Purpose in Life and Cognitive Function: Evidence for Momentary Associations in Daily Life.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Purpose in life is associated with healthier cognitive outcomes in older adulthood. This research examines within-person dynamics between momentary purpose and cognitive function to provide proof of concept that increases in purpose are associated with better cognitive performance.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Participants ( N  = 303; 54% female; M age  = 51.71, SD  = 7.32) completed smartphone-based momentary assessments of purpose and short cognitive tasks 3 times a day for 8 days.

RESULTS: In moments when participants felt more purpose driven than their average, they had faster processing speed ( b  = -1.240, SE  = 0.194; p  < .001), independent of person, temporal, and contextual factors and practice effects. Momentary purpose was unrelated to visual working memory performance ( b  = -0.001, SE  = 0.001; p  = .475). In contrast to purpose, momentary hedonic affect (e.g., happiness) was unrelated to momentary cognition.

DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: Feeling more momentary purpose may support faster processing speed in daily life. Such evidence provides stage 0 support for a purpose-based intervention for healthier cognition, which may be particularly useful in middle adulthood and the transition to older adulthood before the onset of cognitive impairment.