Life stories

Overview

The capacity to narrate satisfying life stories about personal experiences differs across individuals. Some of the attributes of these life stories also predict wellbeing.

For example, some individuals often convey stories in which they overcame adversity and experienced a sense of redemption from their suffering. Other individuals often communicate stories in which their life deteriorated, called a contamination sequence, in which positive events were compromised by misfortunes. Individuals who narrate stories about overcoming adversity are usually more satisfied with life and less inclined to experience depression (e.g., McAdams, Reynolds, Lewis, Patten, & Bowman, 2001). In particular, when individuals convey stories about how an experience of profound pain evoked key insights about themselvse, they are more likely to experience satisfaction and fulfilment in life (e.g., Bauer, & McAdams, Pals, 2008).

Second, some life stories convey either a sense of closure or anticipate a pleasurable experience in the future. In contrast, other stories seem incomplete, but anticipate an impending problem--a characteristic that tends to correlate with dissatisfaction in life (King, Scollon, Ramsey, & Williams, 2000).

Third, some life stories emphasize endeavors and activities that align with core values and intrinsic interests (e.g., Bauer & McAdams, 2000; Bauer & McAdams, 2004; Bauer, McAdams, & Sakaeda, 2005). These stories also often coincide with life satisfaction.

Coherence of stories

Features of coherence

Coherence is also a key feature that differs across stories and corresponds to psychological health (Dimaggio & Semerari, 2004). Coherence is sometimes conceptualized as clarity in the temporal and causal sequence of behaviors, enacted to pursue goals (Mandler, 1984). In contrast, McAdams (2006) characterizes coherence as a story that resonates with the experiences of listeners. In other words, coherence should be defined from the perspective of listeners, not narrators.

Habermas and Bluck (2000) distinguish four features that characterize coherent life stories. The first feature is temporal coherence, which refers to whether the sequence of events is specific and plausible. For example, references to a marriage before allusions to meeting their partner might reflect temporal incoherence. This ability is partly acquired throughout preschool years (Friedman, 1992) but continues to develop throughout childhood. At age 13, most students can order events by the seasons of a year (Friedman, W. J.& Lyon, 2005).

The second feature is causal coherence, in which the story explains how events unfold--that is, the processes, causes, motives, and meaning that underpin the shift from one event to another event. Only in late adolescence to children tend to develop this capacity. The third feature is thematic coherence, in the story revolves around a single, unifying, and overarching theme. Individuals during mid-adolescence develop the ability to generate these themes. The final feature is autobiographical coherence, in which the story conforms to a normative life course, as defined by cultural expectations. This form of coherence is specific to life stories and does not apply to other accounts.

Examples of coherence

Adler, Wagner, and McAdams (2007) presented some examples of cohesive accounts about their experiences in counselling. First coherent accounts tend to integrate experiences into an insight about themselves. One woman, for instance, asserted that:

"Just as living in another culture (which I also have done) destabilizes all your assumptions of what is natural and true, so labeling myself as "ADHD or "perfectionist" opened up possibilities of other ways of being.

This excerpt shows how the individual related her experiences of therapy to her life abroad. That is, she integrated several experiences during her counselling session to a change in her self concept. In contrast, another person conveyed that:

"Everything is really going fine. I have been taking medication everyday since therapy"

During this excerpt, the person does not relate this major development in their life to any changes in their sense of self.

Measurement of coherence

Baerger and McAdams (1999) developed a coding system to measure the extent to which life stories, often extracted during therapeutic sessions, are coherent. Four dimensions were developed to represent coherence. Specifically, integration represents the extent to which the autobiographical events of individuals relate to a unifying theme, sense of meaning, or perspective about themselves. Second, affect represents the degree to which emotion is depicted clearly and convincingly.

Third, structure refers to whether or not the temporal sequence of events is compelling. For example, to be coherent, each episode should include a reference to an event that initiated some reaction, the personal thoughts or feelings that followed this event--such as goals or plans, the behaviors these thoughts or feelings evoked, and a consequence.

Finally, orientation refers to whether or not the context or setting in which the events unfold is specific and vivid. For example, this dimension refers to whether individuals present background to the story, and relate the context to a broader account of themselves. They might describe their age, role, or objectives at the time as well as events that affected their decisions and behavior.

For example, Adler, Wagner, and McAdams (2007), instructed participants to write about five scenes about an experience in psychotherapy: the presenting problem, the decision to seek therapy, the two most significant sessions, and the termination. Two independent raters assessed accounts of all five scenes as a single narrative, rating the level of integration, affect, structure, and orientation on a five point scale.

The four ratings were highly correlated with each other, but unrelated to the length of these accounts. Inter-rater reliability approximated or exceeded .8 for all four ratings (Adler, Wagner, & McAdams, 2007).

References

Adler, J. M., & McAdams, D. P. (2007). Telling stories about therapy: Ego development, well-being, and the therapeutic relationship. In R. Josselson, D. P. McAdams, & A. Lieblich (Eds.), The meaning of others: Narrative Studies of Relationships. Washington, DC: APA Books.

Adler, J. M., Kissel, E. C., & McAdams, D. P. (2006). Emerging from the CAVE: Attributional style and the narrative study of identity in midlife adults. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 30, 39-51.

Adler, J. M., Wagner, J. W., & McAdams, D. P. (2007). Personality and the coherence of psychotherapy. Journal of Research in Personality, 41, 1179-1198.

Angus, L. E., & McLeod, J. (2004). Toward an integrative framework for understanding the role of narrative in the psychotherapy process. In L. E. Angus & J. McLeod (Eds.), The handbook of narrative and psychotherapy: practice, theory, and research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Baerger, D. R., & McAdams, D. P. (1999). Life story coherence and its relation to psychological well-being. Narrative Inquiry, 9, 69-96.

Bauer, J. J., & Bonanno, G. A. (2001). Continuity amid discontinuity: Bridging one's past and present in stories of conjugal bereavement. Narrative Inquiry, 11, 123-158.

Bauer, J. J., & McAdams, D. P. (2000). Competence, relatedness, and autonomy in life stories. Psychological Inquiry, 11, 276-279.

Bauer, J. J., & McAdams, D. P. (2004). Growth goals, maturity, and well-being. Developmental Psychology, 40, 114-127.

Bauer, J. J., & McAdams, D. P., Pals, J. L. (2008). Narrative identity and eudaimonic well-being. Journal of Happiness Studies, 9, 81-104.

Bauer, J. J., McAdams, D. P., & Sakaeda, A. R. (2005). Interpreting the good life: Growth memories in the lives of mature, happy people. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88, 203-217.

Bluck, S., & Gluck, J. (2004). Making things better and learning a lesson: Experiencing wisdom across the lifespan. Journal of Personality, 72, 543-572.

Dimaggio, G., & Semerari, A. (2004). Disorganized narratives: The psychological condition and its treatment. In L. E. Angus & J. McLeod (Eds.), The handbook of narrative and psychotherapy (pp. 263-282). London: Sage.

Friedman, W. J. (1992). Children's time memory: The development of a differentiated past. Cognitive Development, 7, 171-187.

Friedman, W. J., & Lyon, T. D. (2005). Development of temporal-reconstructive abilities. Child Development, 76, 1202-1216.

Habermas, T., & Bluck, S. (2000). Getting a life: The emergence of the life story in adolescence. Psychological Bulletin, 126, 748-769.

Howard, G. (1991). Culture tales: A narrative approach to thinking, cross-cultural psychology, and psychotherapy. American Psychologist, 40, 187-197.

King, L. A. (2001). The hard road to the good life: The happy, mature person. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 41, 51-72.

King, L. A., Scollon, C. K., Ramsey, C., & Williams, T. (2000). Stories of life transition: Subjective well-being and ego development in parents of children with Down Syndrome. Journal of Research in Personality, 34, 509-536.

Lieblich, A. (2004). The place of psychotherapy in the life stories of women in households without men. In A. Lieblich, D. P. McAdams, & R. Josselson (Eds.), Healing plots: the narrative basis of psychotherapy (pp. 171-188). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Lysaker, P. H., Davise, L. W., Hunter, N. L., Nees, M. A., & Wickett, A. (2005). Personal narratives in schizophrenia: Increases in coherence following five months of vocational rehabilitation. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 29, 66-68.

Lysaker, P. H., Lancaster, R. S., & Lysaker, J. T. (2003). Narrative transformation as an outcome in the psychotherapy of schizophrenia. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 76, 285-299.

Lysaker, P. H., Wickett, A. M., Campbell, K., & Buck, K. D. (2003). Movement towards coherence in the psychotherapy of schizophrenia: A method for assessing narrative transformation. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 191, 538-541.

Mandler, J. (1984). Stories, scripts, and scenes: Aspects of schema theory. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

McAdams, D. P. (1985). Power, intimacy, and the life story: Personological inquiries into identity. New York: Guilford Press.

McAdams, D. P. (1993). The stories we live by: Personal myths and the making of the self. New York: William Morrow.

McAdams, D. P. (2001). The psychology of life stories. Review of General Psychology, 5, 100-122.

McAdams, D. P. (2006). The problem of narrative coherence. Journal of Constructivist Psychology, 19, 109-125.

McAdams, D. P., Anyidoho, N. A., Brown, C., Huang, Y. T., Kaplan, B., & Machado, M. A. (2004). Traits and stories: Links between dispositional and narrative features of personality. Journal of Personality, 72, 761-784.

McAdams, D. P., Josselson, R., & Lieblich, A. (2006). Identity and story: Creating self in narrative. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

McAdams, D. P., Reynolds, J., Lewis, M., Patten, A., & Bowman, P. T. (2001). When bad things turn good and good things turn bad: Sequences of redemption and contamination in life narrative, and their relation to psychosocial adaptation in midlife adults and in students. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27, 472-483.

Pals, J. L. (2006). Narrative identity processing of difficult life experiences: Pathways of personality development and positive self-transformation in adulthood. Journal of Personality, 74, 1079-1110.

Singer, J. A. (2004). Narrative identity and meaning-making across the adult lifespan: An introduction. Journal of Personality, 72, 437-460.

Thorne, A., Cutting, L., & Skaw, D. (1998). Young adults' relationship memories and the life story: Examples or essential landmarks? Narrative Inquiry, 8, 237-268.

Created by Dr Simon Moss on 18/10/2008

Free Personality Tests : Relationships - Personality - Beliefs - Wellbeing - Attitudes - Behaviour - Cognitive Abilities