A Better Tomorrow: Toward a Stronger Science of Youth Purpose

Abstract

Having a sense of purpose in life has been discussed as a psychological asset for promoting positive youth development. Yet confidence in the benefits of purpose has accumulated faster than rigorous confirmation of their existence among youth, using instruments and methods calibrated to the developmental stage of those under study. Here, the authors illuminate four problems this asymmetry creates for drawing inferences from extant research on youth purpose, namely its reliance on (1) unclear scientific criteria for distinguishing “youth” and measures that include developmentally presumptuous items, (2) single-informant and self-report methods, (3) misapplication of cross-sectional designs to test prospective or causal theories, and (4) analytic techniques insensitive to purpose content. In delineating these problems, the authors consider the extent to which the three empirical contributions included in this issue are responsive to each and may provide templates to guide future studies of youth purpose.

Notes

1. Initial advance search terms included purpose in life and adolescence/adolescents, with boolean/phrase, full-text search options selected, and limited to journal articles published between the years 2003 and 2017. Comparative search from 1903 to 2003 used identical terms.

2. We include in our review published papers that utilize the phrase youth purpose in either the title of their manuscript, in a substantial way in their Introduction/Background, or in their description of measures used.