PIL Test To Assess The Purpose Of Life
The purpose of life is formulated as one of the fundamental assumptions of logotherapy. According to this trend in psychology, it is the primary need of every human being. It is an aspect that is closely related to the motivation we feel for our own existence. The PIL test ( Purpose In Life Test ) we are talking about today is a 20-item questionnaire designed to assess the achievement of an individual purpose in life.
Psychiatrist Viktor Frankl is known as the founder and developer of logotherapy. After being in Nazi-run concentration camps for several years during World War II, Frankl found that everyone’s purpose in life can drive us to move forward even in situations that are so grim that it is difficult to maintain a way out.
The purpose of life is about primary motivation because it allows us to comprehend and experience life as valuable in all adverse circumstances. It is this achievement that is assessed in the PIL test below.
PIL test: the purpose of life
The PIL test is a 20-point assessment tool. It is answered through the so-called Likert scale, the score of which is basically defined according to the following formula: strongly disagree, disagree, somewhat disagree, I cannot say, somewhat agree, agree, strongly agree. In the next PIL test, the test subject answers between 1 and 7, where the number 1 indicates one opposite of the statement and 7 the other opposite.
On this basis, the sum of the points in each statement is an indication of the purpose of life that person has achieved. The test mainly analyzes the following four factors:
- Detection of purpose. This factor measures the assessment an individual makes of his or her own life and the extent to which he or she finds reasons to live it.
- Purpose experience. This section evaluates the factor of whether a person experiences their life to be full of good things.
- Goals and Tasks: This section evaluates an individual’s goals and the personal responsibility he or she is aware of for his or her own goals.
- The dialectic of destiny / freedom. This section examines an individual’s attitude toward death as something frightening and uncontrollable.
20 different sections of the questionnaire
As already mentioned above, the PIL test basically consists of 20 different items or statements that the test subject must answer on a scale of 1-7. These claims are as follows:
- I usually feel: 1 (completely bored) – 7 (always enthusiastic and motivated).
- Life seems to me: 1 (completely routine) – 7 (always exciting and inspiring).
- In my life I have: 1 (no goals or meaning) – 7 (full of goals and meaning).
- My personal existence is: 1 (without meaning or purpose) – 7 (full of meaning and purpose).
- Each day is: 1 (exactly the same) – 7 (always new and different).
- If I could choose: 1 (I would never have been born) – 7 (I would still have nine lives left that would correspond to my current life).
- After retirement: 1 (I’m lazy for the rest of my life) – 7 (I would do all the exciting things I’ve always wanted to do).
- Achieving my vital goals: 1 (I have not made any progress) – 7 (I have achieved my important goals holistically).
- My life is: 1 (empty and full of despair) – 7 (full of good and exciting things).
- If I were to die today, I would feel like my life has been: 1 (complete rubbish) – 7 (very valuable).
- When I think about my own life: 1 (I often wonder why I exist) – 7 (I always find reasons to move on with my life).
- As I see it in relation to my own life, the world: 1 (completely confuses me) – 7 (adapts significantly to my life).
- I consider myself: 1 (as an irresponsible person) – 7 (as a very responsible person).
- As for the freedom that man has with regard to his own choices, I believe that man is: 1 (completely slave to hereditary and environmental constraints) – 7 (completely free to make all his vital choices).
- In terms of death, I am: 1 (unprepared and scared) – 7 (prepared and fearless).
- Regarding suicide: 1 (I’ve seriously thought about it to get out of my situation) – 7 (I’ve never devoted a single thought to that theme).
- I believe that my ability to find meaning and purpose in life is: 1 (practically non-existent) – 7 (very large).
- My life is: 1 (completely out of my own control and under the control of external factors) – 7 (in my hands and under my control).
- Encountering my daily tasks is: 1 (painful and boring experience) – 7 (source of joy and satisfaction).
- I have found that in my life: 1 (no purpose or purpose) – 7 (have clear goals and a satisfactory purpose).
Analysis of PIL test results
According to this test, a maximum of 140 points (20 x 7) can be obtained for the statements set out above. It can be said that those respondents whose total score is less than 90 live in that moment in their own existential emptiness. On the other hand, those with a total score of between 90 and 105 find some uncertainty about the purpose of their own lives. And as we can guess, those respondents whose score above 105 would have set clear goals for their lives, according to the test, and they will find the exact purpose of life.
The purpose of life is an individual and personal definition for everyone that changes throughout our life cycle. For this reason, it is up to each person in their own way to find the motivation that gives us meaning and reason to get out of bed every morning, no matter how unbalanced or sad a moment in our lives.
