Development and Validation of the Awareness of Narrative Identity Questionnaire (ANIQ)

Abstract

The utility of a narrative approach to identity and its role in psychological functioning are becoming increasingly recognized across various fields of inquiry. The current study aimed to develop a quantitative, self-report measure of the awareness of narrative identity and how globally coherent one's autobiographical memories are perceived to be, specifically, in terms of temporal ordering, causal associations, and the perception of unifying themes. The construct validity and reliability of the Awareness of Narrative Identity Questionnaire (ANIQ) were assessed across three studies. In the first study, exploratory factor analysis of the responses of a large sample ( N = 441, M [age in years] = 33.1, SD = 15.2) to an initial item pool resulted in a 20-item four-factor structure congruent with the proposed subscales, and convergent and divergent validity were established. In the second study, and with a different sample ( N = 320, M [age in years] = 26.2, SD = 4.0), further evidence for the factor structure was provided through confirmatory factor analysis. Validity findings from Study 1 were replicated and extended on, and test-retest reliabilities were found to be high ( r = .72-.79). Importantly, in the third study ( N = 71, M [age in years] = 24.9, SD = 6.9), criterion validity was established, whereby the ANIQ subscales were demonstrated to be associated with dimensions of narrative coherence coded from written turning-point narratives. Across all studies, the internal reliabilities for the subscales were high (α = .86-.96). The ANIQ represents a valid, psychometrically sound, and novel method of assessing the awareness of narrative identity and autobiographical memory coherence.

Perceived Autobiographical Coherence Predicts Depressive Symptoms Over Time Through Positive Self–Concept

“…In support of this, a range of studies have found that more coherent accounts of past experiences are associated with higher levels of psychological well-being (Baerger and McAdams, 1999;Waters and Fivush, 2015;Reese et al, 2017;Lind et al, 2020;Mitchell et al, 2020). In a recent study, self-perceived temporal, causal and thematic coherence and awareness of life stories relating to autobiographical memories were also robustly correlated with psychological resources of self-esteem, self-efficacy, and meaning in life (Hallford and Mellor, 2017). Self-esteem relates to a positive evaluation of one's self-worth, self-efficacy to one's sense of competence and ability to cope with challenges, and meaning in life to a subjective purpose to one's life.…”

“…However, it is acknowledged that coherency does not necessitate positive interpretations of one's experiences or an increase in psychological resources. Indeed, some studies that have shown coherence is not always directly related to dimensions of well-being, including depression (Hallford and Mellor, 2017;Vanden Poel and Hermans, 2019). Coherence can be related to poorer well-being in the context of traumatic events (Waters et al, 2013).…”

Computerized Memory Specificity Training (c-MeST) for major depression: A randomised controlled trial

“…Therefore, candidate variables might include self-related variables such as self-construals/selfschema, meaning in life, or a more cohesive narrative identity (Hallford & Mellor, 2017). Another possibility is that MeST may promote experiential processing, that is, processing of past experiences in a direct and non-judgmental way.…”

The Autobiographical Recollection Test (ART): A Measure of Individual Differences in Autobiographical Memory

“…The 24 items were adapted from, or inspired by, concrete questions used in studies addressing characteristics of individual memories, such as the Autobiographical Memory Questionnaire (Rubin, Schrauf, & Greenberg, 2003), the Memory Characteristics Questionnaire (Johnson et al, 1988), research on involuntary memory (e.g., Berntsen & Hall, 2004), flashbulb memory (e.g., Luminet & Curci, 2018), studies on narrative identity (Adler et al, 2016;Hallford & Mellor, 2017;McLean et al, 2017) and narrative coherence (e.g., Habermas & Bluck, 2000;Reese et al, 2011), research on autobiographical memory in clinical disorders, such as PTSD (Berntsen & Rubin, 2006;Rubin et al, 2016;Brewin, 2014) and neuropsychological research on imagery and scene construction (e.g., Hassabis, Kumaran, Vann, & Maguire, 2007;Rubin & Umanath, 2015).…”