Momentary purpose and cognitive function in everyday life: Evidence from the Purpose and Engagement in Everyday Life study

Objectives: Purpose in life is associated with better cognition in middle and older adulthood. Less is known about how purpose supports cognitive function in moments throughout the day in daily life.Methods: Participants in the Purpose and Engagement in Everyday Life (PEEL) study (N=2577; Meanage=63.51 [SD=11.24], 60% female, 27% Black) completed an ecological momentary assessment protocol in which they rated their momentary purpose, completed three cognitive tasks, and reported on three cognitive lapses three times a day for eight days. Participants also rated their momentary meaning in life, happiness, and sadness. Results: Multilevel modeling of nearly 48,000 assessments indicated that in moments participants felt more purposeful than their own average, they performed faster on momentary measures of attention (b=-.06, SE=.01, p<.001) and executive function (b=-.11, SE=.04, p=.011) but not visual memory. Momentary meaning was associated with attention (b=-.06, SE=.02, p<.001) but not executive function or visual memory. Momentary happiness and sadness were largely unrelated to momentary cognitive performance. Momentary purpose was associated with fewer lapses in concentration (OR=.94, 95% CI=.92, .96, p<.001) and unrelated to memory lapses; the same pattern emerged for meaning, happiness, and sadness (reverse direction). The associations between purpose and momentary cognition were generally similar across age, sex, race, ethnicity, and education.Discussion: Higher purpose relative to one’s average supports better cognitive performance in daily life. These cognitive benefits do not extend to hedonic well-being. If supported by experimental evidence, purpose in life may be a target of intervention to improve cognitive function in daily life.