Why You Care If I Think You Matter

"In my first book, The Mind-Body Problem, a novel, I introduced the idea of the mattering map, its myriad regions each prioritizing a different answer to what makes for a life that matters. My editor for that book didn't entirely understand my main character. She's bright, good-looking, sexually desirable, and yet she's always on the cusp of despair. Why? I offered the mattering map as a way of explaining her."

"Much later, I saw the idea being adopted by behavioral economists, feminist theorists, and cultural critics. That led me to think out this 'mattering theory' more rigorously, explaining how we evolved it and the multitudinous ways in which it gets expressed, both healthy and not."

"Psychologist Martin Seligman recognized that something new was being proposed about human motivation. He organized a workshop of positive psychologists around the mattering theme. I promised to write the first draft of an article, but I soon saw that only a book would do."

Rebecca Newberger Goldstein's The Mattering Instinct explores how the human need to matter drives behavior and shapes society. Goldstein developed her mattering theory over four decades, beginning with her first novel The Mind-Body Problem, where she introduced the concept of a mattering map showing different ways people prioritize what makes life meaningful. The theory gained recognition when psychologist Martin Seligman identified it as a novel contribution to understanding human motivation, leading to a workshop among positive psychologists. Goldstein expanded her initial article concept into a comprehensive book examining how mattering manifests across multiple fields and contexts, both constructively and destructively.

Read at Psychology Today