Purpose in life among high ability adolescents

Abstract

Leading high ability scholars have proposed theories that suggest a purpose in life may be particularly prevalent among high ability youth; however, the prevalence of purpose has not been empirically assessed among this population. Therefore using in‐depth interviews the present study established the prevalence of purpose among a sample of high ability adolescents and compared it to the prevalence of purpose among a sample of typical youth (N= 203). Results revealed that purpose was present among high ability early and late adolescents at roughly the same rate as among more typical youth. However, high ability youth reported embracing self‐oriented life goals earlier than more typical youth, and they identified different types of inspiring life purposes. Implications, including steps practitioners can take to foster purpose among high ability youth, are addressed.

Keywords:

• high ability
• adolescents
• gifted
• purpose in life
• meaning in life
• goals

Acknowledgements

This research used, with permission, the Revised Youth Purpose Interview instrument from the Stanford Center on Adolescence Youth Purpose Project, funded in part by the John Templeton Foundation and the Thrive Foundation for Youth. Portions of this study were also generously supported by an Aspire grant from Ball State University. Thank you to Kristie Speirs‐Neumeister who helped with the literature review, to the Stanford Center on Adolescence research team which shared their measures, data, and codebook, and to the youth who shared their time.