While finding meaning in life is often linked to positive experiences and feelings like valuable social connections, raising a child or appreciation of nature, new research shows that also more negative feelings can contribute to this. Hatred towards collective entities can bolster meaning in life.
Hate is linked to the achievement of goals and to personal values. When an entity clashes with your own values, hate may be an inducer to fight those conflicting values. Hate provides a sense of purpose by presenting an enemy to be stopped.
A condition for this finding is that hate shouldn’t be pointed at an individual but towards a collective entity like institutions or groups. Personal hatred often elicits negative feelings like victimization, resentment, and the experience of threat. These feelings all work meaning-dampening.
The author of the study added that he is now interested in the comparison of hatred to other sources of meaning in life. Like love. Would love be more potent than hate at providing people with a sense of meaning? Let’s hope so. Because who would rather live a meaningful life full of hate instead of filled with love?
