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 Associate

University 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

PopulationSurveys

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 Orientations

Using the 17-20 life goals on HERI surveys, we identified, via factor analyses, four purpose orientations:

Financial

Creative

Prosocial

Personal Recognition

Some 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 factors

Strong 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 Analyses

College volunteering and service learning participation were significant predictors of adult volunteering and adult well-being

Participation 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 Brandenberger

Center for Social Concerns

University of Notre Dame

jbranden@nd.edu