Understanding College Students' Life Purpose: A Mixed-Methods Analysis

• In Event: Spirituality and Education: Select Papers

Abstract

While recent research has focused upon students’ search for meaning and purpose (Astin, Astin, & Lindholm, 2011), the attention to the substantive purposes of college students has been limited. To better understand students’ life purposes, we used an exploratory mixed methods study employing both grounded theory and structural equation modeling (SEM). The qualitative study of 110 college students identified 11 purpose ingredients that fit in three conceptual categories. The SEM then tested the validity of the categorization and the factors closely associated with the three categories in a large sample of 2503 students. The results revealed that particular racial and political identities, religious identity and participation, and activities such as volunteering were associated with certain purpose clusters.

Authors

• Perry Glanzer, Baylor University

• Hongwei Yu, Baylor University