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Age and Gender Differences in Eudaimonic, Hedonic, and Extrinsic Motivations Andrea LeFebvre1   · Veronika Huta1  Accepted: 28 September 2020 © Springer Nature B.V. 2020

Abstract This study assessed adults’ motivations in the pursuit of well-being at different ages across the adult lifespan, examining females and males separately. We studied four major wellbeing motivations: eudaimonic motivation (seeking meaning, authenticity, excellence, and growth), hedonic pleasure motivation (seeking pleasure, enjoyment, and fun), hedonic comfort motivation (seeking comfort, relaxation, ease, and painlessness) and extrinsic motivation (seeking money, power, status, popularity, and image). A sample of 1324 North American adults, aged 18–87, was stratified to ensure sufficient sample sizes at different age ranges and to ensure sufficient numbers of males and females within each age range. Participants completed the Hedonic, Eudaimonic, and Extrinsic Motives for Activities (HEEMA) scale, an updated version of the HEMA scale originally developed by Huta and Ryan (J Happiness Studi 11:735–762, 2010). For females, eudaimonic motivation increased until the 30s and did not change significantly thereafter; for males, eudaimonic motivation decreased from the 30s to the 40s, but then increased from the 40s to the 60s. For both genders, hedonic pleasure motivation decreased from the 30s onwards, though males scored significantly higher than females in the 20s. There was not much change in hedonic comfort motivation, except that it decreased from the 30s to the 50s in males. For both genders, extrinsic motivation decreased to the 60s, though males scored higher than females in the 20s and 30s. The results are interpreted in terms of gender roles, developmental theories, and biological changes. Keywords  Eudaimonia · Hedonia · Age differences · Values · Motivation · Gender

1 Introduction There are different ways in which people pursue a good life. Four major approaches to pursing well-being are eudaimonic motivation (seeking aims such as meaning, authenticity, excellence, and growth), hedonic pleasure motivation (seeking pleasure, enjoyment, and fun), hedonic comfort motivation (seeking comfort, relaxation, ease, and painlessness) and extrinsic motivation (seeking money, power, status, popularity, and image; Bujacz et  al. * Veronika Huta [email protected] 1



School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada

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A. LeFebvre, V. Huta

2014; Huta and Waterman 2014; Kasser and Ryan 1996; Ryan and Deci 2001). In the present paper, we examine age differences across the adult lifespan, in females and males separately, for these four well-being motivations. It is important to study well-being motivations across the lifespan for several reasons. Most studies to date have focused on the outcomes, predictors, and correlates of people’s well-being motivations, with little attention paid to how the motivations themselves change with time. Also, well-being motivations represent entire systems of values, priorities