Purpose in life in emerging adulthood: Development and validation of a new brief measure

Abstract

Accruing evidence points to the value of studying purpose in life across adolescence and emerging adulthood. Research though is needed to understand the unique role of purpose in life in predicting well-being and developmentally relevant outcomes during emerging adulthood. The current studies (total n = 669) found support for the development of a new brief measure of purpose in life using data from American and Canadian samples, while demonstrating evidence for two important findings. First, purpose in life predicted well-being during emerging adulthood, even when controlling for the Big Five personality traits. Second, purpose in life was positively associated with self-image and negatively associated with delinquency, again controlling for personality traits. Findings are discussed with respect to how studying purpose in life can help understand which individuals are more likely to experience positive transitions into adulthood.

Keywords:

• purpose in life
• personality traits
• Big Five
• emerging adulthood
• development

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada [grant number 30-2013-000029]; National Institute on Aging in the United States [grant number R01-AG020048]; and National Institute on Drug Abuse in the United States [grant number DA10767].