How Do Young Adults Think about Patience and Its Role in the Search for Purpose?: A Qualitative Study Featuring Religious and Non-Religious Individuals

Figuring out one’s purpose in life is not often an easy task. Research suggests it can be anxiety-provoking and stressful. However, it is a critical prerequisite to leading a life of purpose, which contributes in significant ways to individual and societal well-being. Therefore, this study seeks to explore the role that patience, conceptualized as the ability to stay calm but actively engaged in the face of frustration or suffering, plays in the search for purpose. Given that many religions encourage adherents to practice patience, the study will feature a sample of young adults from religious and non-religious backgrounds. In addition to learning more about how to support young people in their search for purpose, a second central aim of the proposed study is to explore young adults’ conceptualizations of and experiences with patience. To achieve these aims, the present study will rely on interviews (N=~60) with religious and non-religious young adults. Findings will shed important light on how to optimize the search for purpose, and they will help stimulate empirical research on the nascent field of patience research.

Principal Investigator: Kendall Cotton Bronk
Team Members: Zachary Swanson
Funder: Templeton Religion Trust