Autobiographical reasoning in life narratives buffers the effect of biographical disruptions on the sense of self-continuity

Habermas, Tilmann; Köber, Christin

doi:10.1080/09658211.2014.920885

Cited by 114 publications

(107 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…It aligns with the conclusions from recent study that found that among participants who had experienced recent “biographical disruptions” (events which instilled a sense of self-discontinuity), autobiographical reasoning coded in their narratives of key life events was associated with repaired self-continuity (Habermas & Köber, 2014). An analogous effect was not observed in participants who did not experience recent biographical disruptions.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Variation in narrative identity is associated with trajectories of mental health over several years.

Adler¹,

Turner²,

Brookshier³

et al. 2015

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

173

108

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This paper presents two longitudinal studies designed to assess the relationship between variability in narrative identity and trajectories of mental health over several years. In Study 1, core scenes from 89 late-mid-life adults’ life stories were assessed for several narrative themes. Participants’ mental health and physical health were assessed concurrently with the narratives and once a year for the subsequent four years. Concurrent analyses indicated that the themes of agency, redemption, and contamination were significantly associated with mental (but not physical) health. Longitudinal analyses indicated that these same three themes were significantly associated with participants’ trajectories of mental health over the course of four years. Exploratory analyses indicated that narratives of challenging experiences may be central to this pattern of results. In Study 2, similar longitudinal analyses were conducted on a sample of 27 late-mid-life adults who received a major physical illness diagnosis between the baseline assessment and six months later and a matched sample of 27 control participants who remained healthy throughout the study. Participants’ mental health and physical health were assessed every six months for two years. In this tightly controlled study, the themes of agency, communion, redemption, and contamination in participants’ life narratives collected at Baseline (before any participant got sick) were significantly positively associated with mental health in the group of participants who went on to receive a medical diagnosis, but not in the control group. Taken together, the results of these two studies indicate that the way an individual constructs personal narratives may impact his or her trajectory of mental health over time.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Variation in narrative identity is associated with trajectories of mental health over several years.

Adler¹,

Turner²,

Brookshier³

et al. 2015

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

173

108

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Along with being off-time, certain types of events can be seen as deviations. Positive events are viewed as central to the cultural life script, making negative events (e.g., divorce, illness, losing a job) the deviations [e.g., Grysman et al, 2015;Habermas & Köber, 2015;Rubin & Berntsen, 2003]. Indeed, Habermas [2007] noted that the majority of personal memories in the life story are not a part of the cultural concept of biography, which underscores the difference between the life story and these expectations.…”

Section: Case Examples Of Master Narrativesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The expectations for a life can change over time, but these expectations are also relatively intractable -they are rigid and compulsory -which is made vivid when there are deviations from expectations [see Habermas & Köber, 2015]. The challenge of deviation at the individual level can be seen with the stress experienced by those who are off-time with regards to culturally expected normative transitions, such as marriage and childbearing [Elder, 1998;Kaplan & Gangestad, 2005].…”

Section: Case Examples Of Master Narrativesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Intrapersonal approaches involve examining how individuals make sense of their past experiences in light of their current concerns and identity positions. This general approach is broadly represented within the literature on autobiographical reasoning [Habermas & Köber, 2015;McAdams & McLean, 2013], but places specific emphasis on how people reason about their selves in relation to the broader society [Syed & McLean, 2016]. For example, in asking individuals to report on experiences of deviation from master narratives [Alpert et al, 2013], we can understand the process by which people negotiate "not fitting in," can analyze the content of the deviations, and locate these negotiation points in the lifespan (e.g., the parts of the biographical master narrative that are most or least ripe for movement).…”

Section: What Do Negotiation and Internalization Look Like?mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Personal, Master, and Alternative Narratives: An Integrative Framework for Understanding Identity Development in Context

2015

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In this paper we propose a model for examining personal identity development that moves attention from a relatively exclusive examination of the individual to an examination of the intersection between self and society. We propose that a master narrative model of identity development allows researchers to: (a) align the study of culture and individual on the same metric of narrative, (b) investigate the processes of negotiating personal and cultural narratives, the latter of which are embedded within the structures of society, and (c) investigate the internalization of those structures in personal identities. In laying out this model we define a narrative approach to identity development, five principles for defining master narratives (ubiquity, utility, invisibility, rigidity, and their compulsory nature), three types of master narratives (life course, structural, and episodic), and case examples of each type. This model brings attention to the interaction between self and society, as well as to the constraints on individual agency to construct a personal identity. We conclude by raising questions that emerge out of this framework that we hope will inspire future work on the relationship between self and society in the study of identity development.

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“…In the lifespan sample of the Frankfurt longitudinal study MainLife, having experienced changes in life circumstances in the past four years led to a lower sense of self-continuity. Autobiographical reasoning in life narratives, however, compensated for this loss of self-continuity in those who had experienced biographical disruptions [Habermas & Köber, 2015a].…”

Section: Autobiographical Reasoning and Well-being Across Adolescencementioning

confidence: 99%

Getting a Life Takes Time: The Development of the Life Story in Adolescence, Its Precursors and Consequences

Habermas¹,

Reese²

2015

Human Development

Self Cite

114

136

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The life story is a special cognitive-communicative format which allows understanding persons from a biographical perspective through autobiographical reasoning and life narrating. Reviewing research on the development of the life story from the past 15 years, we clarify the conceptual and developmental specificity of the life story by comparing it to single event stories, and the specificity of autobiographical reasoning by comparing it to other forms of reasoning. To support the claim that the life story emerges only in adolescence, we review the earlier development of self and autobiographical remembering leading up to the life story. We outline the significance of autobiographical reasoning for bridging biographical ruptures, and we discuss the meaning of the cultural context for the development of the life story and its functionality. Finally, we suggest major developmental research questions that remain to be pursued.

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Autobiographical reasoning in life narratives buffers the effect of biographical disruptions on the sense of self-continuity

Cited by 114 publications

References 32 publications

Variation in narrative identity is associated with trajectories of mental health over several years.

Variation in narrative identity is associated with trajectories of mental health over several years.

Personal, Master, and Alternative Narratives: An Integrative Framework for Understanding Identity Development in Context

Getting a Life Takes Time: The Development of the Life Story in Adolescence, Its Precursors and Consequences

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