Action versus reflection
RESEARCH BRIEF
One of my strengths is my tilt towards self-reflection and using those reflections to guide my life choices - and I have the journals to prove it! However, given that our greatest strengths can also be our greatest weaknesses, I often run the risk of over-thinking things. (People who know me well are now rolling their eyes a wee bit.) It strikes me that living with purpose is about knowing where we want to go and who we want to be and then intentionally taking steps towards that goal – that is, both reflecting and acting. If this enterprise is all about the doing, we risk scrambling up a ladder that is leaning against the wrong wall. But if it’s only about reflecting, we risk never moving at all.
Research question: Do we experience our lives as purposeful by taking action towards valued goals or by carefully evaluating what goals to pursue?
How researchers studied this question: Researchers conducted three studies where they administered questionnaires regarding the extent to which participants focused on reflection and action (the Regulatory Mode Questionnaire) and purpose in life (Meaning in Life Questionnaire or Life Engagement Test); one study added the Satisfaction with Life Scale. A total of 744 adults filled out study questionnaires across the three studies – recruited from online communities and a university. Investigators examined the relationship between reflection-action orientation and self-reported purpose in life.
Answer: In all three studies, taking action towards goals was associated with feeling that life has purpose whereas focusing on reflection (critically evaluating one’s goals) was associated with lower levels of purpose in life. Researchers found no evidence that having high levels of both action and reflection contributed to purpose in life; it’s taking steps forward that seem to matter. That said, the authors suggested that these findings might be explained, in part, by the use of the Regulatory Mode Questionnaire, which also taps into rumination and self-criticality.
Authors don’t know if meeting goals is critical to purpose in life or if just progress towards goals is the most essential dimension. Either way, this research underscores the importance of doing something in alignment with our goals.
So What? My takeaway is that it’s well and good to be thoughtful about framing our goals and aspirations related to purpose but important that I avoid over-thinking and stalling there. What will buoy my sense of purpose is taking actions aligned with my sense of purpose, even if they are small steps. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. put it: “You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”
How about you? What are a few small steps that you might take to live in alignment with your sense of purpose? Which one might you do today?
Source:
Vazeou-Nieuwenhuis A, Oreheck E, Scheier MF (2017). The meaning of action: Do self-regulatory processes contribute to a purposeful life? Personality and Individual Differences, 116, 115-122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2017.04.040
Find the abstract here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0191886917302908?via%3Dihub