Feeling Important, Feeling Well. The Association Between Mattering and Well-being: A Meta-analysis Study

Perception of mattering, the feeling of being important to others (Rosenberg & McCullogh, 1981), is receiving increasing attention as a factor that promotes well-being. Individual well-being has been defined in different ways, such as hedonic, as in a deep satisfaction with life (Diener & Lucas, 1999), eudaimonic, as in the realization of the true self (Ryff, 1995), and holistic, which is satisfaction across all domains of life (Prilleltensky et al., 2015). The present study aims to systematize this body of literature on mattering and well-being to clarify whether the two constructs are linked independently from their conceptualization; to this end, a meta-analysis of 30 studies, following the PRISMA framework, was conducted. A significant medium effect size emerged between mattering and well-being (r = 0.41*** [95% CI 0.33, 0.49]), with eudaimonic well-being showing a higher effect size in association with mattering (r = 0.55*** [95% CI 0.46, 0.64]). The results indicate that mattering is a relevant construct when studying the positive functioning of individuals; in particular, mattering was found to be a key factor in the process of defining one’s sense of worth and purpose in life.