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An expressed desire for commitment beyond self of 1094 adolescents, aged 14-15, from three cultures-Israeli-Moslem-Arab, Israeli Jewish, and American Christian-was examined for its relationship to the nature and intensity of positive experiences, personality traits, and culture. Commitment beyond self (transpersonal commitment) was assessed by means of a Life Aspiration Questionnaire designed for this study. Landsman's Positive Experience Questionnaire (1966), and Cattell's High School Personalitity Questionnaire (1975) were also employed. The major hypothesis was that there will exist a relationship between adolescents' readiness Author's Note: The author wishes to express her gratitude to Professor Ted Landsman of the University of Florida, and to Professors R. Shapira and A. Ziv of Tel-Aviv University for their inspiration and guidance throughout her research. for commitment, their personal attributes, and the nature and intensity of their experiences, beyond cultural differences. The findings show first that adolescents' desire for commitment beyond self was totally unaffected by their cultural background, and second, that adolescents in all cultures who reported positive experiences of high intensity expressed the greatest desire for such commitment.

The current study explored the interrelations between involvement in community service activities, level of expressed transpersonal commitment, and intensity of remembered positive experiences among adolescents. The Life Aspiration Questionnaire, Positive Experiences Questionnaire, and Extracurricular Activity Questionnaire were administered to 134 llth-and 12th-grade students involved in community service activities and to 126 of the adolescents' peers who were not participating in such activities. Involved adolescents were found to express higher levels of transpersonal commitment and a higher intensity of positive experiences. The two variables were found to be positively related for both involved and noninvolved adolescent groups. The results substantiated the contention that the ability to experience happiness and meaning in life was greater among those who were willing to give of themselves to others. The findings also constituted validation of the Life Aspiration Questionnaire, demonstrating the connection between word and deed in the transpersonal commitment of adolescents.

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The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationships between involvement in volunteer activities of youth from disadvantaged neighborhoods and their life aspirations: the intensity of their remembered positive experiences: and their sense of coherence (SOC). Scales measuring these factors were administered to three groups of adolescents from disadvantaged neighborhoods: a) 57 adolescents who had been active volunteers during the course of one year, b) 37 adolescents who had merely registered to become involved but had not yet begun their activity, and c) 42 adolescents who were not involved in any volunteer activity. A cross-sectional design was selected to compare the three groups. The results showed that adolescents who had been involved in such activities for a period of at least one year expressed a stxonger sense of coherence in their lives, a higher desire to commit of themselves to society, and a greater capacity to experience more intense positive experiences, in comparison to the other two groups of their noninvolved peers. The potential significance of volunteer activity for disadvantaged adolescents was explored, and suggestions were offered for new directions in social rehabilitation programs.