Measuring Meaning-Making Among College Students: The Living a Life of Meaning and Purpose–C Portfolio

Larry H. Ludlow, Theresa A. O'Keefe, Lauren Warner, Henry I. Braun, & Christina Matz   |    Volume 21 Issue 1  |   

This article describes the development and initial validation of a scenario-based instrument to assess meaning-making in college students, grounded in constructive developmental theory (O’Keefe et al., 2025). Using Rasch/Guttman Scenario (RGS) scale methodology (Ludlow et al., 2020a), we constructed two parallel instruments employing school and family contexts. Each instrument comprised an ordered sequence of scenarios designed to increase in complexity across four facets of the construct: cognitive ability, relational awareness, conflict resolution, and sense of responsibility. Results from a diverse undergraduate student sample supported the hypothesized scenario hierarchy and proper functioning of the response categories. The instruments also provide substantive interpretations of respondent score locations that can inform longitudinal tracking of meaning-making growth in emerging adults. These findings offer preliminary support for using the RGS framework to model meaning-making as a structured, developmental construct, offering a theory-aligned alternative to qualitative interviews.

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