Brandenberger, Bowan, Lapsley, and Hill
2009
July 26,
Moral Purpose, College and Beyond:
A Longitudinal Study
Jay Brandenberger, Director of Research & Assessment
Daniel Lapsley, Chairperson, Department of Psychology
Patrick Hill, Postoctoral Research Associate
Nick Bowman, Postdoctoral Research Associate
University of Notre Dame
Presented at the Association for Moral Education Conference
Utrecht, The Netherlands
July 4, 2009
Center for Social Concerns
Celebrating 26 years at Notre Dame
Report to the Office of the Provost
Our staff  20 plus full-time faculty, administrative staff, and support
personnel
Mission
The Center for Social Concerns of the University of Notre Dame
facilitates community-based learning, research and service informed by
Catholic Social Tradition. Through the Center, learning becomes
service to justice.
Purpose
“A stable and generalized intention to
accomplish something that is at once
meaningful to the self and is of
consequence to the world beyond the
self.”
— Damon, Menon & Bronk (2004)
There is an ethical dimension bound up with the
desire to live a purposive life
Purpose may be the ground for living well the life
that is good for one to live
Purpose captures the classical notions of
eudemonia and points to what it means to flourish
Moral Purpose
Purpose is an integrative, higher order construct
Developmental Model of Moral Functioning:
Moral Sensitivity
Moral Reasoning/Judgment
Moral Motivation
Purpose has the potential to animate
each of the 4 components
Moral Behavior
The Notre Dame Study of Moral Purpose
 Builds on previous research
 Employs longitudinal designs
Research Questions (sample)
• Can distinct purpose orientations be identified
empirically?
• What is the role of higher education in fostering purpose?
• Are purpose orientations predictive of future well-being,
engagement, and the like?
Use of HERI/CIRP Freshman and Senior
Surveys
Advantages
 Opportunity for large scale data collection on campus
 National comparisons
 Opportunity to add 20 additional questions
(institution specific)
 Opportunity to mark data (indicators of student participation)
Following the class of 1994
Time of Data
Collection
Surveys
Completed
Approx.
Age
1900 entering 1st year
students, approx
1850+
18
Time 2
Spring 1994
1850 graduating
seniors
1748
22
Time 3
Spring 2007
1100 matched
1stYear/Senior match,
IDs
400+
35
Time 1
Fall 1990
Population
Purpose Orientations
Using the 17-20 life goals on HERI surveys, we
identified, via factor analyses, four purpose
orientations:
 Financial
 Creative
 Prosocial
 Personal Recognition
Some correlation, but distinct measures
Other measures during
college
Personal development during college
relative to freshman year
Overall satisfaction with college experience
Participation in service-learning activities
Results: At Graduation
Prosocial orientation associated with college
satisfaction
(Other 3 purpose orientations were not)
Prosocial orientation associated with servicelearning participation; the other three orientations
were negatively associated with service learning
Time Three: Age 35 (approx)
Used five additional measures at middle adulthood:
 Loyola Generativity Scale
 Integrity (measuring moral character and identity)
 Personal growth and well-being (Ryff)
 Purpose in Life (Ryff)
Youth Purpose Scale (Stanford Univ)
Sample: 416 agreed to participate
(from approx 1100)
Results: Time 3
Purpose orientations from HERI items again derived
from factor analyses, yielding the same four factors
Strong continuity of purpose orientations from senior
year to age 35 (all correlations significant at p <
.001)
Overall, prosocial orientation highly predictive of
well-being at middle adulthood 
Results: Time 3
★
=
p < .01
Purpose Orientation
@ Senior Year
Generativity
Well-Being:
Personal Growth
Well Being
Purpose in Life
Integrity
Prosocial
★
★
ns
★
Financial
ns
ns
ns
ns
ns
ns
ns
ns
ns
ns
Creative
Recognition
?
ns
Further Analyses
College volunteering and service learning
participation were significant predictors of adult
volunteering and adult well-being
Participation in diversity workshop during college
predicted prosocial orientation at senior year, and
well-being (personal growth) and volunteering in
adulthood
Discussion
 Purpose orientations can be distinguished
empirically
 Purpose orientations predict college outcomes
 Purpose orientations are stable overtime
 Prosocial orientation strong predictor of outcomes
from senior year to middle adulthood: generativity,
personal growth, and integrity
Volunteering and SL during college predict
prosocial orientation and adult outcomes
Next Steps
 Broaden scope and sample
 Enhanced measures of purpose, including
qualitative
 Collaboration and comparison across varied
colleges/universities
 Further support/funding
Thank You
Contact Info:
Jay Brandenberger
Center for Social Concerns
University of Notre Dame
jbranden@nd.edu