The PATHS to Purpose: A New Framework Toward Understanding Purpose Development

Abstract

Academic and lay interest has accrued over recent years with respect to how people develop a purpose in life. However, few theoretical models exist for understanding this developmental process as well as how to connect one’s overarching purpose in life to their daily feelings of purposefulness. The current article presents the PATHS (Purpose As Trait, Habit, and State) model, borrowing from clinical and personality development literatures. This framework allows researchers to consider purpose as a more enduring life direction (trait level), as an automatized routine acting in accordance with one’s goals (habit level), and as a more momentary reflection or feeling that one is engaged in purposeful pursuits (state level). Using this framework provides researchers with a valuable tool toward explaining how people progress toward purpose, via natural development or intervention, as well as the potential influences in this process.