About

William Damon is a Professor of Education at Stanford University, serving as the Director of the Stanford Center on Adolescence and a Senior Fellow, by courtesy, at the Hoover Institution. He is recognized as one of the world's leading researchers on human development across the lifespan and has pioneered the scientific study of purpose in life. Damon's work includes authoring several influential books such as The Path to Purpose, Greater Expectations, Some Do Care: Lives of Moral Commitment, Good Work: When Excellence and Ethics Meet, and A Round of Golf with my Father: The New Psychology of Exploring your Past to Make Peace with your Present. His recent research focuses on the development of purpose in adulthood and in American higher education. Damon has been elected to the National Academy of Education and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, highlighting his significant contributions to the field.

Research topics

• Psychology
• Social psychology
• Sociology
• Epistemology
• Political Science
• Public relations
• Cognitive science
• Cognitive psychology
• Philosophy
• Psychoanalysis

Selected publications

• The Psychology of Purpose: A Comprehensive Approach

  Review of General Psychology · 2025-03-04 · 12 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Purpose has long been identified in philosophy and theology as an essential component of a well-directed life. In recent years, support for this longstanding philosophical intuition has come from a rapidly increasing set of studies in psychological science that has examined the nature, origins, development, and positive life outcomes of purpose. Yet this line of research has been limited by unexamined variations in how researchers across multiple labs define and conceptualize purpose. The present review examines prevailing definitions of purpose in present psychological research, discussing the strengths and limitations of each. Three approaches to conceptualizing and defining purpose emerged from this review: The first approach focuses on “ sense of purpose,” drawing on self-reflections structured by survey items such as “ There is a direction in my life. ” The second focuses on general states of psychological well-being, viewing purpose as a subcomponent of such states. The third views purpose as a unique psychological process that combines thought, action, long-term goals, and key features of self-identity. This review describes the features of each approach that present value for future research and practice in the field; and it offers a comprehensive definition that aims to capture the full nature of the psychology of purpose.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Explorations in Progress, Positivity, and Purpose

  Cambridge University Press eBooks · 2025-02-18

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Purpose development in the context of higher education

  Applied Developmental Science · 2024-09-14 · 5 citations

  article1st author
  PublisherDOI

• Family purpose: an empirical investigation of collective purpose

  The Journal of Positive Psychology · 2023 · 8 citations

  • Sociology
  • Political Science
  • Social psychology

  Individual purpose is associated with positive outcomes. Collective purpose, or an enduring intention shared among members of a group for how they seek to contribute to the world beyond their group, may be similarly beneficial. Collective purposes stand to benefit the groups that pursue them as well as the communities that groups find purpose in serving. Despite this, limited research has explored collective purposes. As an instance of collective purpose, the present study explored family purpose. Interviews were conducted with members (N = 87) of 25 families. Findings suggest family purposes exist, they take varied forms based on the target of family members’ shared commitments, and several factors support their pursuit, including shared moral and/or civic virtues, cohesive family structures, family purpose champions, foundational religious beliefs, humble leaders, and shared family identities. Implications of these findings, both for the study of family purpose in particular and collective purposes more generally, are addressed.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• 10 EDUCATION FOR A PURPOSEFUL LIFE

  Columbia University Press eBooks · 2022-06-02 · 5 citations

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Les tactiques spatiales des tribunaux pénaux et les aspects politiques de la technique juridique

  Clio Themis · 2022-01-01

  articleOpen access

  Cet article porte sur le recours grandissant aux conditions à caractère spatial ou géographique, telles que des conditions de ne pas se trouver dans certains lieux publics, de respecter un quadrilatère ou un couvre-feu, une interdiction de communiquer ou encore une interdiction de manifester, imposées dans des ordonnances de mise en liberté ou lors de la détermination de la peine dans le cadre de procédures criminelles. Ces conditions ont des conséquences importantes sur les populations en situation d’itinérance et marginalisées et n’ont pas encore été explorées en profondeur dans la littérature. Contrairement à d’autres formes mieux connues de régulation spatiale, telles que la législation ou les stratégies policières, ces ordonnances s’appuient sur des règles de procédure criminelle bien établies et des pratiques judiciaires routinières. Afin de mieux comprendre ces tactiques spatiales ainsi que leurs conséquences sur les droits des personnes marginalisées et leur utilisation des espaces publics, nous suggérons qu’il est impératif de s’intéresser aux rationalités juridiques et aux pratiques qui soutiennent ces ordonnances.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Scientific and Ethical Mandates in the Study of Purpose

  Human Development · 2022-01-01 · 3 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  We appreciate the letter by Hill and Pfund about our commentary and the opportunity to respond to it. It is exactly this type of interchange that advances understanding and clarity of communication in the scholarly community. The object of our commentary (Bronk & Damon, 2021, “What makes a purpose ‘worth having’) was a thoughtful Human Development article by Burrow et al. (2021) entitled “Are all purposes worth having?” It should be clear from the titles of our commentary and the original article that the question explored by both pieces is how to determine whether a purpose chosen by a young person is worth having. The question is not “What makes a purpose a purpose?” Yet the authors of the present letter intermingle the two questions. Our response to their letter explains the important distinction between the two questions and summarize our views on each.

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• What Makes a Purpose “Worth Having”?

  Human Development · 2021 · 5 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Psychology
  • Epistemology
  • Cognitive psychology
  PublisherDOI

• モラルを育む「理想」の力 : 人はいかにして道徳的に生きられるのか

  北大路書房 eBooks · 2020-01-01

  book1st authorCorresponding

  第１章 道徳性の新しい科学の誤った展開 第２章 能動的で理想を追求する、動機づけられた道徳的自己 第３章 完全なる道徳性心理学を目指して 第４章 誠実 第５章 謙虚さ 第６章 信じる心 第７章 道徳的真実への普遍的な探求

  Publisher

• Issue Information

  New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development · 2020-03-01

  paratextOpen access

  , US$777 (Rest of World), 509 (Europe), 408 (UK

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Frequent coauthors

• Megan M. McClelland

  30 shared

• Daniel Hart

  University of Pretoria

  19 shared

• Anne Colby

  18 shared

• Kendall Cotton Bronk

  12 shared

• Christina Cameron

  Université de Montréal

  12 shared

• Erin Phelps

  12 shared

• Heather Malin

  10 shared

• Richard M. Burton

  Duke University

  9 shared

Education

• Ph.D.

  Stanford University

Awards & honors

• Member of the National Academy of Education
• Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences