The Journal of Positive Psychology, 2013, Vol. 8, No. 5, 365-375

This article was downloaded by: [Institute of Coaching Professional Assoc], [Institute of Coaching]On: 12 August 2013, At: 13:52Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House,37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UKThe Journal of Positive Psychology: Dedicated tofurthering research and promoting good practicePublication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rpos20Are meaning and purpose distinct? An examination ofcorrelates and predictorsLogin S. George a & Crystal L. Park aa Department of Psychology , University of Connecticut , 406 Babbidge Road, Unit 1020,Storrs , CT , 06269-1020 , USAPublished online: 17 Jun 2013.To cite this article: Login S. George & Crystal L. Park (2013) Are meaning and purpose distinct? An examination of correlatesand predictors, The Journal of Positive Psychology: Dedicated to furthering research and promoting good practice, 8:5,365-375, DOI: 10.1080/17439760.2013.805801To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2013.805801PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLETaylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) containedin the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make norepresentations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of theContent. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, andare not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon andshould be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable forany losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoeveror howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use ofthe Content.This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematicreproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in anyform to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

The Journal of Positive Psychology 367Downloaded by [Institute of Coaching Professional Assoc], [Institute of Coaching] at 13:52 12 August 2013Table 1. Versions of the Ryff Purpose subscale and PerceivedPersonal Meaning Scale used in current study.Ryff Purpose subscaleI live life one day at a time anddo not really think about thefuture (reverse scored)I tend to focus on the present,because the future nearlyalways brings me problems(reverse scored)My daily activities often seemtrivial and unimportant to me(reverse scored)I do not have a good sense ofwhat it is I am trying toaccomplish in life (reversescored)I used to set goals for myself, butthat now seems like a waste oftime (reverse scored)I enjoy making plans for thefuture and working to makethem a realityI am an active person in carryingout the plans I set for myselfSome people wander aimlesslythrough life, but I am not oneof themI sometimes feel as if I have doneall there is to do in life(reverse scored)Perceived PersonalMeaning ScaleFeel your life as a wholehas meaningDerive a great deal ofmeaning from your pastlifeFind your life verymeaningfulLook forward to ameaningful life in thefuturefocuses on purpose – the items directly refer to goals,aims, a sense of direction, and behavioral engagementwith current activities. In contrast, items on the PPMSrefer specifically to meaning, using the term ‘meaning’ –the four items ask subjects about the degree to whichthey feel that their present, past, future, and overall lifehas ‘meaning’ or feels ‘meaningful.’ But how can we besure that the PPMS’ use of the term meaning fosters participants’focus on the underlying construct of meaningand not purpose? If experts use these terms interchangeably,would the PPMS’ use of the term meaning insteadof purpose make any substantive difference toparticipants? How can we be sure that participants arenot rating their sense of goals, aims, and direction in life(i.e. their purpose)? There is evidence to suggest that theterm meaning represents more than merely a sense ofgoals, aims, and direction for individuals. For example,Wong (1998) asked lay people to describe their conceptionsof an ‘ideally meaningful life.’ Participants’descriptions consisted of a whole host of topics that aredistinct from what we refer to here as purpose – participantswrote about having religious beliefs, intimate relationships,a sense of transcendence, being treated fairly,and living life in fulfilling ways. Therefore, when theterm meaning is being used, people seem to thinkbeyond mere goals and a sense of direction. Thus, thePPMS appears to tap meaning, whereas the Ryff Purposesubscale appears to tap purpose.Expected differences and similarities between meaningand purposeConsidering the conceptual differences between meaningand purpose, we hypothesized that they will have differentpredictors. In particular, we hypothesized that religionand spirituality will be more predictive of meaningthan of purpose. Religion and spirituality offer a comprehensiveframework to understand life and one’s existenceand thus provide a sense of meaning (Park, 2005). Religionand spirituality address existential questions (Batson& Stocks, 2004) and allow for a sense of transcendence,thus conferring a sense of significance regarding one’slife (Steger, 2012). Although religion and spiritualitymay also provide features of purpose such as a sense ofdirection and enthusiasm regarding the future (Emmons,2005), this seems to be a less salient function of religionand spirituality than the provision of a sense of comprehensionand understanding regarding life (Park, 2013;Park, Edmondson, & Hale-Smith, 2013).Another two predictors that we expected to differentiallypredict meaning and purpose were optimism andpessimism. Optimism and pessimism can be defined asgeneralized expectancies regarding outcomes (Scheier &Carver, 1985). Optimists have generally positive expectationsregarding the future, whereas pessimists have negativeones. Characteristics of purpose such as goals, aims,and a sense of direction in life are highly influenced bywhat one expects of the future and how s/he expectsthings to turn out. In fact, studies have shown that thepositive and negative expectations that are characteristicof optimists and pessimists affect how they construe theirgoals and pursue them (e.g. Jackson, Weiss, Lundquist,& Soderlind, 2002). Optimists see their goals as moreattainable whereas pessimists perceive more difficulties(Carver & Scheier, 2002). Thus, optimism and pessimismmight be linked to individuals’ sense of purpose inlife via their effects on expectations. Therefore, wehypothesized that optimism and pessimism would bemore predictive of purpose than of meaning.Crises such as cancer can violate individuals’ corebeliefs and goals (Holland & Reznik, 2005; Park,2012a). For example, the goal of living a physicallyactive life and/or the belief in a safe world maybe violatedby a cancer diagnosis. We expected participants’perception of their cancer diagnosis as violating theircore beliefs and goals to differentially predict meaningand purpose. We expected the perception of belief violationsto be inversely predictive of meaning as corebeliefs help individuals’ comprehend and understandtheir lives (Janoff-Bulman, 1992; Koltko-Rivera, 2004;Park, 2010) and thus provide a sense of meaning. Incontrast, we expected the perception of goal violationsto be inversely predictive of purpose as core goals are

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