How Purposeful Are Seminarians in Life?

Abstract

Aims: This study investigated purpose in life among seminarians. This was motivated by the evident and apparent dearth of literature on research on seminarians and particularly their purpose in life. The present study therefore extended what is known in existential psychology literature by exploring the extent to which seminarians are purposeful in life. Study Design: The study was an ex-post facto survey. Place and Duration: The study was conducted among seminarians in one of the major Catholic seminaries in Nigeria and it lasted for a period of two weeks. Methodology: The entire population was sampled for the study. They were 63 seminarians from one of the Catholic Major Seminaries in Nigeria. Ryff’s purpose in life questionnaire was administered on respondents after obtaining their consent (this was a sub-scale of the psychological well-being scale developed by Ryff. Participants were all male with ages ranging between 19-39years (M=24.22; SD=2.915). Among the sample, 53 (84.1%) had low level of education, while 10 (15.9%) had higher level of education. Results: The result of data analysis indicated that significantly high number of seminarians (57.1%) were less purposeful in life and educational level of seminarians did not significantly predict their purpose in life (p>.05). Although more studies need to be conducted on this particular population, however, it goes without saying that majority of seminarians is low on purpose in life irrespective of age or educational level. Conclusion: It might be needful for seminarians to be re-orientated along being more purposeful in life. Cognitive restructuring may not be out of place for them also.