How Shared Reality with Romantic Partners Enhances Meaning in Life by Reducing Uncertainty

What is it about?

What is it about our close relationships that helps us experience a deeper sense of meaning in life and work? In this paper, we find that shared reality—feeling that you and your partner are “on the same wavelength”— fosters greater meaning by reducing uncertainty. We found this pattern across five studies, including longitudinal and experimental designs, and across diverse contexts. During the BLM movement, Black Americans who experienced greater shared reality with their romantic partner felt less uncertain about socio-political stressors and in turn experienced greater meaning in life. During the first pandemic waves, frontline healthcare workers who experienced greater shared reality with their romantic partners felt less uncertain about their work environment and in turn found their work more meaningful. Couples who displayed more shared reality behaviors in a laboratory interaction reported greater meaning in life. Finally, experimentally increasing shared reality reduced uncertainty and in turn increased meaning in life.

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Photo by Timo Stern on Unsplash

Photo by Timo Stern on Unsplash

Why is it important?

These findings highlight the power of shared reality in helping individuals make sense of a complex world and in turn find meaning in their personal and professional life. This paper has implications for how couples can navigate uncertainty together and how organizations might leverage relational dynamics to enhance work meaningfulness.