Purpose In Life

purpose is extremely important, and the question “why I am” is examined within the context of life purposes [7]. Adolescents having a purpose in life guide their lives in a positive way [4]. For some adolescents, purposes and identity development involves working on goals the reasons for which are well defined [7]. Gifted individuals generally base their life purposes on phenomena and opinions that most people deem impossible. They feel a need for a more challenging education, an introduction to different subjects, problem solving and creative thinking skills, and unique approaches to solutions for problems. Gifted students need to ruminate on their ideas, discuss them, think using possibilities, abstractions, and metaphorical strategies; to generalize and test them [8]. Gifted students who do not receive an education based around their characteristics and needs tend to achieve below their potentials, and once their sense of competence has weakened, which is to say when they are unable to realize their purpose in life, considering how a large portion of contribution to society comes from these people, it’s apparent that overlooking this group can lead to a negative outcome [9].

Bundick (2011) explored the benefits of purpose in life with respect to youth development reflecting on emerging adulthood. Richards' (1966) investigation found a common goal among individuals was to “find a real purpose in life.” An altruistic factor emerged when life goals were certain. The meaning in life typically involves having a goal or a sense of unified purpose (Baumeister 1991). Research evidence has been providedsuggesting that some degree of heritability as stable response patterns with altruism and aggression are inversely related to each other (Rushton, Fulker, Neale, Nias, & Eysenck 1986). In some research, purpose in life is used as a mediator between independent variables such as personality and locus of control.

Every person has the “will” to seek meaning in life or to achieve purpose in life (PIL) that is a concept drawn from exis- tentialism (Frankl, 1972; Ishida, 2008). Every person is moti- vated to win the approval of others (Ishida, 2008). Recently it was reported that variations in the stress response, including emotional and sympathetic nervous system activity depends on one’s view of life (Ishida, 2008). Crumbaugh and Maholick (Crumbaugh & Maholic, 1964) developed the PIL test to assess the intensity of response related to personal meaning in one’s life, and Sato and Tanaka modified the test for use with a Japa- nese population (Sato & Tanaka, 1974). Larsen and Martin developed Martin-Larsen Approval Motivation Scale (MLAM) to assess the intensity of approval motivation (AM) (Ueda & Yoshimori, 1991), and Ueda and Yoshimori adapted it (Ueda & Yoshimori, 1991). Motivation can be classified as intrinsic and extrinsic (Bundra, 1977). The former relates to PIL (Frankl, 1972; Crumbaugh & Maholic, 1964; Sato & Tanaka, 1974), and the latter relates to the desire to get praise or to avoid pun- ishment by others, such as parents or school teachers. Extrinsic motivation relates to AM (Ishida, 2008). Persons with a firm PIL exhibit lower anxiety, less tension, and less acute sympa- thetic nervous system response under stressful conditions such as meeting unfamiliar persons (Ishida, 2008), or watching a kalei- doscopic roller coaster video (Ishida & Okada, 2006). A strong sense of PIL is widely recognized as an asset for coping with stress, but the underlining mechanism needs further clarification.

Purpose: Patients with stroke suffer from physical disabilities, followed by mental instability. Their caregivers also suffer from mental instability. The present study attempted to address the degree and the change of the level of Purpose in Life (PIL) in patients with stroke and caregivers by applying art therapy using colors. Materials and Methods: Twenty-eight stroke patients with a good functional re- covery or a moderate disability and their 28 caregivers were selected and evaluat- ed. The period of the study between the stroke and color therapy was more than 6 months. Patients and caregivers were divided into the color therapy (28) and con- trol groups (28). A questionnaire, which measures the level of PIL was conducted separately for patients and caregivers prior to the first session of color therapy (2 hours per week, total 16 sessions). The final examination was performed 5 months after the last color therapy session. Results: There was significant difference be- tween before and after color therapy when the level of PIL was measured both in patients and caregivers (p<0.01). These were the same between the color therapy group, compared with the control group (p<0.01). As color therapy progressed to the late phase, patients and caregivers applied increasing number of colors and col- or intensity. Conclusion: These results prove that color therapy will improve PIL of the patients with post-stroke disability and caregivers. Furthermore, color thera- py would be a useful adjuvant for improving the quality of life of the patients with stroke and their caregivers.

anxiety and simultaneously activate the sympathetic ner- vous system [1,2]. A “will” to seek meaning in life or to achieve purpose in life (PIL) is significantly associated with intrinsic motivation to get satisfaction and/or plea- sure from an act [3,4]. Hence, persons with a firm PIL are less sensitive to physical and psychological stresses [5]. People exhibiting a Type A behavior pattern, char- acterized by traits such as impatience, aggressiveness, strong approval motivation, and a chronic struggle to achieve one’s goal, are much more sensitive to stressors [6,7]. It has been reported that type A behavior tended to increase sympathetic nervous activity, generate reactive oxygen species, and cause secretion of -endorphin [1, 6-8]. It is also known that type A behavior is associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) [7].

There are two clear limitations with the present study that could be addressed by future research. The first limitation concerns the reliance on a single-item measure of purpose in life. The 12-item Purpose in Life Scale proposed by Robbins and Francis (2000) has worked well among undergraduate students and with some minor modifications should prove appropriate for use among the age group who participated in the present study (13- to 15- year-old students). The second limitation concerns the reliance on assessing individual differences in prayer by means of a single item concerned with frequency. In two studies working among 11-year-old students and among 16-year-old students, Francis and Brown (1990, 1991) employed a seven-item attitudinal measure of prayer which should prove useful in future studies.

adults that included a large proportion of African Amer- icans (53.7%), greatly increasing the generalizability of our findings. Finally, these findings indicate that the construct of purpose in life may have utility in a clinical setting. When evaluating older adults for sleep issues, assessing for purpose in life could provide insights into sleep quality, the presence of sleep apnea, and to a lesser degree RLS. Further investigation into possible mecha- nisms on purpose in life and other benefits of positive psychology and sleep health are needed. For instance re- search should examine the link between purpose in life and specific symptoms of insomnia, such as nocturnal symptoms versus daytime symptoms. This could help identify potential mechanisms for the impact of positive psychology on insomnia. Moreover, future research could examine the use of interventions using positive psychology to target purpose in life in older adults. For example, mindfulness-based therapies (Ong 2016) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapies (Dalrymple et al. 2010) include values and cultivation of compassion that could enhance purpose in life (Ong et al. 2012).

Abstract. The purpose of this research is to explore the impact of expectation of university study on student’s perception of purpose in life by considering the role of achievement motivation. Based on classic measurements PIL, AMS and EUS, the empirical research method, including descriptive statistics analysis, regression analysis and mediation effect test, was conducted on a sample consisted by 412 undergraduate students coming from national wide universities. Four main findings were illustrated. First, student’s perception of purpose in life is entirely low, with the mean value of 60.8 scores. Second, individual characteristics (sex, grade, major, household register, university type) are not related with PIL. Third, both the study expectation and the employment expectation are significantly related with PIL. Fourth, achievement motivation plays mediating role in the relations between expectations and PIL, with mediation effects of 6.75% and 7.87%, respectively. The findings comprehensively demonstrated that the expectations of study and future employment established at the very beginning of university education can determine student’s perception of PIL significantly, and part of the impact is transferred by student’s achievement motivation. Keywords: purpose in life; expectation of university education; achievement motivation; mediation effect

This study examines the Purpose in Life (PIL) questionnaire and attempts to find the most appropriate factor matrix structure when it is applied to a high school population. The goal of the study is to find a simple structure factor matrix with high reliability as measured by Cronbach’s alpha. Participants (N = 659) were randomly selected from all four grades of Washington State metropolitan area high schools. Findings indicate that while various multidimensional matrix structures exist for the instrument when used with an adult population, when used with a high school population, there emerges a strong unidimensional factor matrix with a simple structure; it both fits the data well and results in very strong reliability (Cronbach’s α = .900). This analysis suggests that revising the PIL from 20 to 14 questions for high schoolers results in a unidimensional instrument, strongly supported by all 14 questions and measuring with a very high reliability.

The participants also expressed purpose in life that was not limited to generativity (McAdams, 2012). Instead, when explicitly discussing their purpose in life as giving to others and spirituality, our participants showed agency in the form of generativity. Most emphasized the ability to actively influence one’s own life course rather than passively allowing it to be determined by external forces (Bandura, 2006; Deci & Ryan, 2000). The ways the participants showed sense of agency in their narratives are closely related to Ryff’s Psychological Well-Being dimension of autonomy (1989b), referring to the degrees of self-determination. In particular, it focuses on the ability to resist social pressures to be able to think and act independently as well as not to rely on others to approve own self. Agency has been one of the salient themes in life narratives and shows positive effects on well-being. For example, using a subset of the FLSA Time 1 data (n = 89), Adler et al. (2015) found that themes of agency, communion, redemption, and contamination, summed across many scenes, predicted trajectories of mental health over 5 years. Another study further showed agency increased in the 47 patients’ narratives after their psychotherapy sessions and significantly predicted their improvement in mental health over time (Adler, 2012). In our study, especially for those with higher PIL, finding strong agency in the midst of negative life transitions was important to help maintain their purpose.

Living in a nursing home probably signifies challenges in accepting and adapting to one’s life situation, with the intention of realizing meaning and well-being. In accordance with Frankl [7], finding solutions in difficult life situations and enduring suffering are considered meaning-making resources. Given Frankl ’ s writings, the will to achieve meaning might embody a valuable atti- tude or even a goal to strive for in this life situation. From a nursing theory perspective [9, 10], meaning represents a view that makes the world intelligible and denotes people’ s inherent ability to turn a personal tragedy into human growth, transcending despair and suffering to reach hope, meaning, self-transcendence and thus well-being. As one informant said: “I pray to God that he will help me … and he helps me, he never says no. ” Knowing that a powerful God is listening to one’s prayers in the manner of a resiliently caring, em- pathic and loving Father might strongly embody a source of social support, which has shown to signifi- cantly affect nursing home residents’ quality of life and coping [54]. Further, this informant emphasized that “… for God has surely a divine purpose for me and the world.” This statement illustrates an inner state of meaning and purpose in life derived from one ’ s per- sonal faith in God. Accordingly, such a positive rela- tionship with and expectations of God exemplify a health-promoting resource among nursing home residents.

Religious orientation, personality and purpose in life 18 personal prayer tends to function as a predictor of a higher sense of purpose in life (Richards, 1991; Carroll, 1993; Francis & Burton, 1994; Francis & Evans, 1996; Francis, 2005). There are clear implications from this finding for future research concerned with the relationship between religiosity and purpose in life. Religion is a highly complex phenomenon and needs to be conceptualised and operationalised with considerable care and sophistication. Scales of religious orientation have been developed to assess different ways of being religious among individuals who are religious. Scales of religious orientation have worked well in the present sample because the sample was specifically chosen to represent a group of individuals

This study is part of the Umeå 85+ study in the north of Sweden, which focuses on health and outlook on life in the very old. The research in the Umeå 85+ study has resulted in several theses e.g. [1-5] describing the very old from various perspectives—both the good aging and the threats against the good aging. The intent of this stu- dy was to describe how very old men experience and reflect on purpose in life. In the first part of the 20th cen- tury, men and women lived mainly in separate spheres; being a man in Sweden was characterized by being the breadwinner of the family, while being a woman was characterized by taking care of the children and the household [6]. Hirdman [7] pointed out that in Swedish society men have usually been seen as the norm and have been more highly valued than women. Her theory, how- ever, was grounded on men and women who still active in society. Research into various life experiences among older men is lacking. Courtney [8] has found that old men do not fully use the physical and mental health services

Ryff’s Scales of Psychological Well-being, a self-report questionnaire measuring aspects of Subjective Well-being (SW) on six sub-scales: Self-Acceptance, Environmental Mastery, Positive Relations with Others, and Autonomy, this sub-scales are indicators of the Hedonic Well-being; and Purpose in Life (PiL) and Personal Growth (PG), both include the measure about Eudaimonic Well-being (Ryff, 1995); the 39-item version trans- lated into Spanish by Díaz et al. (2006) was used. Each dimension had six to eight items, some positively and some negatively worded. Respondents were asked to indicate if a statement described them accurately or not. A 6-point answering scale, from 1: Strongly agree to 6: Strongly disagree was utilized. The internal consistency (or) coefficients for the scales were as follows: self-acceptance, .93; positive relations with others, .91; autonomy, .86; environmental mastery, .90; purpose in life, .90; and personal growth, .87. With comparative fit index (CFI = .88).

Stress can cause anxiety that creates imbalances in the autonomic nervous system and internal secretions leading to mental and somatic disease. Purpose in life (PIL) and ikigai (two social attitudes) help indi- viduals to integrate psychological events and effectively cope with stress. PIL/ikigai provides an intrinsic motivation and is thought to develop primarily during adolescence. There is a correlation with such posi- tive experiences as spending time in beautiful natural surroundings and exposure to warm human rela- tionships at various developmental stages. PIL/ikigai is a physiological frontal lobe function. Adolescence is a critical period of development for PIL/ikigai and neuronal connections are strengthened by secretion of neurotransmitters such as dopamine and β-endorphin. We propose that there is an important physiol- ogic role of PIL/ikigai and that critical periods of brain development influence development of PIL/ikigai.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the result of research that was undertaken in order to examine the impact of information and communication technology to students, teachers and teaching process of the educational institute. The factors which are found to be most important to the teachers in their teaching were making the lessons more interesting, easier, more diverse, and more motivating for the students. Additionally for improving presentation of materials, allowing greater access to computers for research, administrative work of material, allowing greater access to computers for research, administration work more efficient and providing professional support through the E-learning and video conferencing.

According to the Eurobarometer survey (April 2014) 32% of Romanians believe that working conditions are judged overall as good and 64% as awful, while 55% believe that in the last five years the conditions have deteriorated. Generally, Romanian workers are satisfied with their working hours, the balance between personal and professional life, are aware of the financial problems and the financial situation of the company they work for, 50% declares that they have been asked about the organisation of work and the working conditions (Williams et al, 2013). Romanian employees consider that personal features as correctness and seriousness or taking responsibility are the most important contributions for which is expected a just reward. Job security, respecting employee rights and appreciation of direct supervisor are the main rewards expected in return for contributions (Buzea et al, 2013). Finally, exposure to stress is the major health risk in their workplace and 22% declares, as well, that there is provision of information relating to health and safety issues and 62% declares that the company has taken measures in response to accidents and accident prevention issues

In the lights of the characteristics of global markets and global competition, we can propose a new classification of outsourcing based on five indicators: motivat[r]

If those who are charged with valuing a firm determine that the entity form will reduce the costs encompassed within agency theory most effectively, the calculated f[r]

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between leadership styles and perceived justice based on the existing literature. Different from previous studies, this paper extends the literature of the justice by connecting three major research areas (leadership style, employee’s participation, and organizational justice), and examines the influences of leadership style and employee’s participation in shaping employee’s perception of justice. In addition, this study synthesizes previous leadership studies and argues that leadership style can be categorized into four paradigms: classical leadership, transactional leadership, transformational leadership, and dynamic leadership. This typology provides a broad basis allowing for different forms of leadership to be evolved at different times and in different places. Below I review literature relevant to each element of the model and discuss the results of an empirical study designed to test the hypotheses.