Thursday, October 1, 2026 16:00 - 17:00

This event is both online and in person.

SAL 2.04, 2nd Floor Conference Room, Sir Arthur Lewis Building, LSE, 32 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2A 3PH

Online participants are welcome to join us via Zoom:
Please contact Lia Bergin (Communications and Events Assistant) l.bergin@lse.ac.uk to receive event updates and the Zoom link to the seminar.

About this event

It has been argued that the search for meaning is among the strongest drivers of human behavior. We ran a survey on a large representative sample to assess how important it is for people to lead a meaningful life, what makes life meaningful, what differentiates meaning from happiness, and whether people who find meaning important lead different lives than people who prioritize happiness. We collect three types of data: open questions, vignettes, and self-reported meaning and happiness. We show that people care strongly about both meaning and happiness and that the drivers of a meaningful and happy life differ in important ways. Moreover, we find interesting gender differences and a substantial underestimation by women of how much children contribute to men's meaning and happiness.

Participants are expected to adhere to the CEP Events Code of Conduct.

Directions

This event will take place in SAL 2.04, 2nd Floor Conference Room, Sir Arthur Lewis Building, LSE, 32 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2A 3PH.

Online participants are welcome to join us via Zoom:
Please contact Lia Bergin (Communications and Events Assistant) l.bergin@lse.ac.uk to receive event updates and the Zoom link to the seminar.

The building is labelled SAL on the LSE campus map. You can also find us on Google Maps. For further information, go to contact us.

This series is part of the CEP's Community Wellbeing programme.