzarotti et al., 2016) may also have helped manage feelings of stress.

Although unrelated to purpose, stress mindset had an independent association with stress. Specifically, the general perception that stress is enhancing prior to the pandemic was associated with feeling less stress in the early phase of the pandemic. Mindsets about the pandemic have been associated with better adjustment to stressors during the pandemic. Perceiving that the pandemic is an opportunity, or at least manageable, is associated with better mental and physical health and better quality of life six months into the pandemic (Zion et al., 2022). Experimental manipulations of stress mindset further suggest that perceiving stress as enhancing leads to more adaptive emotional, physiological, and cognitive responses to stressors (Crum et al., 2017). Such mechanisms may lower general perceived stress because stressors are regulated effectively in the moment.

The present study had several strengths, including the prospective design and assessment just prior and during the pandemic. There were also some limitations, including that stress was not measured at Wave 1 so it was not possible to examine change across the start of the pandemic. Future research would benefit from more longitudinal assessments with all variables measured at each time point. With such data it would be possible to use cross-lagged models to evaluate potential bi-directional associations between purpose and stress. It should be noted, though, that bi-directional associations between purpose and stress mindset are unlikely given the null association between the two in the current study. Additional limitations were the lack of other possible mindsets that could mediate the association between purpose and stress and no information on domain-specific stress. Still, the present study indicated that purpose in life and stress mindset had independent prospective associations with stress and that factors other than stress mindset, such as less worry, are likely to be in the pathway between purpose and stress.

Supplementary Material

1

Highlights.

  • Purpose in life and a stress is enhancing mindset are both associated with less stress

  • We tested stress mindset as a mechanism between purpose and perceived stress

  • Purpose and stress mindset prospectively predicted less stress early in the pandemic

  • Purpose and stress mindset were unrelated to each other

  • Stress mindset is not a mechanism in the pathway between purpose and stress

Acknowledgements

Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R01AG074573. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

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CRediT roles

Sutin: Conceptualization; Data curation; Formal analysis; Funding acquisition; Writing - original draft. Luchetti: Conceptualization; Writing - review & editing. Stephan: Conceptualization; Writing - review & editing. Sesker: Conceptualization; Writing - review & editing. Terracciano: Conceptualization; Writing - review & editing.

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Supplementary Materials

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NIHMS1898626-supplement-1.docx (27.5KB, docx)

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