Abstract

A minimal amount of information is known about how adolescents and emerging adults construe purpose and meaning in life, leaving many researchers to assume youth think about these constructs consistent with scientific understandings. In this preregistered study, we compared adolescent and emerging adult conceptions of purpose and meaning using directed content analysis. High school and college students were randomly assigned to write about purpose, meaning, or a control topic. Themes mentioned within the written samples did not significantly differ across purpose and meaning conditions, and this pattern did not significantly vary between adolescents and emerging adults. However, many who wrote about meaning mentioned purpose explicitly, suggesting nuanced differentiation. These findings can inform how purpose and meaning are studied and the development of future interventions.

摘要

关于青少年和新兴成年人如何解释生活的目的和意义的信息很少，这让许多研究人员假设年轻人对这些结构的思考与科学理解一致。在这项预先注册的研究中，我们使用定向内容分析比较了青少年和新兴成人的目的和意义概念。高中和大学生被随机分配写关于目的、意义或控制主题。书面样本中提到的主题在目的和意义条件下没有显着差异，这种模式在青少年和新兴成年人之间没有显着差异。然而，许多写意义的人明确提到了目的，暗示了细微的差异。