This study investigated how the relationship between adolescent purpose in life and risky behavior changed under varying conditions of gender, levels of adolescent egocentrism, and ethnicity (African-American, Anglo-American, Hispanic-American). High school students (n=582) in an ethnically diverse school system in the Southwestern United States participated in the study. Independent variables included purpose in life (measured by the Purpose in Life Test), gender, adolescent egocentrism (measured by the Adolescent Egocentrism Scale), and ethnicity; the dependent variable was risky behaviors (measured by the Youth Risk Behavior Survey)
