Psychometric properties of the Swedish version of the Purpose in Life scale

Abstract

The aim of this study was to test the theoretical assumptions beyond the Purpose in Life (PIL) scale, and to elucidate the underlying structure of the Swedish version of the PIL. The PIL, originally created by Crumbaugh and Maholick, is a 20-item scale of the Lickert type with possible scores ranges from 20 to 140, the higher score, the stronger PIL. The analysis was based on 449 participants, 62% of whom were women, from five different samples, ranging from 19 to 103 years old. An exploratory factor analysis restricted to three factors was performed. The factors were labelled meaning in existence, freedom to create meaning in daily life, and will to find meaning in future challenges. These factors reflected the three dimensions described by Frankl. Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the total scale was 0.83 and varied between 0.54 and 0.83 in the three factors. We concluded that the Swedish version of the PIL scale seems to have construct validity and reliability. Our results give support to the fact that the PIL scale captures and confirms the theoretical assumptions of Frankl's existential theory. We consider the PIL scale to be both feasible and appropriate for use in nursing research.