Stanford Purpose Assessment: Psychometric Properties for the Brazilian Context

Autors/ores

Resum

In this study, we aim to validate the Stanford Purpose Assessment (SPA) within the Brazilian cultural context. With a diverse sample of 669 Brazilians aged 14–71, the research employed Exploratory Factor Analysis to delineate SPA’s structure, revealing a three-factor model: meaningful goal setting, beyond-the-self motivation, and engagement in goal realization. The instrument exhibited strong psychometric properties, with factor loadings spanning .39 to .92 and most reliability indices surpassing the 0.70 threshold, albeit engagement was around 0.5. Purpose dimensions positively correlated with presence of meaning and well-being facets, while inversely relating to depression, anxiety, and stress, underscoring the negative relationship between purpose and mental health challenges. These findings affirm SPA’s applicability across diverse age groups in Brazil, offering valuable insights for advancing purpose-centered research and interventions aimed at fostering positive human development. Additionally, results from Rasch analysis suggest that integrating more challenging items could enhance the instrument’s precision.

Paraules clau

Purpose, Validation study, Factor analysis, Rasch model

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Biografies de l'autor/a

David Moises Barreto dos Santos, State University of Feira de Santana

Full Professor at the State University of Feira de Santana and leader of the Meaning in Life Lab. Holds a Ph.D. in Knowledge Diffusion from the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA). His main research interests focus on purpose and meaning in life, meaningcentered education and professional teacher development.

Douglas Silveira Pereira , Independent researcher

Holds a Ph.D. in Education from the University of São Paulo (USP), with a research exchange period at the University of Milan (UNIMIA). His research interests focus on happiness, well-being, and the intersections between psychology and culture.

Ulisses Ferreira Araújo, University of São Paulo

Full Professor at the University of São Paulo, is President of the PAN-PBL: Association of PBL and Active Learning Methodologies. Holds a Ph.D. in Psychology from USP and has been a visiting professor at the universities of Harvard and Stanford (USA), Northeast Normal University (China), and Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona.

Publicades

2026-04-30

Com citar

Santos, D. M. B. dos, Pereira , D. S., & Araújo, U. F. (2026). Stanford Purpose Assessment: Psychometric Properties for the Brazilian Context. Quaderns De Psicologia, 28(1), e2298. https://doi.org/10.5565/rev/qpsicologia.2298

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