Life Themes and Interpersonal Motivational Systems in the Narrative Self-construction

Abstract

What makes unique and unrepeatable individuals is their ability to write their own story attributing meaning, sharing it through narration, giving coherence to the information related to the interpersonal motivational systems, and creating alternative hierarchies to those biologically provided by the genetic code. Through clinical narratives and narrative literature, we can observe the recurrence of specific topics, across time and different cultures. Hence, we wondered whether there are some evolutionary suggestions that guide us in the construction of the narrative-autobiographical contents. In this article we proposed a theoretical-clinical hypothesis about the existence of a biological disposition to identify as fundamental six Life Themes (LTs) that contribute to defining the image of the self and the world: Love, Personal Value, Power, Justice, Truth, and Freedom. Besides the innumerable narratives dependent upon context, there may be many ways of telling stories that, instead, would be reported to these few essential themes. A narrative review of the literature about these concepts follows the systematic explanation of the perspective about the LTs as attractors of meaning. The manuscript considers also the process of co-construction of meanings within the interpersonal relationships and the influences of these on the narratives. In particular, we focused on the importance of episodic and autobiographical memory related to the attachment and significant figures, in the construction of the personal story and the LTs. We also explained the possible clinical implications of the theoretical hypothesis of LTs. Within clinical conversations, the LTs could be expressed rigidly or, otherwise, in a confused way. The lack of narrative integration may lead to the dominance of chaos or rigidity that generates suffering. A better comprehension of the LTs in patients’ narrations could be useful to identify a narrative profile about the areas of greatest suffering related to the idea of self and the world, as well as to construct an adequate care plan.

Life Themes and Attachment System in the Narrative Self-Construction: Direct and Indirect Indicators

“…Human beings are peculiar in their ability to arbitrarily select (Damasio, 1999, 2010) and interpret events (Gazzaniga, 2012) and shared narrative themes are central for integrating perceptions of roles and relations (Singer and Bonalume, 2008). The theoretical-clinical hypothesis of Life Themes (LTs) postulates the existence of powerful attractors of meanings, beyond individual and cultural variations (Csikszentmihalyi and Beattie, 1979; Veglia, 2013; Veglia and Di Fini, 2017). LTs are fundamental epistemic motivational systems, driving and supporting the human brain’s endeavor to organize the interpretation of experiences by means of narration, ultimately generating countless unique stories, essential in developing self-concept and cultural affiliation.…”

“…Through this work some main criteria were considered for the formulation if the theoretical–clinical hypothesis of LTs. It was considered: the theme’s irreducibility; the utmost independence of each theme from contextual characteristics; the presence of the theme in every culture and every historical period examined; the intrinsic structural capacity of the theme to attract and generate meaning both in the form of expressions and in the construction of the self and of the dialogue between parts of the self (Veglia and Di Fini, 2017).…”

“…This hypothesis suggests the existence of a number of basic recurrent themes, common in any given personal narration and cross-cutting individual and cultural differences throughout history: Love, Value, Power, Justice, Freedom, and Truth (Veglia and Di Fini, 2017). Each theme seems to have intrinsic development lines that influence the self-perception, behaviors, cognitive and relational styles.…”

“…The theme of Truth is connected to the construction of meaning by the individual along his development. The theme of Justice includes narratives about moral and ethical principles that permeate the interpersonal relationships (Veglia and Di Fini, 2017).…”

“…Such definition is included in the concept of generativity: a creative act, a form of continuation of lineage and self-expression (Sugarman, 2001). The LTs can be thought using three polarized axes that describe a continuum of possible positions between different extremes (Veglia and Di Fini, 2017): Basic Control vs. Co-regulation vs. Sharing of the Theme, Absent/Negative Narration vs. Present/Positive Narration, Narrative Low Integration vs.…”