Verified by 
Personality
Having a Purpose in Life Increases Comfort with Diversity
White Americans with a sense of purpose are more comfortable with diversity
Posted December 16, 2014
One generation from now, White non-Hispanic individuals will no longer constitute the majority of the U.S. population. Although Whites will continue to comprise the single largest ethnic group, ethnic minorities (as an aggregate) are slated to collectively achieve majority status by 2042. As the composition of the United States’ population is poised for change, the identification of certain psychological factors capable of increasing comfort with diversity will likely prove valuable in helping Whites to acclimate to a more ethnically heterogeneous society.
The sense of purpose in life has been routinely associated with numerous benefits. Individuals with a sense of purpose are happier1, their immune systems are stronger2, they recover more quickly from surgery3, and they even live longer4. Now, a new study5 comprised of three different experiments, conducted by Anthony Burrow and Rachel Sumner of Cornell University, Patrick Hill of Carleton University, and myself has shown that purposeful people are also more comfortable with ethnic diversity.
In the first experiment, 205 White participants were asked to answer questions about their demographics, personality, current mood, and also a series of established scales designed to measure both their sense of purpose and their comfort with ethnic diversity. Results demonstrated that possessing greater levels of purpose in life was associated with feeling more comfortable with ethnic diversity, above and beyond the effect of any other variable.
In the second experiment, 184 White participants were all shown a pie chart labeled “2015,” which accurately depicted the current population of the United States to be 62% White and 38% minority. Next, half of the participants were shown an additional chart labeled “2050,” which depicted the population as 57% White and 43% ethnic minority (thus, reflecting a continued White majority). The other half of the participants viewed a different “2050” pie chart that depicted the population as 53% ethnic minority and 47% White (thus, reflecting a shift towards a majority ethnic population). As expected, those who viewed the ethnic majority population percentages reported greater feelings of threat than those who viewed charts depicting a continued White majority. However, among individuals who viewed the pie charts demonstrating an ethnic majority population, the sense of purpose was associated with significantly diminished perceptions of threat.
In the final experiment, 130 White participants were asked to complete either a short writing assignment about their sense of purpose or to write about a “typical day.” Participants were then shown color-coded maps of cities with two different levels of ethnic composition (see below).
Those who wrote about their sense of purpose were significantly more likely to be open to consider living in the more ethnically diverse city compared to those who had written about their typical day.
Overall, the results of our three experiments corroborate previous research into the effects of purpose in diverse contexts. For example, a study conducted in 20136 had participants ride a train through a diverse area of Chicago. Individuals who rode trains accompanied by higher proportions of individuals of different ethnicities reported higher levels of stress7. Yet, individuals who were instructed to write about their sense of purpose in life for just 10 minutes prior to boarding the train were significantly less affected by the ethnic stressors onboard the train.
Admittedly, researchers are largely uncertain of the precise mechanisms underlying the beneficial role of purpose in the context of ethnic diversity. One hypothesis points to the notion that purposeful individuals are oriented toward connecting with the broader world around them. Such global orientations might enable individuals to conceptualize what it takes to thrive in the context of a more inclusive and diverse future. Yet, further research is duly required in order to fully illuminate the beneficial role of purpose in the scope of ethnic diversity.
References:
1. Bronk, K. C., Hill, P. L., Lapsley, D. K., Talib, N., & Finch, H. (2009). Purpose, hope, and life satisfaction in three age groups. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 4, 500–510.
2. Fredrickson, B. L., Grewen, K. M., Coffey, K. A., Algoe, S. B., Firestine, A. M., Arevalo, J. M., ... & Cole, S. W. (2013). A functional genomic perspective on human well-being. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(33), 13684-13689.
3. Kim, E. S., Sun, J. K., Park, N., Kubzansky, L. D., & Peterson, C. (2013). Purpose in life and reduced risk of myocardial infarction among older US adults with coronary heart disease: a two-year follow-up. Journal of behavioral medicine, 36(2), 124-133.
4. Hill, P. L., Turiano, N.A. (2014). Purpose in life as a predictor of mortaliy across adulthood. Psychological Science, 25.
5. Burrow, A. L., Stanley, M., Sumner, R., & Hill, P. L. (2014). Purpose in Life as a Resource for Increasing Comfort With Ethnic Diversity. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 40(11), 1507-1516.
6. Burrow, A. L., & Hill, P. L. (2013). Derailed by diversity? Purpose buffers the relationship between ethnic composition on trains and passenger negative mood. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 39(12), 1610-1619.
7. For review of diversity stressors, see article by Robert Putnam titled “E Pluribus Unum: Diversity and Community in the Twenty-first Century The 2006 Johan Skytte Prize Lecture.”
