While the importance of having self-esteem is widely recognized, until recently, another key element of the self has been neglected—a sense of mattering to other people. It is argued in the current address that mattering is a unique and powerful psychological construct with great potential to improve the lives of people of various ages. The need to matter is a universal need and the feeling of being important and significant to others is central to subjective well-being. Mattering is discussed as double-edged in that mattering is highly protective as a source of growth and healing but the feeling of not mattering (i.e., anti-mattering) and the fear of not mattering are deleterious, especially among people who have been marginalized and mistreated. Evidence is summarized indicating that deficits in mattering are linked with key consequential outcomes at the individual level (i.e., depression, loneliness, social media addiction), relationship level, and societal level (i.e., delinquency, violence). The discussion concludes by considering mattering as a core source of strength or vulnerability in the lives of individuals and a vital component of the client-therapist relationship.
TBA
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