Beyond-the-self purpose in early adolescents from low-income, racial and ethnic minority backgrounds: the role of emotions
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Nayman, Samuel Joseph.
Beyond-the-self purpose in early adolescents from low-income, racial and ethnic minority backgrounds: the role of emotions. Retrieved from
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TitleBeyond-the-self purpose in early adolescents from low-income, racial and ethnic minority backgrounds: the role of emotions
Date Created2021
Other Date2021-10 (degree)
Extent1 online resource (vii, 54 pages)
DescriptionBeyond-the-self (BTS) purpose, defined as "a stable and generalized intention to accomplish something that is at once meaningful to the self and of consequence to the world beyond the self" (Damon et al., 2003, p. 121) is associated with a variety of positive health and academic outcomes (e.g., Bronk & Finch, 2010; Yeager et al., 2014). There is currently a fledgling literature on the environmental and psychological factors that contribute to BTS purpose in youth, and less is known on this topic for students from low-socioeconomic status, racial and ethnic minority backgrounds (Sumner et al., 2018). Theoretical and empirical research suggest that positive emotions, such as gratitude, can serve to broaden attention and build personal resources for long-term survival and flourishing, whereas negative emotions, such as anxiety, narrow attention (Fredrickson, 2001). As such, it is reasonable to imagine that BTS purpose, which is other-oriented and broad in perspective, would be predicted by a combination of high levels of positive emotions and low levels of negative emotions. This study’s sample (N = 209) of middle school students was nearly evenly divided between males (50.2%) and females (49.8%). A majority of students received free lunch (70.3%). Additionally, a majority of students were Latinx (56.0%), with African American (17.7%), Asian (13.9%), and Caucasian (12.4%) students representing the remainder of the sample. All students were assigned to complete self-report measures of anxiety and gratitude in the fall of the 2015-2016 school year. In the spring of that same school year, students were assigned to complete self-report measures of BTS purpose as well as to write essays about their purpose in life. Hierarchical linear and logistic regressions were performed to determine if students' anxiety and gratitude scores predicted BTS purpose and if there was an interaction between the predictor variables. Results indicated that gratitude was statistically significantly associated with the self-report measures of BTS purpose and accounted for approximately 15% of the variance, whereas anxiety did not explain additional variance. Although this study does not reveal a causal relationship, this study does support the prediction that high levels of positive emotions in the form of gratitude are associated with BTS purpose. Given research that demonstrates the efficacy of gratitude-enhancing interventions (Wood et al., 2010), future experimental studies can help determine whether gratitude plays a causal role in the development of BTS purpose. If gratitude does in fact help build BTS purpose, schools would be wise to adopt such interventions.
NotePh.D.
NoteIncludes bibliographical references
Genretheses
LanguageEnglish
CollectionSchool of Graduate Studies Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Organization NameRutgers, The State University of New Jersey
RightsThe author owns the copyright to this work.
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