What type of work goals provide adolescents with the sense that schoolwork is important and that their lives are meaningful? This mixed-methods study of a diverse sample of 6th-, 9th-, and 12th-grade adolescents ( N = 148) investigated the relationship between work goals, purpose, and meaning using a semistructured interview and a survey. Interview analyses showed that multiple motives were normative (68%), and that 30% of adolescents aspired to an occupation that would allow them to contribute to the world beyond themselves. Regression analyses found that adolescents with purposeful work goals also reported more meaning in life and in schoolwork than those who did not.

Prior studies have found that youth reporting a general sense that “I have a purpose” also describe having social supports that enhance thriving. This study links specific social supports to specific purposes described by youth. We examined whether developmental level, social-structural supports of gender and ethnicity, and close relationship supports of family and friends explained (a) how likely youth were to describe three dimensions of a specific purpose content (intention, engagement, and beyond-the-self reasons), and (b) how youth with specified purposes used social supports to pursue those purposes. Youth in higher grade levels were more likely to describe their future plans, activities that pursued those plans, and reasons that considered consequences to others as well as themselves. Non-White ethnicity and higher friend support also increased the likelihood of youth expressing future plans. Youth with purposes sought or created—then integrated into a tailored support network—purpose-specific benefits from their families, opportunities to engage, and institutions.

In W. F. Overton (Ed.), Biology, cognition and methods across the life-span. Volume 1 of the Handbook of life-span development, Editor-in-chief: R. M. Lerner. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.(2010). Life Span Thriving 2 2Thriving Across the Life Span By common definition, the word "thrive" implies a desirable life condition. Virtually any rational person who is not bent on self-destruction wishes to thrive; and virtually anybody who cares about the well-being of others wants to see them thrive. Certainly the question is not whether it is a good thing to thrive throughout life, but rather what exactly it means for a person to thrive. This question is difficult enough when asked about a single individual at a single point in time. Adding greatly to the complexity of the question is that individuals and their needs change over time. Moreover, what it takes to thrive in one social, cultural, and historical setting may not work well at all in a different time and place. Because of these daunting complexities, along with a lack of conceptual consensus and limited empirical study of the construct, no one has yet fully reviewed and put forth a detailed set of criteria that could define "thriving" in a manner that could be studied across all of life's stages and contexts.As a developmental goal or telos, "thriving" retains considerable appeal to those who wish to explore optimal conditions of human development. Most parents, teachers, youth workers-indeed, anyone who has a stake in the positive development of young people-would likely agree to the benefits of promoting more than mere competence. Thus, a term is required that identifies a telos and draws attention to the more elevated aspects of human thought and behavior. The study of "thriving" is consistent with recent shifts in the psychological sciences towards interest in the positive dimensions of our life goals and experiences (see Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). Not surprisingly then, the term appears frequently in current writings about individual growth over the lifespan. But often the term is left undefined or ambiguous, and

The benefits of understanding and pursuing one's purposes in life are well documented. However, few studies have addressed potential interventions for enhancing purpose. This article presents the results of an empirical investigation testing whether reflecting on and discussing one's core values, life goals, and purposes in life has benefits for later purpose, as well as later life satisfaction. The study involved a pretest/posttest experimental design with 102 college students, with posttest measures administered nine months later. Results showed that those who engaged in the guided discussion of their values, life goals, and purpose (compared to those who did not) benefited in terms of their goal directedness and life satisfaction and that the benefits for life satisfaction were partially attributable to changes in goal directedness. The article concludes by highlighting implications for practitioners of all kinds, including parents, with recommendations for implementing the purpose discussion in a variety of youth settings.

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