Purpose and Autonomous Functioning in College Students

Document Type

Article

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).

Department(s)

General Education; Psychology

Publication Title

Growth: The Journal of the Association for Christians in Student Development

Volume

21

Issue

21

Publication Date

2022

DOI

https://pillars.taylor.edu/acsd_growth/vol21/iss21/2/

E-ISSN

1543-3668

Comments

Originally published in 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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