Youth &Society, Ahead of Print.
In theory, purpose has implications for fostering good character, yet almost no research considers this proposition. This study examined character strengths in interviews with eight adolescent and young adult purpose exemplars and with informants who know them well. Most mentioned, general, typical, and variant strength occurrences were compared between purpose exemplars (n = 8) and their informants (n = 16). The groups agreed on prevalence of some strengths, but exemplars reported a much broader range of virtues to characterize their experience, with greater emphasis on virtues requiring maturity, such as wisdom, temperance, and transcendence, as well as strengths pertaining to inquisitiveness. The study supports associations of purpose with single character strengths but also aligns with the unitary view of character.