Self‐defining memories—Narrative features in relation to adaptive and maladaptive personality traits (replication and extension of Blagov & Singer, 2004)

Abstract

Objective Self‐defining memories (SDMs) are units of life‐story analysis, whose features resemble elements from narrative identity’s factorial structure. To bridge narrative‐identity and personality‐trait domains, we conducted a replication and extension of prior research. Method We linked four SDM features – affect, specificity, meaning making, and content – to the Big Three trait domains of personality and psychopathology in a small sample that was well‐powered for multilevel modeling (133 participants, 1330 SDMs). Results AffectSDM affect correlated with indices of Positive Emotionality and Negative Emotionality, and narrative themes of contamination were associated with Negative Emotionality. SpecificitySDM specificity vs. overgenerality related to Constraint and Negative Emotionality indices, lending support to the executive dysfunction and emotional disorder theories of overgeneral autobiographical memory. (Tests of the avoidance thesis of overgeneral memory were inconclusive.) Meaning makingExplicit meaning making in SDMs reflected adaptive personality. It moderated (or buffered) the link between SDMs’ affect and chronic emotional distress. ContentThe links between SDM content and traits suggest that SDMs reflect personal goals, whose fulfillment or frustration relate to psychological health. Conclusions This research serves replication purposes as well as the purpose of connecting two major domains of personality: narrative identity and adaptive and maladaptive traits.

Expression and Detection of Triarchic Psychopathy Traits in the Self-Defining Memories of U.S. Undergraduates

“…Blagov et al (2016;2022) described the collection of these data (self-reported traits and researcher-coded SDM features) and described the participants, who included 120 U.S. undergraduates (77% women, M age = 19.7, SD = 1.32; see also Supplementary Materials, Table S1). Blagov et al (2022) discussed the substantial power provided by 10 SDMs per 120 participants for multilevel modeling.…”

“…Diverse narrative variables interrelate (McLean et al, 2020) and may predict well-being incrementally over other constructs (Adler et al, 2016). For example, replicable research links psychological adjustment to greater positive emotions, memory specificity and meaning making, and to lower negative emotions and thematic downturns in self-defining memories (SDMs; Blagov et al, 2022). Conversely, personal narratives with limited emotion, specificity, and meaning lack coherence and suggest unhealthy identity development (Adler et al, 2012).…”

A cross-sectional study using self-defining memories to explore personal identity throughout adulthood.

“…Table 1 shows that only three previous studies explored contamination or redemption in healthy adults’ SDMs (Blagov et al, 2022; Cuervo-Lombard et al, 2021; Lardi et al, 2010), that is an explicit transformation, in the narratives, from a positive to a negative state or the opposite evolution (McAdams et al, 2001). They showed that contamination sequences were high in college students (Blagov et al, 2022; Lardi et al, 2010) but very low in midlife and later life (Cuervo-Lombard et al, 2021). Two of these studies reported that the frequency of redemptive SDMs seemed to decrease with age: it was relatively high in emerging adults (Lardi et al, 2010), lower in middle-aged adults, and even lower in older adults (Cuervo-Lombard et al, 2021).…”

“…Two of these studies reported that the frequency of redemptive SDMs seemed to decrease with age: it was relatively high in emerging adults (Lardi et al, 2010), lower in middle-aged adults, and even lower in older adults (Cuervo-Lombard et al, 2021). In contrast, Blagov et al (2022) found that redemptive sequences in memories were low in young participants.…”

“…The thematic content is the principal theme emphasized in the narrative. It may closely reflect personal identity through individual motives and expectancies, goals in life, or other complex cognitive–affective mechanisms (Blagov et al, 2022). The thematic content of each SDM was assessed in seven mutually exclusive categories following Thorne and McLean’s manual for coding events (2001): life-threatening events (LTEs); recreation or exploration events; relationship events; achievement events; guilt or shame events; drug, alcohol, or tobacco use events; and nonclassifiable events (NCEs).…”