Purpose by design or disaster: Preserving a sense of purpose amid environmental uncertainty

Abstract

Psychological research suggests a sense of purpose in life is a coveted asset, with well-established linkages to well-being and healthy functioning. But how do individuals preserve this sense when previously reliable settings – and the opportunities they afford – are profoundly disrupted? The current moment provides a formidable test of this question, as widespread transmission of Covid-19 and intense efforts to slow it drastically transform our environment. Here, we consider how the experience of purpose may be impacted by disruptions in three key person-environment interactions: how we engage with work, how we engage in education, and how we manage physical proximity. We hope to motivate critical thinking about how this pandemic, and our collective responses to it, influence the experience of purpose and delineate a research agenda that may inform how individuals’ can preserve a sense of engagement and contribution.

Decades of research suggest purpose in life is a coveted resource. Purposeful individuals – those who possess a sense of direction and engage deeply in daily worthwhile activities – exhibit greater health and well-being (Kim, Sun, Park, & Peterson, 2013; Ryff, 1989), more generativity (Hill, Burrow, Brandenberger, Lapsley, & Quaranto, 2010), have stronger and more abundant social ties (Steptoe & Fancourt, 2019), and even greater resilience to stress (Burrow & Hill, 2013), relative to counterparts. While the importance of possessing a sense of purpose is unmistakable, whether individuals are able to maintain it amid extreme environmental uncertainty is woefully unclear. How do people preserve a sense of purpose when our ability to meaningfully engage with activities in previously reliable settings is profoundly disrupted? The current moment provides a formidable test of this question, as widespread transmission of Covid-19 is drastically transforming our environment, restricting access to familiar spaces, and prompting extreme physical distancing practices. This global pandemic requires thinking critically about how environmental changes influence the experience of purpose, so to ensure individuals remain engaged in daily life and feeling capable of contributing in valuable ways and are better able to endure current hardships and those on the horizon.

Though these are challenging times, the human potential for maintaining a sense of purpose during hardship has been described in compelling manner (Frankl, 1963). Indeed, numerous experiments lend persuasive evidence that people routinely find or impose meaning and a sense of coherence during times of uncertainty (Heine, Proulx, & Vohs, 2006; Sedikides & Wildschut, 2018). Yet, empirical studies on what happens to one's sense of purpose, in particular, in times of extreme and real adversity are scarce, and those that exist demand careful negotiation given that crises differ on several critical dimensions such as duration, number of people impacted, or regional specificity. Covid-19, and our collective responses to it, create a unique combination of threats that include potential infection and hospitalization, severe economic loss, widespread adverse impacts on mental health, and indeterminable timelines for the full restoration of conventional services – this is indeed a once-in-a-lifetime calamity.

Given this circumstance, we draw attention to three person-environment interactions that have been acutely disrupted by Covid-19 and consider their probable impact on the experience of purpose: how we engage with work, how we engage in education, and how we manage physical proximity. Notably, these domains of interaction have been central to environmental and ecological perspectives in psychology (e.g., Sundstrom, Bell, Busby, & Asmus, 1996; Winkel, Saegert, & Evans, 2009) as well as to the study of purpose in life (e.g., Ryff, 2014). As uncertainties surrounding this biological hazard continue to proliferate, we briefly underscore how Covid-19 might impact each person-environment interaction in ways that are detrimental to maintaining, developing, or enacting purpose. In doing so, we aim to motivate a broader research agenda for understanding the environment – purpose relationship both in the near term and foreseeable future.

1. How we engage with work

As public health guidelines prescribe physical distancing to slow the spread of Covid-19, many people are working remotely via virtual technologies. This requires establishing and navigating new physical spaces as work settings that are absent the tangible and intangible resources of typical workspaces. Of course, remote work is not possible in every industry, leading to employees having to manage their occupations in increasingly unpredictable and vulnerable settings, or many having to deal with losing their jobs altogether. Importantly, where, how, and what we decide to do for work are foundational for meaningful engagement; work environments are vital spaces for collaborative productivity and creative expression (McCoy, 2002) and crafting one's sense of contribution to the world (Wrzesniewski & Dutton, 2001). Studies suggest that work affords individuals the ability to perceive their daily tasks as personally meaningful, which promotes a broader sense of coherence and belief that they can make a positive impact (Steger, Dik, & Duffer, 2012). Parallel evidence exists in studies of retirement or work-preventing injuries, wherein discernible declines in sense of purpose have been found among those who no longer or are unable to work (Hill & Weston, 2019; Saunders & Nedelec, 2014).

The current widespread transition to remote work presents an opportunity to investigate individuals’ adaptation to new technologies, while maintaining purpose. To reconcile person-organization fit in these new environments, organizations may need to identify ways to remind employees of how their contributions align with an overarching mission, as more traditional signals of collective performance may be less evident. While virtual meetings and online workspaces are not novel, future research might identify a range of individual differences that may inform who is most likely to remain engaged with work activities when they are mandated to occur remotely (Kissmer, Knoll, Stieglitz, & Gross, 2018). Moreover, for those who lose jobs or live in regions with disproportionately high levels of unemployment, the challenge of preserving a formerly held sense of purpose may be even more formidable. Past research has suggested that individuals higher on conscientiousness – a disposition toward being hardworking, organized and achievement striving – is predictive of greater losses in well-being following job loss (Boyce, Wood, & Brown, 2010); given the conceptual connection to purposefulness, studies are needed to understand whether sense of purpose may itself be a risk factor for people dealing with job loss. Income loss, concerns over labor-market security, and limited opportunities to socialize about work experiences are likely to undermine well-being and sense of purpose (Clark, Knabe, & Rätzel, 2010; McKee-Ryan, Son, Wanberg, & Kinicki, 2005).

2. How we engage in education

Another person-environment interaction being drastically disrupted concerns education. Schools and universities are closing their physical campuses, forcing instruction online. As virtual teaching replaces face-to-face interaction, educators and students must navigate sustaining learning while safeguarding trusted and supportive relationships. When schools prioritize these relationships, they can be instrumental settings for purpose development (Bronk, 2013; Koshy & Mariano, 2011), especially when teachers, coaches, and mentors are responsive to student interests and scaffold opportunities for achievement. Remote learning environments pose obvious challenges to this type of responsiveness: without in-person contact, the sparks of early interest and curiosity that may otherwise proliferate to become purposes may be less visible (Kashdan & Yuen, 2007; Zhang & Bonk, 2006). Of course, virtual technologies can offer several benefits, including providing students with cost-efficient and time-saving access to materials and alternative ways to visualize content and engage with content (Henderson, Selwyn, & Aston, 2017). Yet, such benefits have largely emerged when instructors have deliberately chosen to implement online components to learning – not when they are mandated by external imposition. In adapting to virtual instruction, whether teachers are able to cultivate student purpose may depend on their ability to creatively foster connections to students at distance, and tailor them to the diverse ways students may be oriented to learning in virtual settings (Misra & Stokols, 2012).

Maintaining purpose is equally important for educators as it is for students. That teaching is perceived as a calling for many in the profession has been well-established (Day & Qing, 2009; Palmer, 1998), thus helping students achieve must be recognized for its potential to fulfill important life aims. Yet, as physical and social constraints obscure familiar practices and roles, the current pandemic stands to also alter how teachers feel, identify themselves, and pursue their aims. There is evidence to suggest that teachers tasked with transitioning to remote instruction undergo a transformative process ranging from initial resistance to embracing new pedagogical modifications to help students (Redmond, 2011). Yet, such transformation may be muddled for teachers abruptly forced to adopt remote instruction practices, without an opportunity chose how they can be meaningfully aligned with their unique style and educational aims. Thus, teachers' sense of role and contribution represent a critical target for inquiry in understanding how the landscape of education is currently being transformed. There are likely to be key individual differences in teachers’ abilities and willingness shift to remote instruction that are in need of discovery and assistance through helpful intervention.

3. How we manage physical proximity

Perhaps the most vital alteration to person-environment interactions at present concerns how people manage their physical proximity to one another. Keeping sufficient distance from others minimizes the likelihood of infection, but in doing so creates an iatrogenic impediment to social connection. Perceiving support from others correlates strongly with feeling purposeful (Weston, Lewis, & Hill, in press), and engaging with a purpose often necessitates making an impact beyond oneself (Damon, Menon, & Cotton Bronk, 2003). This can be challenging when interpersonal interaction is limited. Being unable to visit in close proximity with friends, family, or neighbors is a painful sacrifice in the context of Covid-19, and risks lowering individuals’ sense of purpose. Indeed, reliable social connections, evidence of belonging, and sense of familiar place have all been found to be robust predictors of purpose (Lambert, Stillman, Hicks, Kamble, Beumeister, & Fincham, 2013; Steptoe & Fancourt, 2020).

In this moment, the crucial need to feel connected to others compels serious effort and investment in establishing resources that help people maintain a sense of closeness, either by working on shared projects or simply expressing warm regards and assurance. In one sense, the issue of physical proximity pervades those previously discussed insofar that it questions how we can maintain sense of purpose, in the absence of our typically close associates who recognize and appreciate our efforts. However, the absence of physical proximity to others presents additional unique challenges, insofar that social isolation and ostracism prove problematic for a sense of purpose (Stillman et al., 2009), likely because we feel less engaged with life. Indeed, though the media has focused on the economic toll of the physical distancing guidelines, the limitations on in-person contact hold broader consequence for purposefulness in the pandemic, which may prove difficult to mitigate solely through virtual connections.

Among the compelling reasons to consider the impacts of Covid-19 on physical distance, its pernicious effects on youth socialization and community involvement may most important. Adolescents who are engaged in voluntary activities in their communities show the greatest level of engagement as young adults (Barber, Mueller, & Ogata, 2013). At a particularly formative developmental period for cultivating a purpose and identity (Burrow & Hill, 2011; Malin, Ballard, & Damon, 2015), restrictions on social gatherings could be deleterious for future participation in activities such as sports, volunteering, or political campaigns (Burrow, 2015; Sumner, Burrow, & Hill, 2018). Future research should also consider the impacts of Covid-19 on the developmental process and aspirational content of youth purpose. Moreover, it is important to avoid solely assuming a “deficit” perspective, insofar that the current context may actually inspire young people to influence social structures in a wide variety of constructive ways.

4. Conclusion

We are confronted with the formidable problem of retaining a sense of purpose in the midst of a pandemic of still unrealized magnitude and unknown duration. Such a task is central to longstanding investigations of environmental psychology (e.g., Brown & Westaway, 2011; Saegert & Winkel, 1990) – forecasting how people will interact within these new environmental challenges, and whether they design ways of pursuing those things that imbue their lives with purpose even in the midst of disaster. It is important to acknowledge that unlike other calamities, no damage to the built environment has been sustained. Indeed, the schools, neighborhoods, and workplaces in which individuals have cultivated their sense of purpose remain intact. Yet, certain aspects of these settings and the activities that take place within them are less accessible to people in ways that require sincere consideration. The challenge then is to meet this moment with a rigorous research agenda designed to inform how individuals can feel purposeful when opportunities to engage meaningfully in their daily activities have been so formidably altered.

To fortify this research agenda, we offer the following testable hypotheses to guide inquiry into how disruptions caused by Covid-19 should impact purpose immediately and in the future. First, as obstacles to engaging with work diminish our sense of contribution, those who are better able to leverage remote technologies to maintain engagement in daily tasks should feel more purposeful. Second, as virtual instruction challenges learning and limits educators' ability to recognize student interests, activities that allow students to personalize their learning and connect with teachers to share insights should afford richer prospects for cultivating purpose. Third, a sense of purpose should be greatest among those who exploit opportunities to engage collaboratively and in community with others within the confines of physical distancing policies. Those for whom physical proximity is less tethered to social proximity should be expected to retain a sense of belonging and that they can contribute to others. Finally, just as contending with this pandemic is likely to change societies in profound and permanent ways, we call for an openness to a change in the kinds of questions researchers ask about purpose – questions that will need to more fully incorporate features of the environments in which people's lives unfold. As a salubrious resource for life engagement, we look forward to sustained attention to these person-environment interactions and discovering enduring ways of helping people maintain a sense of purpose.

Handling Editor: Sander van der Linden