Consistency and stability of narrative coherence: An examination of personal narrative as a domain of adult personality

Waters, Theodore E. A.; Köber, Christin; Raby, K. Lee; Habermas, Tilmann; Fıvush, Robyn

doi:10.1111/jopy.12377

Cited by 31 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…The present study sheds an interesting light on the construct of memory coherence and its relation to psychological well-being and psychopathology. Developmental research has demonstrated that memory coherence can be considered an individual difference factor, with some individuals generally being more capable of constructing coherent memories than others [10,64,65]. In line with this notion of memory coherence as a cognitive skill, is the observation that individuals' memory coherence is consistent over time and across memories [64,65].…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 91%

“…Developmental research has demonstrated that memory coherence can be considered an individual difference factor, with some individuals generally being more capable of constructing coherent memories than others [10,64,65]. In line with this notion of memory coherence as a cognitive skill, is the observation that individuals' memory coherence is consistent over time and across memories [64,65]. In addition to being a cognitive skill, research has indicated that memory coherence is dependent on specific characteristics of the event being narrated upon, such as valence, intensity, and time passed since occurrence of the event.…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, memories about negative experiences are generally more coherent than memories about positive experiences [16,66]. So, it appears that memory coherence is an individual difference factor, though dependent on event-specific characteristics as well [65]. Yet, research aimed at investigating the relation between memory coherence and psychological well-being typically focusses on how the coherence of a particular memory is associated with well-being regarding that specific experience.…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

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Autobiographical memory coherence in emotional disorders: The role of rumination, cognitive avoidance, executive functioning, and meaning making

2020

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The ability to construct coherent narratives about significant personal experiences, commonly referred to as autobiographical memory coherence, has been related to various emotional disorders, though insight regarding mechanisms that might underlie this relation is scarce. The present study contributes to this growing body of research by examining the relation between memory coherence and both depression and PTSD and by investigating the role of rumination, cognitive avoidance, executive functioning, and meaning making in that relation in a large-scale community sample. The negative relation between memory coherence and both depression and PTSD could not be replicated, nor could the hypothesized negative relation between memory coherence and both rumination and cognitive avoidance be confirmed. In contrast, results indicated more memory coherence to be related to more rumination. Additional analyses in light of these surprising findings revealed that there was a significant indirect relation between memory coherence and both depression and PTSD-related symptoms through rumination. When the latter was controlled for, memory coherence was predictive of PTSD diagnosis and the hypothesized negative association with cognitive avoidance could be confirmed. In line with predictions, both executive functioning and meaning making were positively related to memory coherence. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.

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Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 91%

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Autobiographical memory coherence in emotional disorders: The role of rumination, cognitive avoidance, executive functioning, and meaning making

2020

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“…Another limitation comes from fact that narrative coherence does not merely originate from individual-specific variables, but also from event-and narration-specific variables (Waters et al, 2019). We chose to work with a narrative task on turning point memories, since research has shown that it are in particular those memories that are relevant for identity that are likely to serve memories' social functions (Waters & Fivush, 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Possibly, this might account for the absence of any direct effects of social anxiety on narrative coherence. Future research could work with everyday conversations topics or more mundane event memories, as those might be harder to narrate coherently about for socially anxious people, allowing for more inter-individual variability in coherence (Waters et al, 2019). Another distinction could be made in future research between the recall of social vs non-social memories.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How am I going to tell you this? The relations between social anxiety and narrative coherence

Vanaken

Hermans

2020

Memory

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Recently, evidence has been increasing that individuals who are able to narrate coherently about their autobiographical memories, receive more positive social feedback, have higherquality social relationships and are overall less likely to suffer from internalising psychopathology, like depression and anxiety. However, the relation between narrative coherence and social anxiety, in particular, has not been topic of research until now. This is remarkable, since the concern about negative evaluations by others in social situations is at the core of social anxiety. In the present experimental study (N = 68), we investigated in a two-by-two design how trait and state social anxiety are related to narrative coherence, as well as possible underlying mechanisms. In our study, neither trait nor state social anxiety, nor their interaction had the expected detrimental effect on narrative coherence. However, trait differences in the proposed mechanisms of social anxiety were in line with the literature. Results showed that trait social anxiety and thematic narrative coherence were indirectly negatively related, via the intervening effects of an increased internal focus on anxiety cues, an excessive external focus on negative social evaluation, larger working memory load, more rumination and more depressive symptoms. Limitations and recommendations for future research are addressed.

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Are older adults in Hong Kong “living in history” in their autobiographical memories?

Tse

Chan

2019

Applied Cognitive Psychology

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SummaryTransition theory posits that autobiographical memories are organized by major life transitions, which is often supported by the Living‐in‐History effect that occurs when people frequently refer to public events to support their date estimates of personal events. In the present study, 52 Chinese older adults in Hong Kong recalled autobiographical events using cue‐word method and justified the date estimates of the events. They also reported the most important events and assessed their impacts. Results showed that participants referred to public events only when estimating the date of 5.5% of word‐cued events and reported a few public events as personally important, suggesting an absence of the Living‐in‐History effect. Nonetheless, word‐cued events and important events accumulated around major life transitions to form a transition bump; the material change that important events brought about predicted whether the important events were used to organize autobiographical memory, thereby providing new evidence for the transition theory.

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Consistency and stability of narrative coherence: An examination of personal narrative as a domain of adult personality

Abstract: The ways in which we tell autobiographical narratives reflect a stable feature of individual differences. Further, they suggest that this stable element of personality is necessary, but not sufficient, in accounting for specific event and life narrative coherence.

Cited by 31 publications

References 45 publications

Autobiographical memory coherence in emotional disorders: The role of rumination, cognitive avoidance, executive functioning, and meaning making

Autobiographical memory coherence in emotional disorders: The role of rumination, cognitive avoidance, executive functioning, and meaning making

How am I going to tell you this? The relations between social anxiety and narrative coherence

Are older adults in Hong Kong “living in history” in their autobiographical memories?

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