Via Wordle
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Brandenberger, Bowan, Lapsley, and Hill July 26, 2009
Moral Purpose, College and Beyond:A Longitudinal Study
Jay Brandenberger, Director of Research & AssessmentDaniel Lapsley, Chairperson, Department of PsychologyPatrick Hill, Postoctoral Research AssociateNick Bowman, Postdoctoral Research AssociateUniversity of Notre Dame
Presented at the Association for Moral Education Conference Utrecht, The Netherlands July 4, 2009
Center for Social Concerns
Celebrating 26 years at Notre Dame
Report to the Office of the Provost
Our staff 20 plus full-time faculty, administrative staff, and support personnelMission
The Center for Social Concerns of the University of Notre Dame facilitates community-based learning, research and service informed by Catholic Social Tradition. Through the Center, learning becomes service to justice.
Purpose“A stable and generalized intention to accomplish something that is at once meaningful to the self and is of consequence to the world beyond the self.”
— Damon, Menon & Bronk (2004)
There is an ethical dimension bound up with the desire to live a purposive life
Purpose may be the ground for living well the life that is good for one to live Purpose captures the classical notions of eudemonia and points to what it means to flourish
Purpose is an integrative, higher order construct
Developmental Model of Moral Functioning:
Moral Sensitivity Moral Reasoning/Judgment
Moral Motivation Moral Behavior
Purpose has the potential to animate each of the 4 components
Moral Purpose
The Notre Dame Study of Moral Purpose Builds on previous research Employs longitudinal designs
Research Questions (sample)• Can distinct purpose orientations be identified
empirically?• What is the role of higher education in fostering
purpose?• Are purpose orientations predictive of future
well-being, engagement, and the like?
Use of HERI/CIRP Freshman and Senior Surveys
Advantages Opportunity for large scale data collection on campus National comparisons Opportunity to add 20 additional questions
(institution specific) Opportunity to mark data (indicators of student
participation)
Following the class of 1994Time of Data Collection Population Surveys
CompletedApprox.
Age
Time 1Fall 1990
1900 entering 1st year students, approx
1850+ 18
Time 2Spring 1994
1850 graduating seniors 1748 22
Time 3Spring 2007
1100 matched 1stYear/Senior match, IDs
400+ 35
Purpose OrientationsUsing the 17-20 life goals on HERI surveys, we identified, via factor analyses, four purpose orientations:
Financial Creative Prosocial Personal RecognitionSome correlation, but distinct measures
Other measures during collegePersonal development during college relative to freshman year
Overall satisfaction with college experience
Participation in service-learning activities
Results: At Graduation
Prosocial orientation associated with college satisfaction(Other 3 purpose orientations were not)
Prosocial orientation associated with service-learning participation; the other three orientations were negatively associated with service learning
Time Three: Age 35 (approx)Used five additional measures at middle adulthood: Loyola Generativity Scale Integrity (measuring moral character and identity) Personal growth and well-being (Ryff) Purpose in Life (Ryff)Youth Purpose Scale (Stanford Univ)Sample: 416 agreed to participate (from approx 1100)
Results: Time 3
Purpose orientations from HERI items again derived from factor analyses, yielding the same four factorsStrong continuity of purpose orientations from senior year to age 35 (all correlations significant at p < .001)
Overall, prosocial orientation highly predictive of well-being at middle adulthood
Results: Time 3Purpose
Orientation @ Senior Year
Generativity Well-Being: Personal Growth
Well BeingPurpose in Life Integrity
Prosocial ★ ★ ns ★
Financial ns ns ns ns
Creative ? ns ns ns
Recognition ns ns ns ns
★ = p < .01
Further AnalysesCollege volunteering and service learning participation were significant predictors of adult volunteering and adult well-beingParticipation in diversity workshop during college predicted prosocial orientation at senior year, and well-being (personal growth) and volunteering in adulthood
Discussion Purpose orientations can be distinguished empirically Purpose orientations predict college outcomes Purpose orientations are stable overtime Prosocial orientation strong predictor of outcomes from senior year to middle adulthood: generativity, personal growth, and integrity Volunteering and SL during college predict prosocial orientation and adult outcomes
Next Steps Broaden scope and sample Enhanced measures of purpose, including qualitative Collaboration and comparison across varied colleges/universities Further support/funding
Thank YouContact Info:
Jay BrandenbergerCenter for Social
ConcernsUniversity of Notre