Development and Validation of the Youth Purpose Orientation Scale Among Chinese Sample

Abstract

Introduction Purpose orientation has an important impact on the development of adolescence. An effective instrument is needed to describe the purpose orientation of youth. The aim of this research is to develop a reliable and valid scale to measure life purpose orientations of youth. Methods Study 1 established a preliminary pool of items based on a literature review, an open-form questionnaire, and some expert opinions. Study 2 used exploratory factor analysis and performed internal consistency and reliability tests. The sample consisted of 442 young Chinese students, divided into males (49.3%) and females (50.7%) with an age range of 13 to 22 years. Study 3 performed confirmatory factor analysis and tested the scale’s calibration validity and test-retest reliability. The confirmatory sample comprised 91,635 young Chinese students, divided into males (43.2%) and females (56.5%) with an age range of 12 to 23 years. The calibration validity sample consisted of 572 participants, aged 12 to 22. The test-retest reliability sample consisted of 200 participants. Results Through exploratory factor analysis, the four-factor structure revealed contains personal growth, social promotion, family well-being, and personal well-being purpose orientations. This four factor-structure revealed a 65.26% cumulative variance. The four factors’ alpha reliability was 0.89 for personal growth, 0.87 for social promotion, 0.86 for family well-being, and 0.87 for personal well-being, respectively. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the model fitting index had a good four-factor structure. The calibration validity and test-retest reliability were acceptable. Conclusion These findings demonstrated that the 19-item findings demonstrated that the Youth Purpose Orientation Scale is a valid and reliable measure. In future research, it can be used to measure purpose orientation in youth.

Purpose Orientation and Its Protective Effect on Self-Esteem Among Chinese Depressive Patients: A Comparative Study

“…24 This study focused on purpose orientation, defined as the content of one’s life purpose, which was found to lead to different patterns of living and to be differentially related to well-being. 25 Precisely, research confirms that prosocial purpose orientations are more adaptive and associated with higher well-being. 26 For instance, prosocial purpose orientations predicted creativity, personal growth, and integrity 27 and were associated with greater psychological resilience.…”

“…Purpose Orientation and DepressionHowever, most of the instruments used in previous research about the relationship between purpose and depression only measure the intensity of purpose without focusing on the content of purpose,23 which may ignore significant individual differences 24. This study focused on purpose orientation, defined as the content of one's life purpose, which was found to lead to different patterns of living and to be differentially related to well-being 25. Precisely, research confirms that prosocial purpose orientations are more adaptive and associated with higher well-being 26.…”

“…The Youth Purpose Orientations Scale 25 was used to measure purpose orientations. The scale is present in two forms, the Youth Purpose Orientation Scale-Self Rating (YPOS-SR) and the Youth Purpose Orientation Scale-Forced Choice (YPOS-FC).…”

A Person-Centered Analysis of Meaning in Life, Purpose Orientations, and Attitudes toward Life among Chinese Youth

“…Purpose orientations were measured using the Youth Purpose Orientations Scale in two forms, a Likert-scale form and a forced-choice form. The Youth Purpose Orientations Scale consists of 19 items [ 33 ]. The scale was developed in a Chinese context to assess the motivation of junior high school students, high school students, and college students to pursue four different purpose orientations.…”

“…The purpose orientations in this study are classified into four types: societal promotion, personal growth, family well-being, and personal well-being [ 33 ]. The study uses the self-statement and forced-choice scales of purpose orientations to better understand the types of goals that Chinese youth value and do not value.…”