View in EDS HTML Full Text PDF Full Text

Why Youth Are More Purposeful than We Think

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Title: Why Youth Are More Purposeful than We Think
Language: English
Authors: Hill, Patrick L. (ORCID 0000-0001-5902-6051), Burrow, Anthony L.
Source: Child Development Perspectives. Dec 2021 15(4):281-286.
Availability: Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 6
Publication Date: 2021
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Descriptive
Descriptors: Youth, Intention, Quality of Life, Self Concept, Goal Orientation, World Views, Adolescent Development
DOI: 10.1111/cdep.12432
ISSN: 1750-8592
1750-8606
Abstract: A core attribute of the positive youth development movement has been to nullify negative perceptions of youth's capacities. Toward this end, measurement and classification systems benefit from efforts to view youth's capacities as assets contextualized by developmental potentials and opportunities. In this article, we consider this point with respect to whether youth are purposeful. The prevailing sentiment of some researchers holds that few adolescents have a purpose in life, perhaps reifying negative beliefs about their capacity. We assert an alternative view that focuses on "sense of purpose," which relies on abundant evidence that adolescents generally perceive themselves to be purposeful, thus offering a more inclusive and positive portrayal of young people. This different perspective also opens the door to new opportunities for studying the development of purpose among marginalized adolescents, as well as how interventions may motivate a sense of purpose among youth.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2022
Accession Number: EJ1344447
Database: ERIC
Full text is not displayed to guests.
FullText Links:
  – Type: pdflink
    Url: https://content.ebscohost.com/cds/retrieve?content=AQICAHj0k_4E0hTGH8RJwT4gCJyBsGNe_WN95AvKlDbXJGqwxwHG3g0bbpf2R0aPjjAnRXhJAAAA4zCB4AYJKoZIhvcNAQcGoIHSMIHPAgEAMIHJBgkqhkiG9w0BBwEwHgYJYIZIAWUDBAEuMBEEDGp7fCWKeoPJOHw3PQIBEICBm4_ErvIp5roUcreb_0C69jH3f-k5IWaf4OGe8T2Ah6P6HQaPvCwZMyNaGh24eaFo4JX6ZZz4FQYJYTPTCHDnLSgvaCxBpGoQ8hURi8jgJFR8u83L5hIIS20QCQva5zEa0cvMt8Vg4iSip70hrUVJXo18b1DGkmDnveTt5X2Jli2HJ85Aww6edqJngKWsmHRhAgGhYftMJoDgux7w
Text:
  Availability: 1
  Value: <anid>AN0153493155;[30rc]01dec.21;2021Nov12.02:25;v2.2.500</anid> <title id="AN0153493155-1">Why youth are more purposeful than we think </title> <p>A core attribute of the positive youth development movement has been to nullify negative perceptions of youth's capacities. Toward this end, measurement and classification systems benefit from efforts to view youth's capacities as assets contextualized by developmental potentials and opportunities. In this article, we consider this point with respect to whether youth are purposeful. The prevailing sentiment of some researchers holds that few adolescents have a purpose in life, perhaps reifying negative beliefs about their capacity. We assert an alternative view that focuses on sense of purpose, which relies on abundant evidence that adolescents generally perceive themselves to be purposeful, thus offering a more inclusive and positive portrayal of young people. This different perspective also opens the door to new opportunities for studying the development of purpose among marginalized adolescents, as well as how interventions may motivate a sense of purpose among youth.</p> <p>Keywords: marginalization; positive youth development; purpose in life</p> <p>Consider for a moment the extent to which you feel that your life has a purpose, and that your daily activities are valuable and worthwhile. Alternatively, consider having to describe what your purpose actually is, what you have done to make progress toward that purpose, and what difference it has made to the world. While both considerations invite reflection on purpose in life, the former captures <emph>sense of purpose</emph>—the perceptible feeling that one's life is directed and significant. The latter ascertains both <emph>purpose content</emph>—the aspirational substance of one's life aims—and <emph>purpose articulation</emph>—the ability to name and explain one's aims in life. For most people, sense of purpose is likely easier to report than either content or articulation, and this ease of assessment has made it the predominant focus in the literature on purpose over several decades. Yet despite its challenges, researchers who work with youth often have asked participants to articulate their purpose and describe its content.</p> <p>The decision to focus on either sense of purpose or its content and articulation has resulted in significant divergence in research on the prevalence of purpose. Adults typically report moderate to high levels of sense of purpose (e.g., Heintzelman & King, 2014; Ryff, 1989; Scheier et al., 2006). In contrast, studies of adolescents suggest that only about one‐fifth of youth have a purpose (Bronk, 2013; Damon, 2008). As such, we are left with a conundrum regarding the appropriate inference to be drawn. One possibility is that the data present a developmental story of purpose, characterized by low prevalence before adulthood followed by a striking upward trajectory that peaks in young to middle adulthood (see e.g., Ryff, 1989; Ryff & Keyes, 1995). The other possibility is that the data yield an apples‐to‐oranges comparison, wherein studies of adults' sense of purpose focus on the degree to which they sense purpose in their lives, while studies of youth's sense of purpose focus on <emph>what</emph> respondents' purpose is or whether they can <emph>articulate</emph> it. In this article, we present the case for the second option, which raises the possibility that youth are more purposeful than research suggests.</p> <p>Greater consideration of how we think about and measure adolescents' sense of purpose is important for three reasons. First, sense of purpose, not whether one can articulate it, is the demonstrative factor when predicting lifespan outcomes: A greater sense of purpose has been linked consistently to happier, healthier, wealthier, and longer lives with greater cognitive capacities (see Pfund & Lewis, 2020; Ryff & Kim, 2020). Second, by avoiding reductionistic classifications that designate adolescents as either having a purpose or not, we can delineate nuances in their sense of purpose across contexts and in more marginalized settings. Growing evidence shows that sense of purpose fluctuates dynamically in response to experience and life events (Kiang, 2012), suggesting the value of not relying on a single determination of its presence or absence. Third, a focus on sense of purpose provides new paths for interventions targeting youth development. Multiple pathways exist to feeling purposeful, which are embedded within individuals' contexts and identifications. This view cautions against one‐size‐fits‐all strategies to promote the development of purpose. In so doing, we seek to direct the field toward a more inclusive perspective on purpose that recognizes its availability and potential benefits to all adolescents.</p> <hd id="AN0153493155-2">DIFFERENT CONCEPTIONS OF PURPOSE</hd> <p>Building from what purpose does for individuals and how researchers have investigated the construct, one review suggests that purpose is "a central, self‐organizing life aim that organizes and stimulates goals, manages behaviors, and provides a sense of meaning" (McKnight & Kashdan, 2009, p. 242). Researchers' depictions of purpose usually fall within two general research camps—focusing on whether someone has a purpose or on whether one feels a sense of purpose—with the theoretical roots of both groups drawing on similar conceptualizations. The most striking distinction between camps tends to be in measurement: Researchers either assess who has or does not have a purpose (which allows them to capture purpose content and articulation) or they measure the extent to which people perceive themselves as purposeful by assessing respondents' felt sense of direction and engagement in life (see e.g., Ryff, 1989; Scheier et al., 2006).</p> <p>Given that adolescence is a period of profound cognitive development and exploration of personal identity, it is surprising that the research on purpose that has been carried out during this period more commonly attends to the <emph>having</emph> rather than the <emph>sensing</emph> of purpose, despite the fact that the former strategy requires more cognitively demanding and personally reflective responses. Moreover, several <emph>having</emph> strategies move beyond simply asking participants to describe the presence of a purpose in their lives and, instead, use methods that aid researchers' classification of whether individuals have purpose (versus instead being labeled dreamers or drifting through adolescence; see, e.g., Bronk et al., 2010). This strategy can be carried out qualitatively, with researchers coding for whether youth demonstrate dimensions of purpose like goal directedness (e.g., Bronk et al., 2020), or quantitatively, with youth nominating goals of personal importance and then providing ratings that reflect the extent to which those goals are being carried out or are personally meaningful (e.g., Bundick et al., 2021).</p> <p>Although <emph>having</emph> strategies provide insights into components of purpose that are not considered by <emph>sensing</emph> strategies, two general concerns should give pause when considering this route. First, the classification can yield problematic implications akin to any form of dichotomous (or multicategorical) thinking—namely, placing labels on whether youth do or do not have a purpose. Communicating a nonpurpose label explicitly or implicitly (through the interviewer's prompts or demeanor) can cause harm or psychological concerns among youth. In addition, devising prevalence estimates for <emph>purpose</emph> among youth can reaffirm negative stereotypes. Such prevalence rates often are produced to alert people to the importance of the cause (here, the need for purpose programs), but when reported by other researchers or worse yet, disseminated to the broader public, they can reify negative stereotypes of adolescents as adrift or without a focus on the future.</p> <p>Second, the potential for bias exists whenever researchers impose criteria for determining the <emph>having</emph> status. For example, beyond‐the‐self forms of purpose are recognized only among youth who have "the desire to make a difference in the world, to contribute to matters larger than the self" (Damon et al., 2003, p. 121), which again can be accomplished via qualitative coding (see Bronk et al., 2010, 2020) or in quantitative goal‐endorsement efforts (e.g., Bundick et al., 2021). Other classification schemes have sought to determine whether youth espouse more self‐oriented versus other‐focused drives (e.g., Malin et al., 2014; Moran, 2009; Tevington et al., 2020), with youth having to indicate the latter to demonstrate stronger development of purpose. In this way, researchers appropriate normative value judgments on what "matters" most in terms of having purpose and what does not.</p> <p>When imposing strict criteria, it is perhaps unsurprising that few youth meet thresholds for <emph>having</emph> purpose (e.g., 26% in Moran, 2009). In comparison, research asking people to rate their sense of purpose yields more inclusive rates, with most youth reporting moderate to high levels of sense of purpose (e.g., Burrow & Hill, 2011; Kiang, 2012). Even levels for beyond‐the‐self purpose are higher when adolescents are asked to indicate the degree to which they sense this aspect. For example, in one study, youth reported sensing high levels (averaging above 6 on a 7‐point scale) of beyond‐the‐self purpose (Bronk et al., 2020). Moreover, growing evidence for the value of purpose comes from this <emph>sensing</emph> strategy: High school students who feel more purposeful tend to report better well‐being (Burrow & Hill, 2011; Kiang, 2012), and emerging adults experience more adaptive or positive transitions to adulthood (Hill, Burrow, & Sumner, Hill Edmonds et al.2016, 2016).</p> <hd id="AN0153493155-3">WHAT DOES HAVING A PURPOSE LOOK LIKE ACROSS CONTEXTS?</hd> <p>The concerns inherent in <emph>having</emph> approaches involve issues far beyond low prevalence rates. When researchers impose criteria for what qualifies as purpose, youth are required to meet those criteria by articulating their aims in a manner that satisfies the researcher. As such, youth need to describe their aims fully and explain the rationale behind them. Again, these tasks may prove difficult for adolescents given their ongoing cognitive development and personal exploration, but <emph>having</emph> classifications can prove particularly problematic for marginalized youth. Marginalization can affect all aspects of purpose development, including where it comes from, which avenues are available for pursuing it, and how well youth can describe it (Sumner et al., 2018). Marginalized youth can confront unique difficulties when trying to demonstrate they have a purpose, including having to describe nonnormative pathways to their aims or explain how their purpose affects communities that may be less salient to the researchers leading the inquiry. In this respect, the purpose‐description process, and even the definition of purpose underlying it, may marginalize youth if they are labeled as not having purpose in part based on their (unshared) personal circumstances, identifications, and background.</p> <p>These points echo the idea that researchers may miss the actions and behaviors that youth see as valuable to others. Some youth may nominate actions as prosocial that are missing from researchers' inventories, such as providing humor (Bergin et al., 2003). Moreover, conceptions of prosociality often fail to consider the historical context in which marginalized youth mature; this in turn can produce initiatives or prescriptions for youth to demonstrate helpful or positive behaviors within a social context that may be hostile toward them or their aims (Ortega‐Williams & Harden, 2021). Helping others and supporting those in need take different forms and meanings for youth in privileged versus marginalized groups, leaving the potential for efforts to combat this status hierarchy to be labeled as antisocial. Indeed, researchers have recognized that the pathways to and forms of civic engagement taken by marginalized youth may differ dramatically from those of nonmarginalized peers (Wray‐Lake & Abram, 2020). This point requires researchers to reconsider efforts to capture prosocial purpose (Hill et al., 2010) or civic purpose (Malin et al., 2015), which can use similar items. More broadly, all youth are developing in a sociopolitical environment that differs from that of the researchers attempting to measure their purpose; as such, researchers need to recognize how their measurements may fail to capture some social causes, either through omission or mislabeling. A failure to do so may further exacerbate issues inherent with <emph>having</emph> strategies.</p> <p>However, it is important to point out that marginalized youth will not always fail to be designated as <emph>having</emph> a purpose based on prevailing strategies. Researchers who use <emph>having</emph> strategies will note that they have underscored social activists as exemplars of a noble purpose, one that matters beyond the individual (e.g., Bronk & Damon, 2021), and that low‐income (Bronk et al., 2020) or low‐ability (Bronk et al., 2010) youth are sometimes classified as having purpose. What it does suggest is that researchers must recognize that their own identities, backgrounds, values, and positionality can influence whether youth are identified as <emph>having</emph> purpose. As such, efforts to standardize what counts as purposeful aims must be acknowledged for their inherent limitations because they will inevitably omit some of the directions and intended contributions youth may pursue (Fuligni, 2019, 2020).</p> <p>Each individual and each individual's purpose develop within broader, interwoven sociohistorical systems (Burrow et al., 2021). The macro‐level structures in society may both actively hinder purpose development for marginalized youth and cause them to be less readily identified as purposeful. Taking an ecological perspective on purpose underscores that youth could have a purpose that may matter within an ecosystem with which the researcher is either unaware or fails to identify. Alternatively, designating youth as purposeful is further complicated when aims seem self‐focused at one level (e.g., making a lot of money) but matter for others at another level (e.g., supporting one's family or a social cause). Examples of this point come from reports of youth whose purposeful pursuits required them to break away from their marginalized communities to find direction in their lives (MacTavish, 2020); this decision may seem at best self‐focused and at worst antisocial without considering the fuller context of the youth's situation.</p> <p>The answer to these problems seems deceptively simple: Focus instead on youth's reported sense of purpose. Measures of sense of purpose present opportunities for greater inclusivity by detaching researchers' chosen thresholds from the measurement. In this respect, we also embrace a characteristic central to the transcendent and challenging nature of purpose as a construct—that it is intimately personal. For a construct that by definition provides self‐definition (McKnight & Kashdan, 2009), researchers need to recognize that observers cannot provide the full perspective on whether one has a purpose.</p> <hd id="AN0153493155-4">FINDING A PATH TO PURPOSE</hd> <p>Another component of an inclusive strategy is to better account for the many pathways youth take in developing purpose. Moving into application, a <emph>sensing</emph> measurement strategy also provides new opportunities for interventions to help youth find a sense of purpose and direction, programs that underscore that no one strategy can serve all youth. This focus is aligned more directly with the literature on promoting adolescents' "sparks" (Benson, 2008); that work points to how helping youth find a skill, activity, or interest "lights a fire in an adolescent's life, providing energy, joy, purpose, and direction" (Scales et al., 2011, p. 264).</p> <p>By acknowledging that different means can lead to the same purposeful end, the equifinality of purpose should lead researchers to recognize that engaging youth with a single activity, such as volunteering for a cause, likely will not yield a purpose for all (or even most) youth in the program. Research on extracurricular activities has consistently noted this heterogeneity challenge (Larson, 2000). Focusing instead on engaging youth with the goal of increasing sense of purpose rather than forging a specific kind of purpose yields new opportunities. This development can occur across different, intertwined <emph>pathways to purpose</emph> (Hill et al., 2014; Kashdan & McKnight, 2009). At least three forms of engagement may help individuals develop a sense of purpose. First, some people take a proactive approach, actively exploring and using a trial‐and‐error method to find what suits them. Second, others suggest their purpose came from reacting to a major life event or epiphany that required them to better understand or reflect on what gave them direction. Third, aligned with the literature on youth mentorship (see e.g., Larson, 2020), others have found their direction in life through social learning (e.g., mimicking others, practicing a craft) and by following in the footsteps of purposeful role models.</p> <p>Self‐reported engagement along any pathway seems to be associated with a greater sense of purpose (Hill et al., 2014), and these pathways are not mutually exclusive. Each of us can probably think of times when our pursuit of new activities, our reactions to major life events, and our mentors provided insight into what gave us a sense of purpose in life. The intuitive nature of these pathways also plays into their value for interventionists. Strategies rely not on getting all youth to engage with the same activity, but encouraging them to try new pursuits, take part in self‐reflection activities, and engage in mentor‐mentee relationships. Those who are engaged in intervention programs to provide youth with purpose do not have to reinvent the wheel to help youth because programs have been developed on all fronts; instead, they should incorporate sense of purpose into their assessments and better understand how they can motivate youth toward a consistent sense of purpose.</p> <hd id="AN0153493155-5">CONCLUSION AND LOOKING AHEAD</hd> <p>By focusing on whether youth <emph>have</emph> a purpose, researchers may exclude from consideration some youth who <emph>feel</emph> purposeful. Allowing youth to describe the extent to which they sense purpose in their lives yields more inclusive opportunities for intervention and spurs new discussions around how to adapt and couch measures in a way that recognizes the social, historical, and societal contexts in which these senses develop. Moreover, given the well‐substantiated developmental literature on the benefits associated with sense of purpose, why not center the discussion around developing that sense among youth? The consequences of doing so are clear: It makes purpose a more inclusive construct by allowing more youth to be purposeful and allowing more avenues to support youth's efforts to find and maintain a sense of purpose.</p> <p>The <emph>sensing</emph> strategy also connects more readily with the empirical literature on why purpose may matter. For example, in one study, adults and emerging adults with a greater sense of purpose tended to appraise obstacles differently in their daily lives (Burrow et al., 2016): Purposeful individuals' appraisals of obstacles were less tied to the amount of effort they perceived as required. For youth, this decoupling of appraisal from effort may be central to their motivation to continue striving ahead, rather than being overwhelmed by the unexperienced challenges inherent in the transition to adulthood. Sense of purpose also has been linked to orientation to the future in emerging adults (Hill et al., 2016), which may suggest that it encourages future‐focused thinking, not dwelling on current obstacles. As such, the <emph>sensing</emph> literature provides researchers with a foundation for understanding when and why purpose promotes positive youth development.</p> <p>That said, the <emph>sensing</emph> strategy is limited in its coverage of articulation and content. This omission can prove problematic when attempting to capture specific niches within the category of purpose, such as beyond‐the‐self purposes or prosocial purpose. Researchers interested in these components may want to combine <emph>sensing</emph> and <emph>having</emph> assessments to capture youth's purpose more fully. When doing so, researchers need to be cautious on at least three fronts. First, they need to pay close attention to when, where, and why they are providing prevalence estimates. Because such numbers can marginalize adolescents on the whole and reify negative public perceptions of youth, they should be used sparingly. Second, researchers focused on capturing the <emph>having</emph> side should avoid dichotomous thinking; they may be better served by trying to understand who shows more or less of a dimension than determining who has or does not have the dimension. Third, researchers should include team members who come from contexts or backgrounds similar to the youth being surveyed to help reduce biases in interpreting or coding responses. Any <emph>having</emph> strategy risks missing or misinterpreting reports of marginalized youth; including research team members (perhaps even youth in the community) can help reduce these omissions.</p> <p>Interest in the development of purpose across the lifespan is significant and growing (see Pfund & Lewis, 2020; Ryff & Kim, 2020). However, developmental psychology has long recognized the concerns inherent in classificatory, stage, or status models, which share commonalities with the <emph>having</emph> strategies in capturing purpose. Adolescence and emerging adulthood are periods ripe for developing purpose (e.g., Burrow et al., 2021; Damon et al., 2003), so some developmental increase in purpose likely occurs between this time and young adulthood. Longitudinal work is needed to capture trends in sense of purpose or <emph>sensing‐having</emph> hybrids during this developmental period. As such, adults are more likely to have a purpose than youth (see e.g., Bundick et al., 2021), but claims that youth are largely not purposeful may discredit their positive potential.</p> <hd id="AN0153493155-6">CONFLICTS OF INTEREST</hd> <p>The authors have no conflicts of interest to report for this document.</p> <ref id="AN0153493155-7"> <title> REFERENCES </title> <blist> <bibl id="bib1" type="bt">1</bibl> <bibtext> Benson, P. L. (2008). Sparks: How parents can ignite the hidden strengths of teenagers. John Wiley & Sons.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib2" type="bt">2</bibl> <bibtext> Bergin, C., Talley, S., & Hamer, L. (2003). Prosocial behaviours of young adolescents: A focus group study. Journal of Adolescence, 26 (1), 13 – 32. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140‐1971(02)00112‐4</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib3" type="bt">3</bibl> <bibtext> Bronk, K. C. (2013). Purpose in life: A critical component of positive youth development. Springer Science & Business Media.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib4" type="bt">4</bibl> <bibtext> Bronk, K. C., & Damon, W. (2021). What makes a purpose "worth having"? Human Development, 65 (2), 113 – 117. https://doi.org/10.1159/000515949</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib5" type="bt">5</bibl> <bibtext> Bronk, K. C., Holmes Finch, W., & Talib, T. L. (2010). Purpose in life among high ability adolescents. High Ability Studies, 21 (2), 133 – 145. https://doi.org/10.1080/13598139.2010.525339</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib6" type="bt">6</bibl> <bibtext> Bronk, K. C., Mitchell, C., Hite, B., Mehoke, S., & Cheung, R. (2020). Purpose among youth from low‐income backgrounds: A mixed methods investigation. Child Development, 91 (6), e1231 – e1248. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13434</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib7" type="bt">7</bibl> <bibtext> Bundick, M. J., Remington, K., Morton, E., & Colby, A. (2021). The contours of purpose beyond the self in midlife and later life. Applied Developmental Science, 25 (1), 62 – 82. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888691.2018.1531718</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib8" type="bt">8</bibl> <bibtext> Burrow, A. L., Agans, J. P., Jeon, H. J., & Creim, M. (2021). Are all purposes worth having? Integrating content and strength in purpose research. Human Development, 65 (2), 100 – 112. https://doi.org/10.1159/000515176</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib9" type="bt">9</bibl> <bibtext> Burrow, A. L., & Hill, P. L. (2011). Purpose as a form of identity capital for positive youth adjustment. Developmental Psychology, 47 (4), 1196 – 1206. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0023818</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Burrow, A. L., Hill, P. L., & Sumner, R. (2016). Leveling mountains: Purpose attenuates links between perceptions of effort and steepness. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 42 (1), 94 – 103. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167215615404</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Damon, W. (2008). The path to purpose: Helping our children find their calling in life. Free Press.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Damon, W., Menon, J., & Cotton Bronk, K. (2003). The development of purpose during adolescence. Applied Developmental Science, 7 (3), 119 – 128. https://doi.org/10.1207/S1532480XADS0703_2</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Fuligni, A. J. (2019). The need to contribute during adolescence. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 14 (3), 331 – 343. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691618805437</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Fuligni, A. J. (2020). Is there inequality in what adolescents can give as well as receive? Current Directions in Psychological Science, 29 (4), 405 – 411. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721420917738</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Heintzelman, S. J., & King, L. A. (2014). Life is pretty meaningful. American Psychologist, 69 (6), 561 – 574. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035049</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Hill, P. L., Burrow, A. L., Brandenberger, J. W., Lapsley, D. K., & Quaranto, J. C. (2010). Collegiate purpose orientations and well‐being in early and middle adulthood. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 31 (2), 173 – 179. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2009.12.001</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Hill, P. L., Burrow, A. L., & Sumner, R. (2016). Sense of purpose and parent–child relationships in emerging adulthood. Emerging Adulthood, 4 (6), 436 – 439. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696816640134</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Hill, P. L., Edmonds, G. W., Peterson, M., Luyckx, K., & Andrews, J. A. (2016). Purpose in life in emerging adulthood: Development and validation of a new brief measure. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 11 (3), 237 – 245. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2015.1048817</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Hill, P. L., Sumner, R., & Burrow, A. L. (2014). Understanding the pathways to purpose: Examining personality and well‐being correlates across adulthood. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 9 (3), 227 – 234. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2014.888584</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Kashdan, T. B., & McKnight, P. E. (2009). Origins of purpose in life: Refining our understanding of a life well lived. Psychological Topics, 18 (2), 303 – 316. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2010‐23922‐008</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Kiang, L. (2012). Deriving daily purpose through daily events and role fulfillment among Asian American youth. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 22 (1), 185 – 198. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532‐7795.2011.00767.x</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Larson, R. W. (2000). Toward a psychology of positive youth development. American Psychologist, 55 (1), 170 – 183. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003‐066X.55.1.170</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Larson, R. W. (2020). Discovering the possible: How youth programs provide apprenticeships in purpose. In A. L. Burrow, & P. L. Hill (Eds.), The ecology of purposeful living across the lifespan (pp. 73 – 92). Springer.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> MacTavish, K. A. (2020). Coming of age on the edge of town: Perspectives in growing up in a rural trailer park. In A. L. Burrow, & P. L. Hill (Eds.), The ecology of purposeful living across the lifespan (pp. 137 – 148). Springer.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Malin, H., Ballard, P. J., & Damon, W. (2015). Civic purpose: An integrated construct for understanding civic development in adolescence. Human Development, 58 (2), 103 – 130. https://doi.org/10.1159/000381655</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Malin, H., Reilly, T. S., Quinn, B., & Moran, S. (2014). Adolescent purpose development: Exploring empathy, discovering roles, shifting priorities, and creating pathways. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 24 (1), 186 – 199. https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.12051</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> McKnight, P. E., & Kashdan, T. B. (2009). Purpose in life as a system that creates and sustains health and well‐being: An integrative, testable theory. Review of General Psychology, 13 (3), 242 – 251. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0017152</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Moran, S. (2009). Purpose: Giftedness in intrapersonal intelligence. High Ability Studies, 20 (2), 143 – 159. https://doi.org/10.1080/13598130903358501</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Ortega‐Williams, A., & Harden, T. (2021). Anti‐Black racism and historical trauma: Pushing the positive youth development paradigm. Youth & Society. Advance Online Prepublication. https://doi.org/10.1177/0044118X211007883</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Pfund, G. N., & Lewis, N. A. (2020). Aging with purpose: Developmental changes and benefits of purpose in life throughout the lifespan. In A. L. Burrow, & P. L. Hill (Eds.), The ecology of purposeful living across the lifespan (pp. 27 – 42). Springer.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Ryff, C. D. (1989). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well‐being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57 (6), 1069 – 1081. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022‐3514.57.6.1069</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Ryff, C. D., & Keyes, C. L. M. (1995). The structure of psychological well‐being revisited. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69 (4), 719 – 727. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022‐3514.69.4.719</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Ryff, C. D., & Kim, E. S. (2020). Extending research linking purpose in life to health: The challenges of inequality, the potential of the arts, and the imperative of virtue. In A. L. Burrow, & P. L. Hill (Eds.), The ecology of purposeful living across the lifespan (pp. 29 – 58). Springer.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Scales, P. C., Benson, P. L., & Roehlkepartain, E. C. (2011). Adolescent thriving: The role of sparks, relationships, and empowerment. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 40 (3), 263 – 277. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964‐010‐9578‐6</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Scheier, M. F., Wrosch, C., Baum, A., Cohen, S., Martire, L. M., Matthews, K. A., Schulz, R., & Zdaniuk, B. (2006). The life engagement test: Assessing purpose in life. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 29 (3), 291 – 298. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865‐005‐9044‐1</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Sumner, R., Burrow, A. L., & Hill, P. L. (2018). The development of purpose in life among adolescents who experience marginalization: Potential opportunities and obstacles. American Psychologist, 73 (6), 740 – 752. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000249</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Tevington, P., Chauveron, L. M., Urban, J. B., Gama, L., Glina, M., Quinn, J., & Linver, M. R. (2021). Emerging evidence of positive youth constructs and purpose development: Results from a qualitative approach. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 41 (5), 778 – 802. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272431620961459</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Wray‐Lake, L., & Abrams, L. S. (2020). Pathways to civic engagement among urban youth of color. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 85 (2), 7 – 154. https://doi.org/10.1111/mono.12415</bibtext> </blist> </ref> <aug> <p>By Patrick L. Hill and Anthony L. Burrow</p> <p>Reported by Author; Author</p> </aug>
Header DbId: eric
DbLabel: ERIC
An: EJ1344447
AccessLevel: 3
PubType: Academic Journal
PubTypeId: academicJournal
PreciseRelevancyScore: 0
IllustrationInfo
Items – Name: Title
  Label: Title
  Group: Ti
  Data: Why Youth Are More Purposeful than We Think
– Name: Language
  Label: Language
  Group: Lang
  Data: English
– Name: Author
  Label: Authors
  Group: Au
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Hill%2C+Patrick+L%2E%22">Hill, Patrick L.</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5902-6051">0000-0001-5902-6051</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Burrow%2C+Anthony+L%2E%22">Burrow, Anthony L.</searchLink>
– Name: TitleSource
  Label: Source
  Group: Src
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22Child+Development+Perspectives%22"><i>Child Development Perspectives</i></searchLink>. Dec 2021 15(4):281-286.
– Name: Avail
  Label: Availability
  Group: Avail
  Data: Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us
– Name: PeerReviewed
  Label: Peer Reviewed
  Group: SrcInfo
  Data: Y
– Name: Pages
  Label: Page Count
  Group: Src
  Data: 6
– Name: DatePubCY
  Label: Publication Date
  Group: Date
  Data: 2021
– Name: TypeDocument
  Label: Document Type
  Group: TypDoc
  Data: Journal Articles<br />Reports - Descriptive
– Name: Subject
  Label: Descriptors
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Youth%22">Youth</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Intention%22">Intention</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Quality+of+Life%22">Quality of Life</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Self+Concept%22">Self Concept</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Goal+Orientation%22">Goal Orientation</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22World+Views%22">World Views</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Adolescent+Development%22">Adolescent Development</searchLink>
– Name: DOI
  Label: DOI
  Group: ID
  Data: 10.1111/cdep.12432
– Name: ISSN
  Label: ISSN
  Group: ISSN
  Data: 1750-8592<br />1750-8606
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: A core attribute of the positive youth development movement has been to nullify negative perceptions of youth's capacities. Toward this end, measurement and classification systems benefit from efforts to view youth's capacities as assets contextualized by developmental potentials and opportunities. In this article, we consider this point with respect to whether youth are purposeful. The prevailing sentiment of some researchers holds that few adolescents have a purpose in life, perhaps reifying negative beliefs about their capacity. We assert an alternative view that focuses on "sense of purpose," which relies on abundant evidence that adolescents generally perceive themselves to be purposeful, thus offering a more inclusive and positive portrayal of young people. This different perspective also opens the door to new opportunities for studying the development of purpose among marginalized adolescents, as well as how interventions may motivate a sense of purpose among youth.
– Name: AbstractInfo
  Label: Abstractor
  Group: Ab
  Data: As Provided
– Name: DateEntry
  Label: Entry Date
  Group: Date
  Data: 2022
– Name: AN
  Label: Accession Number
  Group: ID
  Data: EJ1344447
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=eric&AN=EJ1344447
RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Identifiers:
      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1111/cdep.12432
    Languages:
      – Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 6
        StartPage: 281
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Youth
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Intention
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Quality of Life
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Self Concept
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Goal Orientation
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: World Views
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Adolescent Development
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Why Youth Are More Purposeful than We Think
        Type: main
  BibRelationships:
    HasContributorRelationships:
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Hill, Patrick L.
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Burrow, Anthony L.
    IsPartOfRelationships:
      – BibEntity:
          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 12
              Type: published
              Y: 2021
          Identifiers:
            – Type: issn-print
              Value: 1750-8592
            – Type: issn-electronic
              Value: 1750-8606
          Numbering:
            – Type: volume
              Value: 15
            – Type: issue
              Value: 4
          Titles:
            – TitleFull: Child Development Perspectives
              Type: main
ResultId 1