Having a sense that one’s life is meaningful is related to, but distinct from, happiness, satisfaction, or living a moral life. Scholars across disciplines have investigated the role of religion in providing meaning or questioned whether religious decline prompts a crisis of meaninglessness. We use national survey data (2019, N = 1,326) to identify the overall patterns in what people find meaningful in general and how they spend time in activities understood as meaningful. We find five bundles of meaningful commitments: three focused on relationships, including one focused on a variety of family and friend relationships, one anchored by a relationship with a partner, and one anchored by a relationship with a child; one focused on ideals and lifestyle; and one that is less specialized but more prone to focus on religious commitment. We find three bundles of meaningful practices, the things people do in their daily lives that they understand as meaningful: one focused on relationships, one focused on ideals and lifestyle, and one that is less specialized but more prone to focus on religious commitments. We analyze how each bundle is associated with happiness and well-being, and how religious and nonreligious identification shape who embraces which bundle. In the conclusion, we discuss the benefits of our approach and suggest directions for future research.

中文翻译：

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是什么让生活有意义？非宗教和宗教美国人有意义的承诺的组合

感觉到一个人的生活是有意义的，这与幸福、满足或过道德生活有关，但又不同。跨学科的学者研究了宗教在提供意义方面的作用，或质疑宗教衰落是否会引发无意义危机。我们使用全国调查数据（2019 年，N = 1,326）来确定人们总体上认为有意义的事情的总体模式，以及他们如何将时间花在被认为有意义的活动上。我们发现了五种有意义的承诺：三种专注于人际关系，其中一种专注于各种家庭和朋友关系，一种以与伴侣的关系为基础，一种以与孩子的关系为基础；一个专注于理想和生活方式；和一个不太专业但更倾向于专注于宗教承诺的人。我们发现了三种有意义的实践，即人们在日常生活中所做的他们理解为有意义的事情：一种关注人际关系，一种关注理想和生活方式，一种不太专业但更倾向于关注宗教信仰。我们分析了每个束如何与幸福和幸福相关联，以及宗教和非宗教认同如何塑造谁拥抱哪个束。在结论中，我们讨论了我们方法的好处，并为未来的研究提出了方向建议。我们分析了每个束如何与幸福和幸福相关联，以及宗教和非宗教认同如何塑造谁拥抱哪个束。在结论中，我们讨论了我们方法的好处，并为未来的研究提出了方向建议。我们分析了每个束如何与幸福和幸福相关联，以及宗教和非宗教认同如何塑造谁拥抱哪个束。在结论中，我们讨论了我们方法的好处，并为未来的研究提出了方向建议。