The empirical structure of narrative identity: The initial Big Three.

Abstract

A robust empirical literature suggests that individual differences in the thematic and structural aspects of life narratives are associated with and predictive of psychological well-being. However, one limitation of the current field is the multitude of ways of capturing these narrative features, with little attention to overarching dimensions or latent factors of narrative that are responsible for these associations with well-being. In the present study we uncovered a reliable structure that accommodates commonly studied features of life narratives in a large-scale, multi-University collaborative effort. Across three large samples of emerging and mid-life adults responding to various narrative prompts (N = 855 participants, N = 2565 narratives), we found support for three factors of life narratives: motivational and affective themes, autobiographical reasoning, and structural aspects. We also identified a "functional" model of these three factors that reveals a reduced set of narrative features that adequately captures each factor. Additionally, motivational and affective themes was the factor most reliably related to well-being. Finally, associations with personality traits were variable by narrative prompt. Overall, the present findings provide a comprehensive and robust model for understanding the empirical structure of narrative identity as it relates to well-being, which offers meaningful theoretical contributions to the literature, and facilitates practical decision making for researchers endeavoring to capture and quantify life narratives.

Adolescents’ Identity Formation: Linking the Narrative and the Dual-Cycle Approach

“…Apart from the importance of autobiographical reasoning, motivational themes captured in personal narratives have shown to be a key marker of narratives (McLean et al 2019), and their role in psychological health (Adler 2012). One of these motivational themes that has been consistently linked to well-being is agency (Adler et al 2016).…”

“…Furthermore, in addition to indicating engagement in the construction of a coherent narrative identity, the presence of a self-event connection reflects an ability to construct these connections (McLean et al 2019). In contrast, a high degree of identity exploration in breadth and in depth indicates engagement in relatively adaptive exploration types, but not whether this has led to meaningful outcomes.…”

Self‐transcendence and life stories of humanistic growth among late‐midlife adults

“…Further research is required to sort through the various dimensions and features of life stories generated in this rapidly growing research literature. An important step in that direction was taken by McLean et al (2019), who factor-analyzed scores from a set of different thematic coding systems obtained from a range of different narrative prompts from different samples to arrive at three broad categories: motivational and affective themes, autobiographical reasoning, and structural aspects.…”

Quantity Over Quality? Reproducible Psychological Science from a Mixed Methods Perspective

“…These include: (a) collecting smaller quantities of qualitative data from each participant; (b) analyzing a subset of the qualitative data (e.g., choosing a single pertinent interview question as the unit of analysis, rather than the entire interview); and (c) reducing the complexity of qualitative analyses. Another solution is to work with large collaborative teams to pool data collection and analysis resources around shared questions of interest (for a recent example of a large MM study using this approach, see McLean et al, 2019). Qualitative analyses may be simplified by using pre-existing coding schemes, training large teams of coders, or supplementing traditional coding with computerized coding (e.g., LIWC; Pennebaker, Boyd, Jordan, & Blackburn, 2015).…”