Ethnic Minority Adolescents' Pathways to Developing Purpose in Life

Background & Purpose: A sense of purpose in life has been considered a fundamental aspect of an individual’s well-being, shaping life goals and directions. Developing a sense of purpose in life is an important task during adolescence, as it is considered an essential developmental asset. However, knowledge remains limited regarding how ethnic minority adolescents develop their sense of purpose in life. This study explored pathways through which ethnic minority adolescents develop their sense of purpose in life, utilizing in-depth interviews.

Methods: A MSW-trained interviewer conducted interviews with 19 adolescents (10 females and 9 males) aged 14 to 18 years old residing in urban areas of the Mountain West region. Interviews were conducted via Zoom or at a location preferred by participants. Adolescents who scored highly (≥ 75%ile) on the Claremont Purpose Scale were invited for an interview. Guided by the current literature on purpose, the semi-structured interview questions included 1) how adolescents find and develop their purpose in life and 2) which specific people and life experiences influenced their purpose development. Data were analyzed using an abductive thematic analysis approach.

Results: Seventeen participants (89.5%) were born in the U.S. and two were born outside of the U.S. (Costa Rica, South Korea). Participants self-identified as Hispanic (n = 12), Asian (n = 6), or African American (n = 1). Ethnic minority adolescents described four pathways to developing their purpose in life: proactive, reactive, social learning, and growth mindset pathway. Adolescents with a proactive pathway described developing their purpose by exploring and pursuing new experiences (e.g., social relationships, activities, volunteer work), while those with a reactive pathway described developing their purpose in response to major life events or experiences (e.g., pandemic, family-related incidents). Adolescents with a social learning pathway described developing their purpose by observing, learning from, and imitating others (e.g., family, teacher). Lastly, adolescents with a growth mindset pathway described developing their purpose in life as resulting from the belief in the ability to grow, improve, or overcome hardships (e.g., putting in best effort despite uncertainty).

Conclusions and Implications: Our findings suggest three pathways that have been previously established in the literature (proactive, reactive, social learning) with other samples of adolescents, as well as an additional pathway (growth mindset). Given the ethnic minority adolescents’ position within the majority culture, the growth mindset pathway may be more relevant to them as they are more likely to encounter adverse life experiences (e.g., racial/ethnic discrimination) and negotiate these situations. This suggests a need for future research to explore whether ethnic minority adolescents’ unique experiences related to their ethnic and cultural backgrounds influence their growth mindset, whether this mindset functions as a mechanism for resilience and adaptability, and which specific elements of the growth mindset help these adolescents navigate their life experiences in the process of developing their purpose in life.