Context[edit]
Development[edit]
Development of narrative identity in childhood is largely influenced by opportunities for narrative expression through conversations with caregivers and friends. Young children whose parents share more detailed personal narratives from their own lives tend to have more detailed and coherent personal narratives themselves by the end of the preschool age period.[8] In addition, young children whose parents or caregivers engage in more elaborative reminiscing techniques with them (such as asking open-ended questions or including emotional information) when co-constructing stories about past events tend to tell more coherent stories in both childhood and adolescence.[9] Talking to attentive listeners is also important to childhood development of narrative identity as speakers provide more accurate autobiographical information when speaking to attentive listeners as opposed to distracted listeners, therefore developing more specific autobiographical memories which give rise to richer personal narratives.[10]
The capability to independently construct narratives for a life story framework and form an identity emerges in adolescence.[11][12] This aligns with Erikson's stages of psychosocial development, which posits that the central developmental task during adolescence is to establish an individual identity. The development of life story narratives in adolescence is facilitated by co-constructed reminiscing, in which caregivers use discussion, comparison, and analysis of inner motivation to guide reflection about past events and create narratives that explain situations and behavior.[13] This helps adolescents develop an understanding of the relationship between the "self" of the past and their personal narrative in the present [14] This is achieved through autobiographical reasoning which uses (auto-)biographical arguments to relate distant parts of life to each other and to the development of the narrator's self,[15] thereby contributing to life narrative coherence. Establishing a life story plays a vital role in adulthood by supporting generativity,[16] and it helps to foster meaning-making at the end of life.[17][18]
Entire life narratives [12] and single event stories tend to increase in coherence and meaning-making over the course of adolescence.[19] When a child, especially a boy, makes stronger semantic connections in early adolescence, he has a worse sense of well-being, but as he moves to late adolescence his well-being increases.[19] the large jump in cognitive learning during adolescence allows this change to take place. Since this is a very important time for children to expand their social groups and conversational constructs, more semantic narratives can be created and allow the meaning making construct to develop.[20]
Personality psychology[edit]
A person's narrative identity is a layer of personality related to, but distinct from the broad dispositional traits (The Big Five) and contextualized characteristic adaptations, described in Dan P. McAdams's three-level framework.[21] Dispositional traits, drawn from the Five-Factor Model of personality[16][22] are broad, decontextualized descriptors that are relatively stable across the lifespan and are useful for drawing comparisons between individuals. Characteristic adaptations encompass a person's motivations, developmental concerns, and life strategies and are used to describe the individual within their contextualized time, place, and social roles. Narrative identity, the third level in McAdams' framework, encompasses the internalized, evolving story of the self. It is argued that assessing all three levels simultaneously gives you a personological description of the whole person.[23]
Different ways of interpreting and narrating life changes correlate with different forms of personality development.[24] Because of the close linkage between narrative identity and psychological well-being,[25] a common research focus in narrative identity is in exploring the relationship between characteristics of narratives and how they relate to personality development in the domains of ego development and psychological well-being. Individuals who place a high importance on understanding new viewpoints show higher scores in ego development, and those that placed importance on interpersonal relationships, joy and societal contribution tend to have higher scores on well-being.[24]
Epistemology[edit]
Narrative can be approached through one of two epistemological paradigms: hermeneutic (also called "narrative"), or paradigmatic.[26] The hermeneutic approach seeks to capture the specific, personal, and highly contextualized elements of an individual's story.[27] The paradigmatic approach, on the other hand, tries to classify narratives, determine associations, draw cause-and-effect relationships, and test and validate hypotheses - to transcend the particulars that the hermeneutic approach primarily concerned with, to generate generalizable scientific findings.[26]
Autobiographical memory[edit]
The formation and organization of memories is the central mechanism through which narrative identity is constructed. The life story allows individuals to organize recollective memories and more abstract knowledge of their past into a coherent biographical view.[11] Different types of memories have been identified and classified, and have unique influences on how individuals develop their narrative self. Just as autobiographical memories influence personal narratives, these narratives also influence memories - For instance, narrative expression is critical for the development of a sense of agency in autobiographical memories.[10]
The opportunity to tell stories about their lives can help autobiographical narrators establish a coherent sense of who they are.[37] Charlotte Linde's definition of personal experience narrative is quintessential to the idea of narrative identity and is evidence into how these stories and the process of telling them craft the framework for one's own identity. Personal narrative is a powerful tool for creating, negotiating and displaying the moral standing of the self. The self has to be related to something, in this case an audience, but must also be related properly. Personal experience narrative culminates the discontinuity between inner experience and the portrayed self. The often hidden purpose of narratives as a social process is to show that the narrator knows what the norms are and agree with them, or depending on the audience, disagree with them. The very act of narrating creates the occasion for self-regard and editing. "The nature of the process of narration contributes to the creation of this reflexivity, because one can never immediately speak the present in the present. This necessarily creates a distinction between the narrator and the protagonist of the narrative, and interposes a distance between them. Consequently, the narrator can observe, reflect, adjust the amount of distance, and correct the self that is being created." Thus, temporal continuity- or identity of the self through time- is the most basic form of coherence we can create.[40]
Narrative identity is mainly concerned with autobiographical memories and often are influenced by the meaning and emotions the individual has assigned to that event. These memories perform a self-representative function by using personal memories to create and maintain a coherent self-identity, or narrative identity, over time. Autobiographical memories that have to do with important goals within a certain period of life and correspond with the concerns of the present self have been termed "self-defining memories",[41] and are especially important in narrative identity formation. When these memories contain recurring emotion-outcome sequences (see: content), together they give rise to "narrative scripts." Development of a narrative identity that promotes psychological well-being requires combining autobiographical memory specificity, the ability to recall self-defining memories of specific instances in your past, with the narrative construct of meaning-making to attain insight from the narrative script.[42]
Storytelling process[edit]
Beyond the content of people's stories, the storytelling process is essential to understanding narrative identity.[43] The purpose of stories, the role of the listener, and storytelling patterns all influence the way stories are told, and thus narrative identity.
Richard Bauman states that different forms of conversational genres (personal experience narrative, tall tale, practical joke), interrelatedly, add texture and flavor to one's life. The formats of the stories that we tell reveal truths about our own personal identity. Together, they provide the narrator with a toolset of means to figure him/ herself in a variety of alignments to a remarkably consistent and coherent set of epistemological and social-relational concerns.[44]
Bluck has conceptualized several reasons people tell narratives. One reason is for directive purposes, which involves transmitting information regarding the future. Additionally, stories are told for social reasons, in particular communication, persuasion, and entertainment purposes. Finally, narrators can benefit by expressing themselves, in addition to giving life purpose and meaning.[45]
Listeners also possess power over the process of storytelling, and therefore the outcome of narrative identity. For instance, listener attentiveness elicits from the narrator more coherent stories, punchy endings, dynamic arcs over the course of the story, and overall, more specific and engaging stories.[46] Themes in narratives can influence the listener's attitude toward the storyteller. For example, contamination sequences in bereavement narratives tend to elicit sympathy, while redemption sequences make the listener feel more comfortable and accepting of the narrator.[47] Both positive moods and the act of telling the story can influence the narrator's relationship with the listener - and lead to more intimate sharing by the narrator.[46]
Storytelling patterns may also impact an individual's narrative identity. - for instance, untold experiences are more likely to be forgotten and considered less important.[48] Research has shown that 90% of emotional experiences are disclosed within a few days of the event,[49] and 62% of the "most memorable events of the day" are told by end of that day.[48] Those events that get forgotten cannot be included in the narrator's story of the self, and therefore cannot play a role in their identity.
Researchers focus on the storytelling process participants use in order to code the content the participants are showing. If a participant explains he or she participated in a sport not because he particularly liked it but because he could win, researchers would say he is using performance content to narrate his life.[31] Storytelling is a very important piece to the methodology of narrative research for it provides variables the researchers can assess.