Narrative Identity

Question 1

Narrative identity is the _________ level of personality capturing how an individual ______ ________ through the _________ _________ of a coherent and purposeful ____ ______.

Answer 1

Narrative identity is a broadest level of personality capturing how an individual defines themselves through the social construction of a meaningful life story

Question 2

What was McAdams (1992) main criticism of trait theories?

Answer 2

they are not comprehensive enough as they make personality synonymous with traits

Question 3

McAdams argues that traits do not show how people explain their _________, and traits are not grounded in a ________ or _____-_________ context.

Answer 3

do not allow for people to explain their individuality
not grounded in socio-historical or cultural context

Question 4

McAdams theory is based on what 3 assumptions?

Answer 4

selfhood is made not given
self develops over time
people seek temporal coherence in themselves

Question 5

What is McAdams 3 levels of integrative personality?

Answer 5

Level 1 - traits
Level 2 - personal concerns
Level 3 - Narrative Identity

Question 6

Traits are ________ _________ of personality and rather _______________

Answer 6

Traits = dispositional signatures of personality and decontextualized over time

Question 7

Personal concerns focus on things such as __________ and _____, and are ___________ within a time or place

Answer 7

Personal concerns - motivations, skills values etc
contextualised within a time or place

Question 8

Personal concerns do not provide us with what 2 features of a personality?

Answer 8

A unified identity across time
a sense of what life experiences mean to a person

Question 9

The Life Story Interview (LSI) typically lasts about __ - __ hours, where a person divides their life into ______, describing key ____, __________ and ______, and their _________. It is quite a ______ ________ method.

Answer 9

typically lasts 2-3 hours where a person tells story of their life in chapters
describing key events, characters and plots as well as their significance
labour - intensive method

Question 10

Narratives in the LSI do not necessarily assess ______ of an event, but rather a individual differences in_________ of an event

Answer 10

doesn’t assess truth or reality of an event
but how different people interpret events differently

Question 11

What 5 common dimensions/constructs do researchers in the LSI code for?

Answer 11

Agency (control)
Communion (relationships)
Redemption (after event)
Contamination (negative events - how they are dealt with)
Meaning Making (how we make meaning of something)

Question 12

A Decontextualized approach averages constructs across ______________, whereas a more contextualized approach averages constructs across ____________________., and is more _______ specific.

Answer 12

Decontextualized - averages constructs/dimensions across all of life
Contextualized - averages constructs across specific life domains (love, work) - more of a domain specific approach

Question 13

Narrative coding is needed for the purpose of statistical analyses, therefore coding requires _______ coding schemes. Coders are trained with _______ ________.. There are often _______ ________ and
____-_____ reliability is tested.

Answer 13

Requires defined coding schemes
researchers train with example narratives
often multiple coders and inter-rater reliability tested

Question 14

What are the 3 parts to the structure to the Life Story Interview?

Answer 14

Autobiographical reasoning
structure
affective and motivational

Question 15

McAdams (2001) found that redemption __________ correlated with life satisfaction and psychological wellbeing, and _________ corelated with depression. Contamination _______ correlated with depression and ________ correlated with life satisfaction.

Answer 15

Redemption - positively correlated with life satisfaction and psychological wellbeing and negatively correlated with depression
Contamination was the opposite.

Question 16

Alder et al carried out a longitudinal study testing _____ and ______ health every year for __ years. The four life scenes that were coded for/studied were _____ point, _____ point, _____ point, and personal ______ ________.

Answer 16

Longitudinal study testing mental and physical health every year for 5 years
coded high point, low point, turning point and personal health challenge

Question 17

Alder et al found that _________ and ________ had a positive trajectory to mental health, whereas ________ had a negative trajectory to mental health.

Answer 17

Agency and redemption had a positive trajectory to MH
Contamination had a negative trajectory to MH

Question 18

Alder et al found that in people with serious _________, contamination, communion, agency, and redemption were all related to _______ and _______ health. In people with no serious illness, the four dimensions were ______ _______

Answer 18

serious illness - all dimensions related to MH and PH
no illness - 4 dimensions less related/not significant

Question 19

Dunlop and Tracy studied narratives in ________. They found that _______ narratives significantly predicted _______. In the redemption group, ______ also significantly improved

Answer 19

Dunlop and Tracy - alcoholics
redemption narratives predicted sobriety
health also improved in redemption group

Question 20

Adler et al 2012 studied therapy patients. He found that over 12 weeks of psychotherapy, ______ increased, but narrative ______ did not. Increases in ______ were correlated with improved ______ health, and trait ________ also decreased.

Answer 20

Agency increased over 12 weeks of therapy, narrative coherence did not
increases in agency correlated with improved mental health and neuroticism decreases

Question 21

In terms of the incremental validity of narrative identity, Adler et al (2016) carried out a review. He found that _______ and ______ constructs, as well as ________ meaning constructs significantly predicted _________

Answer 21

affective and motivational constructs
integrative meaning
predicted well being