A co-citation analysis of purpose: trends and (potential) troubles in the foundation of purpose scholarship

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article represents the first document co-citation on the purpose construct. Document co-citation is a bibliometric methodology that provides a clear, systematic structure for examining the intellectual foundations of a field or construct. Our analysis yielded several novel insights, including a few potentially troubling ones. For instance, it revealed that the origins of purpose, a construct that has deep roots in philosophy and significant implications for a variety of fields, derived almost exclusively from the study of psychology. Foundational work was primarily conducted by scholars in North America, and early conceptualizations of purpose were inconsistent. Originating documents often used the term interchangeably with meaning. These practices, which have persisted at least to some degree, are likely to yield inconsistent and unreliable conclusions. Implications of our findings as well as cautions and directions for future research are addressed.