Abstract

Middle adulthood is an important stage of development where people tend to evaluate life goals, values, and personal direction. An increasing body of research has identified sense of purpose as a psychological resource central to well-being and adaptive functioning. Personal growth initiative (PGI) is a reflection of proactive and intentional engagement in self-improvement. While these constructs are theoretically related, the processes by which purpose may foster growth are relatively underdeveloped. The current study examined the mediating role of emotion regulation in the relationship between sense of purpose and PGI in middle-aged adults (N = 310, age range 40-60 years). A cross-sectional design was employed using standardised self-report measures. Results indicated that sense of purpose did not significantly predict PGI directly or indirectly through emotion regulation, as hypothesized. Purpose in life was a significant positive predictor of emotion regulation (B = 0.33, p < .001). This means that there is a meaningful association between purpose in life and the capacity to regulate emotions. The indirect effect of sense of purpose on PGI through emotion regulation was negligible and non-significant (B = 0.01, 95% CI [−0.03, 0.04]). These results challenge the assumption that purpose directly leads to PGI in midlife and suggest the need for research to identify additional psychological and contextual factors that enable PGI in midlife.