The relationship between purpose and meaning in life and health promotion activities in adult employed women

The relationship between purpose and meaning in life and health promotion activities was investigated in 72 adult employed females: 34 registered nurses and 38 university staff, faculty, or administration. Purpose in life was measured by the Life Attitude Profile (LAP) and health promotion activities by the Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile (HPLP). Data revealed a statistically significant relationship did exist between the two instruments (r =.3669). A significant relationship also existed between various subscales of the two instruments. Canonical correlation between the two sets of subscales was.8487 for the first canonical variate with all subscales of the HPLP contributing to the variate and all except two of the subscales of the LAP. The registered nurses scored significantly higher on the LAP subscales of Existential Vacuum and Goal Seeking and lower on the HPLP subscale of self-actualization than did the university women. The HPLP total score was predicted by the LAP total score and subjects' educational level ($r\backslash sp2$ =.18) and the HPLP subscale Health Responsibility was predicted by age ($r\backslash sp2$ =.11). Additional analyses revealed that the LAP subscale Existential Vacuum was also predicted by age ($r\backslash sp2$ =.096) and the LAP subscale Life Control was predicted by subjects' socioeconomic level and marital status ($r\backslash sp2$ =.17). Although the study supported the theorized relationship between purpose and meaning in life and health promotion, in the case of the health promotion activities of exercise and nutrition, that relationship was demonstratively weaker and merits further investigation.