Purpose in life and boredom: concurrent and prospective associations and pathway to episodic memory.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the association between purpose in life and boredom and to test whether boredom mediates the prospective association between purpose in life and episodic memory over eight years.

METHODS: Three waves of the Health and Retirement Study were used to test concurrent, prospective, and mediational pathways. Participants ( = 14,454) reported on their purpose in life in 2012-2014, completed three measures of boredom in 2012-2014 and 2016-2018, and were administered an episodic memory task in 2012-2014 and 2020-2022.

RESULTS: Purpose in life was associated with less boredom measured concurrently (Median β=-0.31,  < 0.001) and prospectively (Median β=-0.24,  < 0.001), controlling for sociodemographic factors. The associations held after controlling for depressive symptoms. Boredom mediated the prospective association between purpose in life and better episodic memory measured 8 years later (Median indirect effect = 0.06,  < 0.001). This pathway held for two of the three boredom measures when baseline boredom, episodic memory, and depressive symptoms were included as additional covariates.

CONCLUSION: Purpose in life is associated with less boredom, and less boredom is one mechanism in the pathway between purpose and better episodic memory.