Measuring the Development of Meaning-Making

• In Event: Purpose-Driven Assessment in Higher Education

Abstract

Robert Kegan’s constructive-developmental model (1982; 1994) suggests that age and life experiences typically support the development through multiple stages of more advanced ways of meaning-making, of understanding the world, in several stages. We describe the design and validation of a self-report instrument that captures changes in meaning-making capacity as conceptualized by Kegan. Employing Rasch/Guttman Scenario (RGS) scale procedures (Ludlow et al., 2020) and 10 sets of MTURK iterative pilot study administrations, we present three unique scales for measuring Kegan-like meaning-making in three different contexts experienced by emerging adults: family, school, and friends.

Authors

• Theresa A. O'Keefe, Boston College

• Larry Houston Ludlow, Boston College

• Christina Matz-Costa, Boston College

• Henry I. Braun, Boston College

• Ella Anghel, Boston College

• Olivia Szendey, Boston College