Abstract

The Life Engagement Test is a self-report measure of purpose in life. The purpose of the present study was to examine the reliability and construct validity of a Japanese translation of the Life Engagement Test (LET-J) in two samples of 409 Japanese college students (166 women, 263 men; mean age = 21.07 years, SD = 1.14) and 439 adult workers (232 women, 207 men; mean age = 39.79 years, SD = 11.23). The LET-J was found to have acceptable internal consistency reliability in both samples (αs = .82 to .86) and test– retest reliability in the student sample (r = .76). Exploratory factor analysis and subsequent confirmatory factor analysis supported the expected one-factor structure of the LET-J in both samples. The expected correlations with scores on the hedonic and eudaimonic well-being measures were generally found common to both samples, supporting the discriminant and convergent validity of the LET-J. The LET-J was shown to be a useful measure that will certainly contribute to research on purpose in life in the Japanese population.