Home > Other Collections > ACSD > Growth > No. 21 (2022)
Article Title
Abstract
This study sought to understand the relationship between a sense of purpose and autonomous functioning in college students. Further, the results were compared with the independent variables of gender, volunteerism, and faith community participation. Participants (n = 356) were undergraduate college students at a small private liberal arts Christian institution located in the Midwest of the United States of America. Measures included the Claremont Purpose Scale and the Index of Autonomous Functioning. Pearson correlations were used to analyze the data, and purpose and autonomous functioning were positively correlated. Women reported higher levels of a sense of purpose and autonomous functioning. Students who were involved in faith communities reported higher levels of autonomous functioning and also were more likely to report a higher sense of purpose. Finally, volunteerism was only associated with a beyond-the-self focus (one of the dimensions of the Claremont Purpose Scale).
Recommended Citation
Steffenhagen, Michelle
(2022)
"Purpose and Autonomous Functioning in College Students,"
Growth: The Journal of the Association for Christians in Student Development: Vol. 21:
No.
21, Article 2.
Available at:
https://pillars.taylor.edu/acsd_growth/vol21/iss21/2
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