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Assessing Development of Purpose
William R. Barratt and Albert B. Hood
Each of Chickering's vectors was seen by him as a series of developmental tasks which include both sources of concern and sets of outcomes. Students are viewed as moving toward greater complexity along each of the vectors in response to environmental stimulation which provides the necessary challenge and support to foster growth. In the vector of Developing Purpose, students are described as becoming more goal directed, independent, and focused in interests as a result of their higher education experience:
"The dilemma is not just `Who am I?' but `Who am I going to be?'; not just `Where am I?' but `Where am I going?' Development of purpose occurs as these questions are answered with increasing clarity and conviction in three domains; avocational and recreational interests, vocational plans and aspirations, and general lifestyle considerations" (Chickering, l969, pp. l5-l6).
Avocational-recreational purpose develops during college attendance as students are confronted with a dilemma of clarifying and limiting avocational and recreational activities because of social interactions. If commitment is made in the social areas, students must select those activities which are compatible with their social partners if these interactions are to continue. The development of vocational plans further confronts students with a need to clarify their avocational and recreational activities. Students must determine their degree of commitment to recreational and avocational activities and place them in the context of their commitment to professional growth. This results in greater clarity as how avocational and recreational interests fit into one's total life plan (Chickering, l969).
Vocational purpose is furthered in several ways. As students become more aware of their own unique values and interests, they formulate plans around their needs. Students develop greater clarity in their vocational planning and utilize education as a way to further develop toward meeting these needs. Further, they recognize the value of broader education and develop a greater appreciation and interest in knowledge and education not directly related to their vocational objective (Chickering, l969). Finally, develop a sense of themselves as "becoming professionals" and begin the socialization process into their careers.
In the Style of Life subvector, students develop greater clarity in the type of life they wish to lead. Style of life considerations include student's marriage and family plans and life-style preferences. This also involves integration of vocational plans, avocational recreational interests, and style of life. Students formulate long range plans on how these considerations will be balanced and what their impact will be upon the society in which they live (Chickering, l969).
Barratt developed the Developing Purposes Inventory at The University of Iowa to measure students' development on Chickering's vectors of Developing Purpose. The current form of the Developing Purposes Inventory (DPI) was derived from a pilot containing 72 items. The pilot was revised based on scale reliabilities containing l5 items designed to measure each of the three subvectors of developing purpose (l) avocational-recreational purpose, (2) vocational purpose, and (3) style of life. Students respond to the 45 items in answer to the question "How true is this statement about me?" Response options range on a five-point Likert-style format ranging from "always true" to "never true." Possible scores then for each subscale range from a minimum of l5 to a maximum of 75 with the means for the student populations falling roughly in the middle of this range.
The avocational-recreational purpose scale was designed to measure the development of a pattern of avocational and recreational activities and openness to new activities. Items were designed to include exhibiting a greater specificity of participation in avocational and recreational activities and include the establishment of priorities for social and recreational interaction. Examples of items from this subscale are:
l. I attend special lectures and programs that are about my recreational interests.
4. I find time in my academic schedule, even when I am busy, to do social types of things whenever I am asked.
The vocational interests subscale was designed to measure the degree of commitment made in the direction of vocational choice. It is not limited to the selection of a career or major but focuses on the degree of sophistication and personal investment made in vocational activities. Sample items from this scale include:
35. I read the items that have been suggested or recommended by an instructor for a class but are not required.The style of life scale was designed to measure the maturity of relationship between the student and the community, significant others, and self. Goal setting to achieve a consistency in these relationships was included in the scale. Typical items from this scale are:44. Before making choices and decisions about how I will get to where I want to be in my life, I refer to my general plan of how I want my life to go.
2l. I think about how my personal values relate to my career plans.27. I am not sure of what types of work activities and situations give me satisfaction.
A random sample of freshmen entering The University of Iowa in l977 had the revised form of the Developing Purposes Inventory administered to them during their summer orientation program. One hundred sixty seven freshmen participated. Since attendance at this orientation program is voluntary, students attending this program may not adequately represent those with summer jobs, those living at a great distance from the campus, or those with economic limitations. In addtion, attendance at the orientation program may be an indicator of greater purposefulness and could influence the responses to the inventory.
One half of the group--those with social security numbers ending in even digits--were asked to retake the inventory later in the fall semester during November and December. Fifty students (65%) cooperated by retaking the inventory. The remaining half of the group with odd numbered social security numbers were asked to retake the test during the following March. Barrett was able to retain re-tests for 34 freshmen representing 50% of those still on campus at that time.
All students in the original summer orientation sample who were still attending The University of Iowa in the Spring of l98l--the second semester of what normally would have been their senior year--were contacted for re-testing. After a number of different procedures were attempted to obtain participation, 75 of the l02 students (74%) who were still on the campus retook the inventory. Descriptive statistics including means, standard deviations, and reliabilities (Cronbach's alpha) for each of the administrations are shown in Table F-l. Considering that the scales have only l5 items, the internal consistency reliabilities shown in Table F-l can be considered to be reasonably high.
Interscale correlations from the four individual inventory administrations are shown in Table F-2. The statistics in this table indicate some overlap between the constructs measured by each sub-scale of the inventory. Test re-test correlations for each of the sub-scales obtained from each of the three re-tests of the inventory are shown in Table F-3 as would be expected, the consistency of scores decreases over time but over the shorter three month time span, showed relative stability.
Means and standard deviations obtained on each of the four administrations of the Developing Purposes Inventory are shown in Table F-4. No consistent pattern of change either in the direction of higher or lower scores is seen for any of the three subscales or for students of either sex. These results suggest either that the subscales on the Developing Purposes Inventory are not adequately measuring the type of development represented by Chickering's vector or that students do not show substantial growth on this vector during their undergraduate years. One interesting finding in Table 4 is the consistent trend for women to obtain higher scores on the vocational interest subscale than do the men.
Means and standard deviations of the 75 students tested as entering freshmen and again four years later as seniors on each of the subscales are shown in Table F-5. Here again, evidence of growth on the subscales over the four year period is not seen except for the style of life subscale where these 35 men obtained significantly higher scores as seniors on that subscale than they had obtained as entering freshmen.
When the individual items which made up each of the three subscales were examined for the 75 students tested as freshmen and seniors, a number of possible explanations for the lack of growth on these subscales could be advanced. Of the l5 items on the avocational-recreational interest subscale, seven showed a significant change in the expected direction from freshman to senior year while various others showed either no change or a change in the opposite direction. It appears that students decrease some of their recreational activities while in college due to time constraints. Thus items related to participation in recreational activities which were of interest to them answered in the direction of decreasing participation while in college. Certain other items dealing with a focus in recreational interest increased in the expected direction. It also appeared that students feel that their types of recreational activities in which they participate during their college years are different from what they expect to do after college and therefore the refinement of avocational and recreational interests predicted as a part of Chickering's vector of Developing Purpose tended not to occur.
Barratt found significant declines in the vocational interest subscale between the freshmen orientation testing and the later freshmen year testing. This difference was not found between the freshmen orientation and senior testings. It is possible that students initially decline on this subscale and then reestablish their degree of vocational purpose. Certain of the items on the vocational interest subscale that dealt with increased thinking about occupations expected to be entered and ways of gaining practical experience and training in college increased. Items which dealt with willingness to go beyond meeting basic requirements and assignments in courses in one's major as a way of expressing greater interest in specific occupations and ways of obtaining greater background in their area did not increase as expected. These items changed in the opposite direction from that expected thus contributing to the lack of overall change on this subscale. Women tended to respond more in the direction of completing extra work and showed a greater orientation toward meeting academic requirements both as freshmen and as seniors and this in part accounts for their higher scores on the vocational interest subscale. In certain aspects, the vocational interest scale does appear to measure the construct of vocational purpose as hypothesized by Chickering in that students exhibit a greater willingness to meet standards. They do not, however, exhibit a greater willingness to exceed them. This supports Chickering's claim of greater academic commitment but only to meeting basic standards. Students' commitment does not appear to extend beyond meeting those minimum standards contrary to Chickering's expectations. Commitment also does not extend beyond their major field of interest to related areas as is projected in this vector.
Men showed a significant change on the style of life subscale over the four years while women did not. Perhaps men are more likely to change in relation to their attitudes toward their life styles than are women during the undergraduate years. Certain of the items on the style of life subscale appeared to be influenced by the proximity of the senior year testing to post- college experiences. Thus certain of the responses may reflect this aspect for seniors rather than actual development during the four years. The seniors in l98l were not particularly optimistic about the state of the economy nor about the economic levels they would be able to obtain and about the satisfactions they would enjoy in the coming years. They did show more certainty of their values and career choice as seniors. Thus the combination of factors tapped by the style of life subscale tended to limit the magnitude of growth which occurred amongst students over the four year period.
In attempting to obtain validation information for the Developing Purposes Inventory, several questionnaires obtaining demographic, behavioral, and attitudinal data were administered along with the follow-up administrations of the inventory. Various career and professional behaviors showed significant positive relationships to scores on the vocational interest and life style subscales. Students in the senior year administration were asked to identify their commitment to career, marriage, religion, life style, and the like. Low but statistically significant correlations (in the vicinity of .2) were found between the vocational interest subscale and commitment to career and the style of life subscale and the commitment to style of life. Scores on the vocational interest subscale were also found to be related at the same level to participation in summer or part-time work experiences.
The Developing Purposes Inventory thus appears to have substantial reliability and at least a small amount of evidence of validity. More work is needed on this inventory both from a conceptual level to determine the breadth of material which should be covered within this vector as well as the revision and modification of a number of specific items on the individual subscales which make up this instrument.
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Table F-1
Scale Means, Standard Deviations and Reliabilities
of the Developing Purposes Inventory
Avocational-
Recreational Vocational Style of
Interests Interests Life
Summer 1977
Mean 51.3 56.6 53.0
S.D. 5.1 6.0 7.6
Rel. .84 .80 .87
N = 167
Fall 1977
Mean 50.9 55.9 53.4
S.D. 3.9 4.3 7.6
Rel. .53 .73 .77
N = 50
Spring 1978
Mean 49.2 54.2 53.0
S.D. 6.1 6.9 7.8
Rel. .70 .81 .82
N = 34
Spring 1981
Mean 51.7 56.1 55.1
S.D. 4.2 5.7 6.7
Rel. .39 .68 .69
N = 75
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Table F-2
Inter-scale Correlations of the
Developing Purposes Inventory
Vocational Style of Life
Summer 1977
Avocational-
Recreational Interests .50 .50
Vocational Interests .64
Fall 1977
Avocational-
Recreational Interests .28 .41
Vocational Interests .68
Spring 1978
Avocational-
Recreational Interests .58 .63
Vocational Interests .59
Spring 1981
Avocational-
Recreational Interests .38 .42
Vocational Interests .49
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Table F-3
Test-Retest Reliabilities of the
Developing Purposes Inventory
Avocational-Recreational Vocational Style of
Interests Interests Life
3-Month
Retest .61 .55 .82
6-Month
Retest .63 .75 .55
4-Year
Retest .32 .49 .44
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Table F-4
Means and Standard Deviations of the
Developing Purposes Inventory
Summer 1977 Fall 1977 Spring 1978 Spring 1981
Scale Mean S.D. Mean S.D. Mean S.D. Mean S.D.
Avocational-
Recreational
Men 50.9 5.0 51.0 4.0 46.6 5.6 52.2 4.5
Women 51.6 5.1 51.0 4.0 50.7 6.0 51.3 3.9
Vocational
Interests
Men 55.1 6.3 55.8 5.4 50.2 7.1 54.6 6.1
Women 57.6 3.5 56.8 3.6 56.4 5.4 57.4 5.2
Style of Life
Men 52.4 8.4 54.0 9.5 49.2 8.2 55.7 7.0
Women 53.4 6.9 53.0 6.5 55.1 6.9 54.5 6.4
N =
Men 73 18 12 35
Women 94 32 22 40
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Table F-5
Means and Standard Deviations Obtained in the
4-Year Follow-up with the Developing Purposes Inventory
Scale 1977 1981
Mean S.D. Mean S.D. t
Avocational-
Recreational
Interests
Men 50.4 5.4 52.2 4.5 1.4
Women 51.4 4.1 51.3 3.9 -.2
Vocational
Interests
Men 54.0 7.4 54.6 6.1 .4
Women 57.4 5.1 57.4 5.2 -.1
Style of Life
Men 51.1 8.9 55.7 7.0 2.4*
Women 53.7 6.4 54.5 6.4 .6
N = Men 35
Women 40
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