Claremont Purpose Scale: A Measure that Assesses the Three Dimensions of Purpose among Adolescents

Abstract

The 12-item Claremont Purpose Scale (CPS) was designed for use with adolescents, and it gauges all three dimensions of the purpose construct, including goal-directedness, personal meaning, and a beyond-the-self orientation. Repeated administration reveals promising psychometric properties. For instance, the CPS demonstrates excellent internal consistency (α = .916‒.935) and convergent validity. In exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, items fell onto the three dimensions, and the measure accounted for variance on indicators of a beyond-the-self orientation above and beyond the PIL. In addition to discussing the measure’s creation and validation, suggested uses of the CPS are also addressed.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thank you Rachel Baumsteiger, Celina Benavides, Hunter Gehlbach, and Matt Bundick for sharing insight regarding the development of this survey measure.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by a generous grant from the John Templeton Foundation.