College Students’ Sense Of Purpose:Structure,Antecedent And Consequence

As an individual’s self-awareness of the purpose,the sense of purpose is not only of great significance to the individual’s self-pursuit and the meaning of life,but also of great value to promote the development of society.The world today is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century.The impact of diverse cultures and values is likely to make people lose their belief in values and get lost in spirit.To carry out the relevant research on the sense of purpose is not only the need of promoting the academic development in the field of self-awareness research,but also the realistic need to improve the positive state of contemporary young undergraduates.The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the concept,structure,characteristics,influencing factors of undergraduates’sense of purpose and its role in academic performance and intervention.This thesis consisted of five parts and 11 studies,using qualitative analysis,interviews,questionnaires and behavioral experiments and other research methods,to explore the above issues.The first part of this paper firstly explored the structure of the sense of purpose by means of qualitative research(Research 1),and then under the structural framework of the sense of purpose,compiled the"College Students’Sense of Purpose Questionnaire(CSSPQ)",and tested its reliability and validity(Research 2).The second part included two questionnaire studies,a sample of 2,085Chinese undergraduates was recruited,and the self-developed CSSPQ was used to measure the characteristics and influencing factors of Chinese undergraduates’sense of purpose(Research 3 and Research 4).The third part explored the relationship between undergraduates’sense of purpose and academic engagement from the perspective of the role of sense of purpose on positive academic performance,including one cross-sectional survey(Research 5)and two behavioral experimental studies(Researchs 6 and 7).The fourth part explored the relationship between undergraduates’sense of purpose and academic procrastination from the perspective of the role of sense of purpose on negative academic performance,including a cross-sectional survey(Research 8)and two behavioral experimental studies(Researchs 9 and 10).The fifth part was an intervention study on undergraduates’sense of purpose(Research 11).After the above researchs,the results were as follows:1.The sense of purpose is the individual’s self-feeling and regulation of the purpose to be achieved,which includes three dimensions:purpose recognition,purpose experience and purpose regulation.The self-developed College Students’Sense of Purpose Questionnaire(CSSPQ)consisted of 14 items.The Cronbach’sαcoefficient for the total CSSPQ was 0.85,and the re-test reliability for the total CSSPQ(after a two-week interval)was 0.98,it was significantly positively correlated with achievement goal orientation and a sense of meaning in life.Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis supported a three-factor model,withχ~2/df=3.74,RMSEA=0.04,CFI=0.94,TLI=0.93,SRMR=0.04,indicating good structural validity of the questionnaire.2.The level of sense of purpose for Chinese undergraduates was above a moderate level(3.48±0.51),but there were 615 students whose average score of sense of purpose was less than or equal to the middle score of 3,accounting for 32.17%of the total number of students,so the number of students with a low level of sense of purpose accounts for nearly one-third.There was no significant difference in the level of sense of purpose among undergraduates of different genders(3.49 VS 3.47),majors(3.47 VS 3.48)and grades(3.51 VS 3.47 VS 3.45 VS 3.46).Only-children difference was significant,only-child undergraduates showed higher levels than did non-only-child students(3.51 VS3.46).There was a significant difference in the sense of purpose of undergraduates who serve as student cadres or not,student cadres showed a higher level than did non-student cadres(3.56 VS 3.39).3.Environmental factors and personal factors played a role in the formation and development of undergraduates’sense of purpose.Social support not only directly predicted the sense of purpose(β=0.44),but also positively predict the sense of purpose through the intermediary role of personal growth initiative and academic self-efficacy(standard mediation effect was 0.30,0.03,respectively).4.A sense of purpose positively predicted undergraduates’academic engagement.The results of the cross-sectional survey showed that the sense of purpose not only significantly and positively predicted academic engagement(β=0.45),but also indirectly predicted it via the mediation role of future orientation(standard mediation effect was0.23).The results of the behavioral experiment showed that undergraduates with a higher sense of purpose had stronger willingness to listen in both interesting and boring classrooms,moreover,the students with a higher sense of purpose spent significantly more time in class than those with a lower sense of purpose.The results of the IAT experiment showed that undergraduates with a higher sense of purpose had a stronger connection between positive academic engagement words and self,and showed a stronger self-concept evaluation effect of implicit academic engagement.So the implicit academic engagement of undergraduates with higher sense of purpose tended to be more pronounced.5.A sense of purpose positively predicted undergraduates’academic procrastination.The results of the cross-sectional survey showed that the sense of purpose not only significantly and negatively predicted academic procrastination(β=-0.53),but also influence through the mediation of time management tendency(standard mediation effect was-0.42).The results of the behavioral experiment showed that undergraduates with a higher sense of purpose had earlier task start and completion in both difficult and easy tasks.The results of the IAT experiment showed that the IAT effect of undergraduates with a higher sense of purpose was significantly lower,that is,undergraduates with a lower sense of purpose had a stronger connection between academic procrastination words and self,and showed a stronger implicit self-concept of academic procrastination.The evaluation effect showed that the implicit academic procrastination tendency of undergraduates with a lower sense of purpose were more obvious.6.The curriculum intervention plan designed in this study,which consisted of four modules:understanding education,growth education,efficacy education and career education,had been proved by experimental tests to improve the level of undergraduates’sense of purpose.The curriculum intervention provided a reference for the development of relevant intervention plans for the sense of purpose in the future.In sum,this thesis shows that self-developed CSSPQ enjoys a high level of reliability and validity,which should be used to measure the sense of purpose in Chinese undergraduates.The formation and development of undergraduates’sense of purpose is affected by the model of"environmental-personal factors".A sense of purpose is an important factor affecting undergraduates’academic performance.On the positive side,the sense of purpose can positively predict the academic investment level of undergraduates,by the mechanism model of the sense of purpose-future orientation-academic investment.On the negative side,the sense of purpose negatively predicts the academic procrastination level of undergraduates,and there is a mechanism model of sense of purpose-time management disposition-academic procrastination.From the perspective of"environment-individual",to carry out understanding education,growth education,efficacy education and career education intervention has practical significance for improving undergraduates’sense of purpose,stimulating positive state and social development.