The Role of Purposeful Work Goals in Promoting Meaning in Life and in Schoolwork During Adolescence

Abstract

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.

Values and Feelings in Young Brazilians’ Purposes

“…These findings are relevant because, although a large segment of the participants mobilized complexes of values and feelings, not all did so by establishing relationships resulting in consolidated purposes, which confirms the data collected by Damon (2009), Klein (2011), Pátaro (2011, and Yeager and Bundick (2009). One could observe that a significant segment of the participants could have attached more consistent meaning to values and feelings, thus making their purposes in life stronger.…”

“…Some values, i.e., "God", "interpersonal relationships" (besides family), "learning", and "desire to reach others" ("others") were also organized as central but not in the vast majority of the models. The results relative to the purposes in life lead to the perception that they are composed of values (Machado, 2010) within a field of possibilities (Velho, 1994) as a function of one's life history, engagement in present actions, and expectations for the future (Bundick, 2009;Damon, 2009;Yeager & Bundick, 2009). …”

“…Several studies have investigated youths' life purposes by seeking to establish how the engagement of young people in projects directs their actions and gives life meaning (Burrow, O'Dell, & Hill, 2010;Damon, 2009;Klein, 2011;Uller, 2012;Yeager & Bundick, 2009). Assuming the relevance of that concept but from the perspective of functional analysis, other studies have focused on the role of feelings in the youths' elaborations according to the Thought Organizing Models Theory (Pátaro, 2011;Pátaro & Arantes, 2014), opening a line of research that might allow for a deepening of the understanding of the influence of affectivity on the elaboration of purposes.…”

Classroom learning environment and gender : do they explain math self-efficacy, math outcome expectations, and math interest during early adolescence?

“…Of those students who took algebra after eighth grade, however, only 42% of those who subsequently took advanced high school math, 29% who took middle-level math, and 24% who took lower level math applied to college (Atanda, 1999) Emerging formal operational (abstract) thinking allows early adolescents to engage in analytical reasoning, to envision the future, and to reflect on other's points of view (Elkind, 1967;Erikson, 1968;Inhelder & Piag� 1958;Lehalle, 2006). Finally, through the psychosocial task of identity formation, early adolescents experiment with and begin to establish self in relation to others, school, and the world of work (Erikson, 1968;Schwartz, 2001Schwartz, , 2008Yeager & Bundick, 2009). Young people's negotiation of these developmental changes can have emotional, social, career, and academic implications.…”

“…This identity will serve as the foundation for making life decisions, for judging the value or morality of their actions across the lifespan (Erikson, 1968;Schwartz, 2001;Yeager & Bundick, 2009), and for developing a career identity (Blustein, Devenis, & Kidney, 1989;Blustein, 2006). Marcia (2002) further elaborated on Erikson's theory by presenting adolescent identity development along two dimensions (a) awareness of an identity crisis that needs to be explored or resolved and (b) making a commitment to the identity after a period of exploring choices (crisis and commitment).…”