Quality over quantity?: Mentoring relationships and purpose development among college students

Abstract

A growing number of studies have demonstrated that purpose in life is associated with positive outcomes among adolescents and young adults. The college years represent an important period of both personal and professional growth, including purpose in life. Supportive relationships may play a critical role in the identification and pursuit of purpose. Relationships with mentors, for example, have been linked with purpose among adolescents. The present study examined whether mentoring relationships were linked with purpose among college students (N = 194) from three institutions across the United States. Both aspects of quality (relational health) and quantity (i.e., number of mentors) were examined as predictors of purpose. Students who had at least one mentor reported higher levels of purpose compared to students with no mentors. Among students with at least one mentor, quality of mentoring was significantly associated with a greater commitment to purpose, while the number of mentors was not associated with commitment to purpose. Results are discussed in the context of practical applications regarding student success and purpose formation in higher education settings.

Exploring the role of faculty and staff mentors in fostering ethical leadership among undergraduate students: “We have to narrow the distance”

“…Findings from this study revolving around relationships, both in terms of self-disclosure and engagement with prior relationships, are consistent with existing research showing that mentors must set boundaries in mentoring relationships both within the mentoring context and based on pre-established norms within the mentor-mentee relationship and the institutional culture (e.g. Barnett, 2008;Lund et al, 2019). However, our findings suggest that boundary setting around self-disclosure takes on a unique form and significance in the ethics context.…”

Purpose in Life among First-Generation College Students: Friends Make a Difference

“…The Four P's of Purpose model developed by Liang and colleagues [25] underscores the importance of people in forming a sense of purpose, as influential others provide affirmation, guidance, and nurturance during the purpose development process in adolescence. Less research has examined the college years [6,9], but it stands to reason that the latter would be an especially ripe developmental period for exploring and achieving a sense of purpose given that adolescents and emerging adults are exploring and solidifying their identity [26], and reflecting on their values, goals, and purpose in life [27]. Research suggests that self-reflection of this nature may foster beneficial outcomes such as increases in goal-directedness and, in turn, life satisfaction [27].…”

“…This developmental asset helps shape and organize behavior and, in turn, is linked with numerous beneficial outcomes among college students, such as greater degree commitment [7,8]. College also provides an ideal context to explore and pursue purpose through transformative experiences in and out of the classroom, such as experiential learning and meaningful relationships [9]. The present study builds on burgeoning research regarding purpose development among college students by examining the role of peer relationships [9].…”

“…College also provides an ideal context to explore and pursue purpose through transformative experiences in and out of the classroom, such as experiential learning and meaningful relationships [9]. The present study builds on burgeoning research regarding purpose development among college students by examining the role of peer relationships [9]. Specifically, we examine associations between high-quality peer relationships and purpose among college students and the moderating effect of FGC student status using quantitative data collected from three universities in the United States.…”

Measuring Purpose in Life in College Students: An Assessment of Invariance Properties by College Year and Undergraduate School

“…Emerging adults' purpose can stem from any number of sources, such as career calling (Praskova et al, 2015;Yuliawati & Ardyan, 2020), faith (Culver & Lundquist Denton, 2017;Liang & Ketcham, 2017), and relationships (Glanzer et al, 2015;Lund et al, 2019). Colleges can also be the source of purpose or the location where this self-search takes place (Glanzer et al, 2017).…”