lecture 4 Flashcards
what is narrative identity?
third and broadest level of personality
how individual define themselves through their life story
who proposed narrative identity?
McAdams, 1996
which assumptions are narrative identity based off?
selfhood is not given (it is made)
the self develops over time
people seek temporal coherence in their self
what is the integrative theory of personality?
3 levels: traits, personal concerns, narrative identity
what are traits?
dispositional aspects of personality
stable across lifespan and situations
what are personal concerns?
individual differences between people
contextualised
how do we measure narrative identity?
life story interview
participant tells their life story- what is meaningful to them
how do we code the life story interview?
code for 5 common dimensions
McAdams and McLean, 2013
what are the variables the life story interview codes for?
agency
communion
redemption
contamination
meaning making
what is agency?
the control people feel they have over a situation
what is communion?
the quality of relationships people have
what is redemption?
something good coming out of a bad situation
what is contamination?
expecting a situation to be good but something bad ends up happening
what is meaning making?
subjective interpretation of a situation
what is contextualised narrative identity?
averaging constructs across specific life domains which people think are meaningful
what are the aspects of inter rater reliability?
defined coding schemes= go in looking for something specific
training with example narratives= make sure people interpret informatoin in the same way
multiple coders, often blind to the hypotheses
inter rater reliability statistics to examine the consistency across coders
who investigated the structure of narrative identity?
McLean et al, 2020
what did McLean et al 2020 do to investigate the structure of narrative identity?
found 3 dimensions that make up narrative identity
structure
autobiographical reasoning
affective and motivational
what is autobiographical reasoning?
reflection of events
how people attach meaning to their identity
what is structure?
does it provide a coherent construct
what is affective and motivational?
emotions determine how we interpret events
who investigated redemption in narrative identity?
McAdams et al, 2001
how did McAdams et al 2021 investigate redemption in narrative identity?
used two samples in different life stages
mid life adults completed the Life Story Interview
undergraduate students produced a written Life Story Interview
coded for redemption and contamination in life scenes
answered questionnaires on current wellbeing
what did McAdams et al 2021 find out about redemption in narrative identity?
more redemption= more satisfaction with life, less depression
more contamination= less satisfaction with life, more depression
who used a longitudnal design to investigate redemption in narrative identity?
Alder et al, 2015
how did Alder et al 2015 investigate narrative identity?
investigated whether narrative identity is associated with wellbeing over time
mid life participants were sampled from a study which included the Life Story Interview
were asked if they had experienced a personal health challenge
chose 4 life scenes, and each of these was coded
what life scenes were selected for Alder’s 2015 study?
high point
low point
personal health challenge
turning point
what was each life scene coded for in Alder’s 2015 study?
agency
communion
redemption
contamination
what did Alder et al 2015 conclude about the effect of narrative identity on wellbeing?
no significant difference in physical health for narrative identity, but did impact mental health
what was the effect of agency and redemption on mental health?
positive
what was the effect of contamination on mental health?
negative
what second study did Alder et al 2015 do to assess the impact of narrative identity on mental health?
studied whether the findings still hold in a prospective investigation after a negative health experience
54 participants from an existing longitudnal study: half got a major illness diagnosis during the time of the study
completed the life story interview
what were the results of Alder’s et al 2015 second study?
illness group showed poorer trajectories in physical, but not mental health, compared to the control group
who investigated redemptive narrative in alcoholics?
Dunlop and Tracy, 2013
what did Dunlop and Tracy find out about the redemptive narrative?
investigated whether redemptive narrative precedes behavioural change in recovering alcoholics
44 participants
divided into redemption narrative and non-redemption narrative groups
what were the two waves in Dunlop and Tracy’s redemptive study?
wave 1: narrative about their last drink, questionnaires about health/personality/months of sobriety
wave 2: 4 months later, participants were re-administered the same questionnaires
what were the results of Dunlop and Tracy’s study on the redemptive narrative?
redemption signficantly predicted sobriety
health of participants in the redemption group significantly improved from wave 1 to wave 2
who investigated the changes to narrative identity due to psychotherapy?
Alder 2012
how did Alder 2012 investigate the changes in narrative identity after psychotherapy?
examined changes in narrative identity across psychotherapy
narrative account of the therapeutic process before and after each session
coded for agency and coherence
mental health questionnaires assessed before and after sessions
what were Alder’s 2012 findings when investigating the changes to narrative identity?
agency increased
no changes to coherence
increased agency was positively associated with increases in mental health
what is the incremental validity of narrative identity?
whether individual differences in narrative identity predict outcomes when we account for dispositional traits/individual differences
does narrative identity provide us with more information than if we just looked at traits
who reviewed the research on narrative identity?
Alder et al, 2016
what did Alder et al find out about the incremental validity of narrative identity?
reviewed 30 papers
examined narrative identity but controlled for individual differences
strong evidence- affective and motivational improved wellbeing
strong evidence- autobiographical reasoning improved wellbeing
little evidence available for structure
what is the incremental validity of Alder et al’ 2012s studies?
found that neuroticism decreased after psychotherapy
which predicted mental health, but narrative agency remained a predictor of mental health
what is the incremental validity of Dunlop and Tracy’s 2013 studies?
redemption predicted sobriety behaviour, even controlling for traits
