Narrative Identity Flashcards
Narrative identity is the _________ level of personality capturing how an individual ______ ________ through the _________ _________ of a coherent and purposeful ____ ______.
Narrative identity is a broadest level of personality capturing how an individual defines themselves through the social construction of a meaningful life story
What was McAdams (1992) main criticism of trait theories?
they are not comprehensive enough as they make personality synonymous with traits
McAdams argues that traits do not show how people explain their _________, and traits are not grounded in a ________ or _____-_________ context.
do not allow for people to explain their individuality
not grounded in socio-historical or cultural context
McAdams theory is based on what 3 assumptions?
selfhood is made not given
self develops over time
people seek temporal coherence in themselves
What is McAdams 3 levels of integrative personality?
Level 1 - traits
Level 2 - personal concerns
Level 3 - Narrative Identity
Traits are ________ _________ of personality and rather _______________
Traits = dispositional signatures of personality and decontextualized over time
Personal concerns focus on things such as __________ and _____, and are ___________ within a time or place
Personal concerns - motivations, skills values etc
contextualised within a time or place
Personal concerns do not provide us with what 2 features of a personality?
A unified identity across time
a sense of what life experiences mean to a person
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.
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
Narratives in the LSI do not necessarily assess ______ of an event, but rather a individual differences in_________ of an event
doesn’t assess truth or reality of an event
but how different people interpret events differently
What 5 common dimensions/constructs do researchers in the LSI code for?
Agency (control)
Communion (relationships)
Redemption (after event)
Contamination (negative events - how they are dealt with)
Meaning Making (how we make meaning of something)
A Decontextualized approach averages constructs across ______________, whereas a more contextualized approach averages constructs across ____________________., and is more _______ specific.
Decontextualized - averages constructs/dimensions across all of life
Contextualized - averages constructs across specific life domains (love, work) - more of a domain specific approach
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.
Requires defined coding schemes
researchers train with example narratives
often multiple coders and inter-rater reliability tested
What are the 3 parts to the structure to the Life Story Interview?
Autobiographical reasoning
structure
affective and motivational
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.
Redemption - positively correlated with life satisfaction and psychological wellbeing and negatively correlated with depression
Contamination was the opposite.
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 ______ ________.
Longitudinal study testing mental and physical health every year for 5 years
coded high point, low point, turning point and personal health challenge
Alder et al found that _________ and ________ had a positive trajectory to mental health, whereas ________ had a negative trajectory to mental health.
Agency and redemption had a positive trajectory to MH
Contamination had a negative trajectory to MH
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 ______ _______
serious illness - all dimensions related to MH and PH
no illness - 4 dimensions less related/not significant
Dunlop and Tracy studied narratives in ________. They found that _______ narratives significantly predicted _______. In the redemption group, ______ also significantly improved
Dunlop and Tracy - alcoholics
redemption narratives predicted sobriety
health also improved in redemption group
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.
Agency increased over 12 weeks of therapy, narrative coherence did not
increases in agency correlated with improved mental health and neuroticism decreases
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 _________
affective and motivational constructs
integrative meaning
predicted well being
