My Story

L 13.12

brain

automatically creates a story to connect two unrelated images because it is impossible to be in the world without creating a story about our experience

Theodore Sarbin

Narrative Psychology: The Storied Nature of Human Conduct

Focus→ narrative turn in psychology

Narrative is a root metaphor for psychology and the human sciences

Person is a storyteller, not a machine of stimulus-response episodes or behaviors or drives or a developing organism

Dan McAdams

people with redemptive life narratives have higher

• psychological wellbeing

• Generativity

• Sense of purpose

Personal Narratives and the Life Story

Life Story Model of Identity

Narrative identity

An individual’s internalized, evolving, and integrative story of the self

Begins in adolescence

Provides coherence and meaning

Unifies the different roles and events, focuses the direction of a person’s life

Second year

story telling beings in the __ __ of life

adolescence

narrative identity begins in ___

Life story model of identity

identity is a story, ongoing, evolving

Contains a setting, plot, themes, characters, etc

An integrated narrative that provides coherence

Constructed by the person in specific cultural contexts

McAdams core themes

power—agency

Intimacy—connection

Power—agency

narratives feature “agentic” life themes

• self mastery, status, victory, achievement and responsibility, empowerment

Intimacy—connection

communal narratives, emphasize relational dimensions

• love, friendship, dialogue, caring for others, belongingness

Life story elements

high points

Low points

Turning points

Other emotionally charged events

autobiographical memory

develops in a social context

Begins in childhood with recollection of specific events

In adolescence, stories are linked into a meaningful narrative

Continues through adulthood

Early, middle, and late adulthood

autobiographical memory social context

Family (nuclear and extended), local community, schools, churches, region, country

autobiographical memory childhood

recollection of specific events

Scaffolded by parents and other family members

“We went to the store, then to the doctor’s office…”

autobiographical memory adolescence

stores are linked into a meaningful narrative

autobiographical memory early adulthood

settle on compelling values and belief systems

Coherent sense of self (who I am)

autobiographical memory middle adulthood

period of generativity and awareness→ life is half over

autobiographical memory late adulthood

wisdom

autobiographical reasoning

____ ____ about negative events has two steps

step 1

explain the experience in depth, thinking long and hard about what happened

Step 2

tell the story while making a commitment to a positive resolution of the event

Writing autobiographical memories effects

exploring negative events in detail is associated with psychological maturity

Enables the creation of a redemptive self→ seeing one’s life as a narrative of redemption

Redemption sequences

redemption sequences

protagonist is delivered from suffering to an enhanced status or state

Pennebaker and Seagal

forming a story: the health benefits of narrative

Writing a narrative

Writing study

Pennebaker’s method:

• write about a topic for 4 consecutive days, 15 minutes each day

• Once the writing starts, do not stop

• Topic→ traumatic experiences in their lives

Pennebaker’s results

98% of the participants said they would participate in the study again

Writing even 15 minutes a day improved health

Benefits→ lower back pain, depression, higher grades, faster times getting job interviews

Caveat→ may not benefit PTSD without cognitive and coping-skills training

Those with stigmatized identity benefited more than the general community

Those with non-visible identity benefited more when writing about being a member of the stigmatized group

Effects on mood

participants were more unhappy and distressed in the hours after writing

Two weeks after the studies, they reported being happy or happier than controls

why Pennebaker’s method worked

writing makes things more conscious

Behavior change followed writing

Health gains require translation of an experience into language

The more people used positive-emotion words, the more their health improved

Elizabeth Stone

don’t write about anything you don’t want to write about

Don’t write more personally than you’re comfortable with

Only write about experiences you are willing to be asked about in detail and to explore thoroughly as writing

Stone’s findings

Unexpected finding→ risky disclosure

As students shared their stories, they became close

Our students want more than ever to be known by us