<p>Purpose in life is positively associated with several markers of subjective well-being, but potential mechanisms of this effect are not well understood. We examined how the use of different coping strategies was associated with the relationship between purpose in life and overall life satisfaction. We examined associations between purpose in life, life satisfaction, and coping strategies in Waves 2 and 3 of the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study, encompassing 3,754 adults assessed over a nine-year period. Results indicated that greater endorsement of purpose in life prospectively predicted significantly more problem-focused coping and less emotion-focused coping. In turn, this pattern of coping strategy use predicted greater life satisfaction. These findings indicate that coping strategies may be a pathway for purpose in life to influence life satisfaction, such that individuals who endorse higher purpose in life are more likely than individuals lower in purpose to employ adaptive strategies in response to stress.</p>