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 (N = 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, p < 0.001) and prospectively (Median β=-0.24, p < 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, p < 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.