Family Narrative Interaction and Children's Sense of Self

Abstract

Family narratives about the shared past may be a particularly significant site for preadolescents' emerging sense of self both as an individual and as a member of a unified family. We examined the relations between family narrative interaction style when reminiscing and preadolescents' sense of self. Results indicated three narrative interaction styles that describe the extent to which families discuss or fail to discuss their past in integrated and validating ways. Specifically, conversations with a coordinated perspective incorporated information from all members and were related to higher self-esteem, especially in girls. Conversations with an individual perspective, in which family members took turns telling their thoughts and feelings about the event without integration among the perspectives, were associated with a more external locus of control, especially in boys. Conversations with an imposed perspective, in which one family member was in charge of the conversation or in which unpleasant exchanges between members occurred, were not associated with either self-esteem or locus of control. Implications of these narrative interaction styles for children's developing sense of self are discussed.

O Engajamento Paterno como Fator de Regulação da Agressividade em Pré-Escolares

“…According to Bohanek, Marin, Fivush and Duke (2006), a caring environment provides an adequate communication pattern between parents and children, which in turn supports better social interactions of the children with peers and lowers the probability of them presenting behavior problems.…”

Telling Tales: Enacting Family Relationships in Joint Storytelling About Difficult Family Experiences

“…Activities such as emotional expression may be considered at the individual level, but other features of narrative like organization and coherence become a joint accomplishment when coconstructing a story (Bohanek, Marin, Fivush, & Duke, 2006;Koenig Kellas & Trees, 2005). Additionally, joint storytelling presents the opportunity to hear and learn from multiple perspectives, but also creates the possibility that perspectives may be disconfirmed or that views presented may be ignored as the story is developed (Bohanek et al, 2006;Koenig Kellas & Trees, 2005).…”

O estilo de reminiscência nas interações mãe-criança e pai-criança

“…Neste âmbito, as mães que promovem um estilo de reminiscência mais elaborativo acerca de eventos passados com as crianças, têm pré-adolescentes que evidenciam maiores níveis de autoestima e de autoeficácia (Bohanek, Marin, Fivush, & Duke, 2006). O estilo mais elaborativo promove na criança o desenvolvimento da compreensão de si própria e ajuda-a a construir um sentido de si mais coerente, diferenciado e positivo, ao longo do desenvolvimento (Fivush, 2006).…”