The Narrative Self (Midterm #2) Flashcards
What is narrative identity?
A person’s internalized and evolving life story. Has many of the same elements as other narratives: Beginning, middle, and imagined end. Major events that determine plot. Heroes and villains.
Features of Narrative Identity
Not perfectly accurate, instead based on selective and biased construction of the past and imagined future: Narrative identity is deeply personal and highly subjective. A work-in-progress: Constantly shifting as we experience new situations. Made up of multiple stories that may be contradictory.
Function of Narrative Identity
Continuity and unity of the self: organizes the self in time by connecting the past, present, and future self.
–> But total unity is not possible due to selective, biased reconstruction, new experiences, and contradictory life events.
–> Rather, we do our beset to unify our life, even if these efforts are incomplete.
2. Meaning and purpose: A way to make sense of the events of one’s life.
–> i.e. how did a person come to be.
–> People interpret similar events differently to fit their evolving narrative identity.
Relation to James’ Self
We are each the storyteller / author writing the narrative of our lives. Storyteller = I. Narrative = Me.
Development of Narrative Identity
Identity development beings in adolescence due to:
1. Societal expectations about forming an identity and figure out who one is.
2. Improvements in cognitive development
–> Causal coherence: the ability to craft a causal narrative wherein events link together
–> Causal coherence is necessary for the construction of autobiographical narratives.
Narrative Identity is Fundamentally Social
Parents shape narrative skills in children: Parents who use elaborated conversation style, focusing on causes in personal stories and underscoring emotion, tend to have kids who develop strong self-storytelling skills.
As adults, our life narratives are edited and reinterpreted by talking with others: People are more likely to hold on to a personal story and to incorporate it into their more general understanding of who they are when important people in their life agree with the interpretation of the story.
Life Story Interview Study (McAdams, 2008)
Participants are interviewed for 2-3 hours about the story of their life. “Think bout your life as if it were a book or novel. Give a brief plot summary of your story, going chapter by chapter.” Provide a more detailed account of a few key scenes that stand out in the story: High point, low point, turning-point, childhood memories, the next chapter in life. Stories are then coded for themes.
Theme: Agency
The degree to which protagonists are able to affect change in their own lives or influence others in their environment, through demonstrations of self-mastery, empowerment, achievement, or status. Highly agent stories focus on accomplishment and the ability to control one’s fate.
Theme: Communion
The degree to which protagonists demonstrate or experience interpersonal connection through love, friendship, dialogue, or connection to a broad collective. High communion tories emphasize intimacy, caring, and belongingness.
Theme: Redemption
Scenes in which a “bad” event leads to a clearly “good” or emotionally positive outcome. The initial negative state is “redeemed” or salvaged by the good that follows. Tends to frame the negative event as necessary for growth. E.g. the narrator describes the death of her father as reinvigorating closer emotional ties to her other family members.
Theme: Contamination
Scenes in which a positive event turns bad, such that the negative affect overwhelms or erases the effects of the preceding positivity. E.g. The narrator is excited for a promotion at work but learns it came at the expense of his fired being fired.
Theme: Coherence
Narratives with clear causal sequencing, thematic integrity, and appropriate integration of emotional responses. E.g. Participant describes how being attacked by a dog as ac held has led to his anxiety around letting his children adopt a pet.
What do life stories reveal?
Continuity and change in life stories. Associations with personality. Links with well-being.
Continuity and Change Study (McAdams et al., 2006)
3 year longitudinal study asked university students to recall 10 key scenes from their life on 3 different occasions.
Continuity and Change Study (McAdams et al., 2006) - Evidence for continuity
Across the 3 time points, there were consistencies in the level of narrative complexity, agency, and positive emotional tone in the stories.
Continuity and Change Study (McAdams et al., 2006) - Evidence for change
Only 28% of memories described at TI were repeated 3 months later (T2) and only 22% of the original memories were described 3 years later (T3). At the end of the study (T3), young adults constructed stories that were more positive, emotionally nuanced, and showed greater personal understanding compared to the stories at TI.
Life Stories over the Lifespan Study (Baddeley & Singer, 2006; Singer et al., 2007)
Compared to younger adults, older adults tend to construct life stories that are: More complex and coherent (fits with SCC findings), more positive in emotional tone, more summarized and less detailed. Suggests that as we get older, our life story becomes “warmer, fuzzier” and more integrated.
Narrative Identity and Personality: Narrative identity
Internalized and evolving life stories. Tell what a person’s life means in time.
Narrative Identity and Personality: Characteristic adaptations
Values, goals, personal projects, defences. Capture more socially contextualized and motivational aspects of individuality.
Narrative Identity and Personality: Personality traits
Broad individual differences. E.g. Big Five. Account for consistency in behaviour.
Personality and Life Stories: High neuroticism
High neuroticism is associated with stories characterized by: High negative emotion, low positive emotion, less growth, more contamination sequences.
Personality and Life Stories: High agreeableness
High agreeableness is associated with and characterized by: High communion
Personality and Life Stories: Openness to experience
Is associated with stories characterized by: more complex, containing multiple lots, high coherence.
Motives and Life Stories: High power motivation
Associated with life stories that: Emphasize communal themes. Use a holistic and integrated narrative style (focusing on similarities and connections between different life story scenes)
Implications of Narrative Identity and Personality
Different kinds of people construct different kinds of stories (Links between personality, goals, values and life stories. Correlation, not causation (direction of the personality-life story link is unclear).
Narrating Suffering and Growth
Those who are resilient in the face of life challenges tend to engage in a 2-step process of meaning making:
1. Exploring the negative experience in depth.
2. Committing self to a positive resolution: More redemption sequences and focus on personal growth are associated with higher well-being.
People who are depressed tend to create life stories with themes of contamination.
Psychotherapy (Adler et al., 2006; 2008)
Psychotherapy is a prime arena for challenging life stories. Them of personal agency in life story appears to be the most important predictor of therapeutic efficacy: In studies of former psychotherapy patients, those who report current higher levels of well-being tend to narrate heroic stories in which they bravely battled their symptoms. In a prospective study, increases in themes of agency in narratives preceded and predicted improvements in mental heath.
The Redemptive Self
Highly generative midlife adults tend to see their own lives as stories of redemption. Generative: people with a strong commitment to promoting the well-being of future generations and improving the world they live in.
Five Life Story Themes of the Redemptive Self
- Early advantage (EA): The narrator indicates that they have experienced an advantage or distinction (physical, material, psychological, social) that single then out for special positive attention.
- Sensitivity to the suffering of others (SS): The narrator expresses sympathy for the problems of other people or societal injustice as a child.
- Moral steadfastness (MS): The narrator emphasizes strong value system which motivates behaviour. The values are central to their identity and unshakeable.
- Redemption sequences (RS): The narrator describes a movement from demonstrably negative situation to a positive outcome.
- Pro-social, goals (PG): The narrator sets goals that involve contributing to the well-being of others beyond one’s own family.
Correlates of the Redemptive Self Study (McAdams & Guo, 2015)
Examined the life stories of 157 midlife adults. Also completed self-report measures of generatively, psychological, well-being, and depression.
Why is this a good story?
Sets up a moral challenge that encourages the person to help the next generation. Redemption sustains in the face of challenges and setbacks. Culturally valued: Pervasiveness of the redemptive self suggests that it is an American prototype of “the good life”. People use this prototype to make sense of their life.
Culture and the Narrative Self
We construct our narrative identities according to the norms and scripts present in our culture. Culture tells us what events are meaningful, why is a “tellable” story, and provide a blueprint for how to make sense of events. E.g. life milestones = post-secondary education, job, moving out of parent’s house, get married, have kids.
Cultural Differences in Life Stories Study (Leichtman et al., 2003; Wang & Conway, 2004).
North American (vs. East Asian) adults tend to: Report earlier age of first memory, have more detailed memories of childhood, have memories more focused on own personal experiences and emotions (Chinese adults recall more social/historical events and memories place greater emphasis on social interactions and loved ones). Differences in memories reflect cultural differences in prioritization of the individual vs. the collective.
