Predictive Model of Purpose of Life in Adolescents of Public Educational Institutions from Arequipa City

Modelo predictivo del sentido de vida en adolescentes de instituciones educativas públicas de la ciudad de Arequipa

Modelo preditor do sentido da vida em adolescentes de instituições educativas públicas da cidade de Arequipa

Julio Cesar Huamani Cahua jchuamni@ucsp.edu.pe

Universidad Católica San Pablo, Perú

Walter L. Arias Gallegos

Universidad Católica San Pablo, Arequipa, Perú, Perú

Ana Lucía Núñez Cohello

Universidad Católica San Pablo, Arequipa, Perú, Perú

This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 International.

In Peru, there is not common empirical research from an existential or humanistic approach, however, the humanist trend has some important antecedents in the country, through the spiritualistic psychology that developed during the first half of the twentieth century (Alarcón, 1994, 2000; Arias, 2011, 2014, Salazar, 1954, 2013). This trend, however, had a phenomenological root common to humanistic psychology, but it would not be a psychological humanism itself, at least not as was raised by Maslow (1968), Allport (1973) or Rogers (1997), because humanism has been consolidated and diffused since the decade of the 1930's, and the spiritualist current in Peru was replaced by objective and experimental psychology in 1935. That is, spiritual psychology is related to humanistic psychology, in terms of its conception of man, but does not follow its foundational principles.

In that sense, humanistic psychology began to develop in the 1980s, when Víctor Amorós (1930-2005) assumed the management of the Psychological Clinic of the Universidad National Mayor de San Marcos (Major National University of San Marcos) between 1980 and 1983, where he introduced the principles of the humanistic psychology in psychotherapeutic practice (Orellana, García, Soto, Herrera, Salazar, Orellana, Yanac, Malaver, & Chávez, 2007). In addition, he is the main diffuser of the humanist current through various articles (Amorós, 1990, 1991, 2003, 2004). Nowadays, we can also appreciate several review articles that talk about humanism, whether historical (Arias, 2015a) or related to logo therapy (Arbocco, 2015, Ramos, 2015; Solomon, 2013, 2014). Being the Universidad Femenina del Sagrado Corazón (Women's College of the Sacred Heart), the main house of studies that postulates and promotes the humanist trend in psychology in the country, although their approach and scope are essentially theoretical.

On the other side of the country, in Arequipa, second main city of Peru, there are two very important precedents. On the one hand, Guillermo Pareja (2007) who is a psychologist from Arequipa and lived in Mexico and shared several experiences with Viktor Frankl (1905-1997) in Vienna in the late 1970s, becoming one of the most important promoters of the logo therapy in Latin America, where the most relevant logo therapy centers are located in Mexico and Argentina. On the other hand, it is in Arequipa, that a major academic research project has begun, which involves subjecting to empirical scrutiny various hypotheses based on humanistic psychology and, in particular, on Frankl's logotherapy. through the construct of purpose of life (Huamani, & Ccori, 2016). In this way, it is in this city, where the empirical investigations on logotherapy begin, and as part of this project, the present study aims to analyze the predictive power of various variables on the purpose of life in adolescents in the city.

Adolescence constitutes a moment of vulnerability, where the person has to prepare for adulthood. It takes on a special significance when it occurs in situations of risk, fragility and precariousness in relational, familiar and social ties (Arias, 2013). However, regardless of any factor, every teenager is in the search and definition of an identity (Erikson, 2000), and in this complex process they often incurred in risk behaviors which, through empirical research, have shown to be related to the so-called existential vacuum (Frankl, 1980, Gallego, & García, 2004). In this regard, then, arises a need to explore the meaning of life in the population of adolescents and specifically the predictive variables of the same, because “Who has a reason to live, can bear almost any how" (Nietzsche, quoted by Frankl, 1983, p. 113).

The study of the purpose of life is based onViktor Frankl (1983), who defines it as "the desire to find a concrete sense of personal existence" (p. 143). In this regard, human capacity to respond freely and voluntarily to each situation of life (Adams, 2014), understanding what a particular situation represents (Santis, & Juárez, 2011), so that a person is happy when he finds a sense in which to base his life (Domínguez, 2007, Frankl, 1980).

Although the search for purpose and meaning is present in all stages of development, during adolescence it intensifies (Moreno, & Rodríguez, 2010). In this regard, several studies report that there are no differences in the meaning of life according to age and sex (García, Gallego, & Pérez, 2009; Gallego, & García, 2004; Noblejas, 1994; Viñas et al. 2004). However, some studies have pointed out that between the ages of 16 and 20 years old, there is a greater sense of life (Martínez, & Castellanos, 2013).

On the other hand, the purpose of life has been related to various psychological variables. Thus, it has been evidenced that the purpose of life is an important factor life and for coping with stressful situations (Barboza, & Pérez, 2013). Coping is understood as the set of cognitive and affective actions that arise in response to a particular concern and attempt to restore balance (Frydenberg, & Lewis, 1997). Therefore, studies in Peru have linked it with health, in various contexts such as clinical, labor and educational (Arias, 2015b). Other studies have also found that women tend to employ more coping strategies in reference to others (Cassaretto, Chau, Oblitas, & Valdez, 2003, Mikkelsen, 2009, Canessa, 2000), as well as to deal with the problem (Montenegro, 2001), but their coping strategies are sometimes unproductive (Canessa, 2000; Mikkelsen, 2009). In contrast, males use more frequent physical distraction and prefer to ignore the problem (Canessa, 2000; Mikkelsen, 2009), It is also evidence the use of a style directed to the problem (Cassaretto, Chau, Oblitas, & Valdez, 2003).

On the other hand, coping strategies vary according to the phases of adolescence (Gaeta, & Martín, 2009), younger adolescents rely more on social support (Govaert, & Grégoire, 2004), and as they grow up, they have greater options for a given circumstance (Massone, & González, 2007). However, other studies indicate that their repertoire of incongruity is also expanded (González, Montoya, Martina, & Bernabéu, 2002), because there is evidence that 16-year-old adolescents are more likely to resort to unproductive strategies (Guadalupe, & Moysén, 2015).

Now, as it has been said, problems are present throughout life, but particularly in adolescence, they are often perceived more seriously by the difficulty of managing them; even going so far as to believe that they have no solution, and then there is the idea that there is no hope of relief. In this case, reference is made to hopelessness (Beck, Kovacs, & Weissman, 1979), conceived as a mood of attitude and negative perception that the person has about the future events (Quintanilla, Haro, Flowers, Celis de la Rosa, & Valencia, 2003), whether immediate or remote (Stotland, 1969). Both men and women experience hopelessness, but according to some studies in Latin America, women experience it more frequently (Valdez et al., 2014).

On the other hand, there is evidence that high levels of hopelessness are related to the presence of existential emptiness, which is understood as the inability to discover meaning in life, and this incapacitation prevents knowing what to do or how to guide oneself, as well as not knowing what is really wanted (Lukas, 2001; Gallego, & García, 2004; Edwards, & Holden, 2003; Hunter, & O'Connor, 2003). In turn, this disability is directly related to suicide (Ceballos, & Chávez, 2016, García, Gallego, & Pérez, 2009). In studies done in Arequipa, it has been found that while suicide is mediated by cognitive factors (Galagarza, 2006), a predominant risk factor is family problems, and the age at greatest risk is between 18 and 25 years of age (Hancco, & Pérez, 2006). That is, when the identity of the adolescent is beginning to consolidate and when it begins to develop the project of life that will give meaning to his o hers existence.

In this sense, the proper management of a stressful event could reduce negative emotions and, rather, maintain or generate greater psychological well-being (Figueroa, Contini, Lacunza, Levin, & Estévez, 2005). Psychological well-being consists of three interrelated components: positive affect, absence of negative affect, and satisfaction with life as a whole (Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985). Thus, satisfaction with life is the evaluation of subjective judgments of life circumstances (Atienza, Pons, Balaguer, & García-Merita, 2000), that is, an appreciation value of something, covering cognitive assessments and at the same time affective disorders (Veenhoven, 1994). In other words, it's the degree to which a person likes the life they lead. In terms of age, satisfaction with life seems to decrease with time (UNICEF, 2007) and this trend is slightly higher in women (WHO, 2008). However, there is evidence that women show more favorable behaviors in relation to optimism, satisfaction with themselves and with life (Salgado, 2009), while being more likely to experience some degree of happiness, linking it to health and well-being (Castilla, Caycho, & Ventura, 2016).

Considering that the way in which the adolescent evaluates his / her vital situation in terms of subjective well-being influences the goals that he / she poses or constructs (Salmela-Aro, & Nurmi, 1997), it is important to take into account that goal, the same as the desire to achieve something in life, and that is how making or producing something is one of the ways in which the human being finds meaning (Frankl, 2002). In this regard, young people with a high degree of satisfaction with life tend to directly confront the problems from various approaches, be highly motivated and highlighting the positive aspect of the situation that generates stress (Mikkelsen, 2009). There are in addition, studies in Peru, which has reported relations between the satisfaction with life and the way to deal with stressful situations, so that coping styles focused on the problem are positively correlated with the satisfaction with life, and avoidant coping styles, are correlated negatively with the construct of life satisfaction (Green, 2016).

In view of all the foregoing considerations here raised, the theoretical model that aims to demonstrate, in coherence with the studies reviewed in Arequipa, Peru, Latin America and the world; focuses on the relationship between the latent exogenous variables: coping styles (Barboza, & Perez, 2013), hopelessness (Garcia et al., 2008) and satisfaction with life (Salmela-Aro, & Nurmi, 1997), with the endogenous variable sense of life. In addition, there is a correlation between two of the exogenous variables (Mikkelsen, 2009) and since these are individually influential on the variable life meaning, it would be correct to state that the correlation between both influences the endogenous variable.

Philosophically, our theoretical model responds to the complexity paradigm (Morin, 2007), and theoretically, it is based on the logo therapy of Frankl (1994), for whom man achieves happiness when he finds meaning in his life (Frankl, 2002). This search for meaning is endowed with multiple experiences that become a transcendent state (Frankl, 2006), in which the person finds the meaning of their existence, through various motives that have a vital and distinctive relevance for each human being. These reasons may relate to a wide range of issues such as religion, work, family, love, the academic production or several of them (Frankl, 1980). When the person finds meaning in his life, he experiences states of satisfaction that allow him to face the most difficult situations, but when there is no sense in which to anchor one's life, feelings of anguish, hopelessness, and consequently, there could be no adequate coping with daily and vital stressors (Frankl, 1987).

In this sense, the research tries to test an explanatory model of the purpose of life in adolescents and to propose a predictive model for the meaning of life based on the values ​​of the predictor variables: coping styles, satisfaction with life and hopelessness; through the application of neuronal networks of multikappa perceptron.

There are few empirical studies on the meaning of life in Latin America (Martínez et al., 2012; García-Alandete et al., 2013, Noblejas, 1994, 2000; García, Gallego, Pérez, & 2009, Gallego, & García, 2004). Therefore, the results obtained in this work are relevant for future Spanish studies that suggest the use of PIL, and the integration and testing of the models can generate new studies and theoretical and empirical reflections on the measurement of the purpose of life.

In this sense, in explaining the model of the meaning of life, the unproductive coping style is the one that has the greatest influence with respect to the variable purpose of life, unlike styles directed towards the relationship with others and the style of solving the problem. It could be argued that in adolescents, using strategies that provide relief (Mikkelsen, 2009) would allow them to experience a greater sense of life. This may be due to the fact that they accept the adverse content of the reality they have to live in, because they know how to suffer it and through that suffering lead to some achievement (Frankl, 1987, 2002). Consequently, for adolescents, the friendship links have a vital importance, so it is probable that although they do not deal with solving their problems directly, if they are attentive to the problems of their group of friends and when one of them experiences an adverse situation similar to the one they experienced, then an accompaniment occurs. Barboza and Pérez (2013) found that the meaning of life is an important factor for coping with stressful situations, thus establishing a correlation or covariance between the exogenous latent variable (coping) and the endogenous latent variable (purpose of life).

When analyzing the relationship between hopelessness and meaning of life, it was found that lack of motivation is not related to any of the factors of the meaning of life. However, future expectations, which evaluate the cognitive aspect of hopelessness, are related to the perception of meaning, experience of meaning and dialectic destiny / freedom. Future expectations are linked to the construction of the vital project of each person, so the results are congruent, since the vital project expresses the fundamental choices of the person, which means assuming, in their social praxis, the directions of their life towards important ends that must be realized. Therefore, project and vital meaning constitute a dialectical unit of the person's life options (D'Angelo, 2002). Likewise, the variable feelings about the future are inversely related to the factors perception of meaning, experience of meaning and dialectic destiny / freedom of the purpose of life. Data indicate that the adolescents express enthusiasm and hope for their future, however, would find it difficult to find reasons for living in the present. In this way, they would not perceive their daily life in terms of good things and would not exercise their freedom to confront unpredictable situations. On the other hand, feelings towards the future are directly related to goals and tasks, which means that when they feel enthusiasm for their future, they will set goals and assume responsibility for them. In this sense, Yalom (1980) indicates that personal dedication to clear and defined personal vital goals is associated with the achievement of a sense of life. Also, García et al. (2009), Gallego and García (2004) and (Lukas, 2001) have pointed out that the existential vacuum is significantly associated with higher levels of hopelessness and that the presence of the meaning of life requires little or no hopelessness.

The relationship between the variable satisfaction with life and the factors goals and tasks, experience of meaning and dialectic destiny / freedom of the purpose of life, would indicate that if adolescents evaluate the overall quality of their life together positively then they would find motives and reasons to live. In turn they would perceive their daily life in fullness of good things, being able also to exercise their freedom for the confrontation of unpredictable circumstances. Therefore, if a teenager considers his life as favorable, he experiences positive emotional experiences, then he favors the achievement of a sense of life through experiential values ​​(Frankl, 1983, 2002). These emotional experiences are also important for mental health, for which the conviction and the personal sense that life makes sense (in turn, and in a critical way) influence (Ryff, & Keyes, 1995). In this sense, adolescents who evaluate their vital situation in terms of subjective well-being, influence the goals that are posed, since the satisfaction factor is related to the goals and tasks factor (Salmela-Aro, & Nurmi, 1997).

Finally, when predicting the meaning of life of adolescents, the most important predictors are satisfaction for life, style of coping aimed at problem solving, style of coping directed at relationship with others, which as pointed out, are adequate coping styles (Richaud, 2006). Therefore, if we want students to present an inner achievement of good sense, it is necessary to strengthen, orient, provide coping strategies, motivate them permanently and allow adolescents to present a positive attitude towards life (Montenegro, 2001).

In the research carried out, a predictive model of the adolescents' sense of life, a methodological model is presented to confirm a theoretical model and to predict it, however, the work escapes an algorithmic and statistical explanation, and points rather to a psychological explanation and social relation of the variables predicting the meaning of life of adolescents in Arequipa.