Beyond-the-Self Purpose in Early Adolescence: The Role of Emotions

• In Event: Poster Session 11
  In Poster Session: PS 11 Topic - Moral Development

Abstract

A beyond-the-self purpose, defined as "a stable and generalized intention to accomplish something that is at once meaningful to the self and of consequence to the world beyond the self" (Damon, Menon, & Bronk, 2003, p. 121) is associated with a variety of positive health and academic outcomes (Hill, Burrow, & Sumner, 2013). There is currently a fledgling literature on the environmental and psychological factors that contribute to a beyond-the-self purpose in youth, and less is known on this topic for low socioeconomic status and ethnically diverse youth (Sumner, Burrow, & Hill, 2018). Theoretical and empirical research suggest that positively valenced emotions, such as gratitude, can serve to broaden attention and build personal resources for long-term survival and flourishing, whereas negatively valenced emotions, such as anxiety, narrow attention (Fredrickson, 2001). Taken together, it is reasonable to imagine that a beyond-the-self purpose, which is other-oriented and broad in perspective, would be predicted by a combination of high doses of positively valenced emotions and low doses of negatively valenced emotions. This study sample (N = 209) was nearly evenly divided between males (50.2%) and females (49.8%). A majority of students received free lunch (70.3%). Additionally, a majority of students were Latinx (56.0%), with African American (17.7%), Asian (13.9%), and Caucasian (12.4%) students representing the remainder of the sample. All students were assigned to complete self-report measures of anxiety and gratitude in the fall of the 2015-2016 school year. In the spring of that same school year, students were assigned to complete self-report measures of purpose as well as to write essays about their purpose in life. Hierarchical linear and logistic regressions were performed to determine if students' anxiety and gratitude scores predicted purpose and if there was an interaction between the emotion variables. Results indicated that gratitude was statistically significantly associated with the self-report measure of purpose and accounted for 15% of the variance, whereas anxiety did not provide additional predictive value. Although this study is correlational in nature, it supports the prediction that higher doses of positively valenced emotions in the form of gratitude are associated with a beyond-the-self purpose. Given current experimental research demonstrating the efficacy of gratitude-enhancing interventions (Wood, Froh, & Geraghty, 2010), future experimental studies can help reveal the direction of the gratitude and purpose relationship (i.e., does gratitude lead to purpose, does purpose lead to gratitude, or is there a third variable that contributes to both gratitude and purpose?) by manipulating the gratitude variable. If gratitude does in fact help build purpose, schools would be wise to adopt such interventions.

Author

• Samuel Nayman, Rutgers University - New Brunswick
  Presenting Author