What environments do purpose driven people thrive in?
Scientific litsketch on boosting motivation
Research shows that people who set a self-transcendent purpose (or a goal of having a positive impact on family, community, and the world) have a better learning performance than those who just want a better grade or gain a credential (Reeves et al., 2021). The research further reveals that the people with a higher purpose perform even better when their social environment encourages betterment of their own future and the future of other people. In an experiment, 321 students in grade 7 or 8 of a public middle school in the US were divided into two groups. Group One completed an online task that was aimed at encouraging students to set a self-transcendent goal. They were told that many other students learn to make the world a better place, and were asked to write a letter to future students that they should think about a higher purpose when they feel bored, frustrated, or unmotivated. Group Two instead was asked to write about how middle school is different from elementary school. After two weeks, both groups were given a writing assignment with a handwritten note from their teacher. For some students, the note said "I’m giving you this assignment because I think you have the potential to get an interesting job, and make people’s lives better one day, if you develop your skills on assignments like this one.” Others were given a shorter version of this.
When all students submitted their assignment, the results showed that Group One that was encouraged to set a self-transcendent goal performed better than Group Two. More importantly, students in Group One who were also given the note that encouraged them to work to develop skills that can improve the lives of other people scored the highest marks for the assignment. In other words, people who set a transcendent goal perform best when their social environment encourages them to work to improve the lives of other people.
Setting a higher purpose can help us work harder but ensuring that the people around us encourage and challenge us to make a difference in the world is also critical for sustaining our motivation and performance. Use your gift to serve others, and surround yourself with people who will challenge you to server others. This will help sustain your motivation.
Reeves, Stephanie L., Marlone D. Henderson, Geoffrey L. Cohen, Rebecca R. Steingut, Quinn Hirschi, and David S. Yeager. "Psychological affordances help explain where a self-transcendent purpose intervention improves performance." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (2020).