Perspective Transformation Over Time: A 2-Year Follow-Up Study of HIV-Positive Adults

The purpose of this study was to find out whether HIV-positive adults who had participated in a study of the centrality of meaning-making in transformational learning had maintained 2 years later their perspectives of making meaningful contributions through service to others, or if the advent of protease inhibitors would have resulted in their reverting to previously held, self oriented, and materialistic views of the world. Fourteen of the original 18 participants were interviewed. Two major findings emerged: First, for all 14 participants, the perspective transformations that they had undergone 2 years previously had held. Second, there were changes in meaning schemes that included the adoption of a future-oriented perspective, greater attention to care of the self, and an integration of the HIV-positive status into their self-definition. The life-changing nature of transformational learning, the stability of its outcomes, and ongoing changes in meaning schemes suggest implications for adult educators.