The rises and falls of romance: Considering redemption, contamination, and affective tone in the narrative construction of love lives

Love as story, love as storytelling

“…Over the last several decades, psychology has exhibited an increased interest in the study of stories and storytelling (e.g., Buehlman et al, ; McAdams, ; Sternberg, ). This interest has manifested in most, if not all, corners of psychological science, including the study of close relationships (e.g., Dunlop et al, ; Dunlop, Hanley, & McCoy, ; Sternberg, , ). Despite the ground that has been covered at this nexus, however, researchers have yet to examine the correlates and implications of the degree to which individuals enjoy storytelling behaviors in their romantic relationships as well as the degree to which they view their current romantic relationships and broader love lives in narrative terms.…”

The narrative identity approach and romantic relationships

“…Furthermore, in prioritizing participants' current romantic relationships, researchers have paid little attention to (i) the manner in which individuals' story their entire love lives and (ii) the romantic narratives constructed by single individuals (Dunlop et al, ; e.g., Dunlop et al, ; Dunlop et al, ). Speaking of the former, for most, one's current romantic relationship represents but a part of his or her entire history within the romantic domain.…”

“…To summarize, narrative processing represents the mechanism by which individuals make sense of a wide range of social phenomena, including and in particular, their romantic histories and current romantic relationships (Dunlop et al, ; Dunlop et al, ). As such, adopting the NIA to the study of romantic relationships likely offers insights into how individuals make sense of the various romantic experiences they encounter throughout their love life, as well as insights into what it means to feel close to another individual and to build a relationship identity.…”

“…Acknowledging that one's current romantic relationship often reflects a part rather than the entirety of one's love life, researchers have begun to focus on the narrative construction of entire love lives. To this aim, a variant of the LSI targeting narrative representations of entire love lives—the Love Life Story Interview (LLSI; Dunlop et al, ; manual accessible here: https://osf.io/2edvg/)—has been developed. Among other insights, research relying on this measure has identified the manifest events people recognize as love life high points, low points, and turning points (Dunlop et al, ), explored thematic differences in the stories provided by single and coupled individuals (Dunlop et al, ), and identified a negative relation between levels of avoidant attachment and the communion and positive affective tone present in participants' romantic key scenes (Dunlop et al, ).…”

“…A holistic understanding of said relationship is obtained if both couple members are independently assessed, either through scales or, in this case, through narrative prompts (for similar arguments for the importance of dyadic data, see Kenny, Kashy, & Cook, ). Speaking of this aim, in a manner paralleling the LSI (McAdams, ) and the LLSI (Dunlop et al, ), researchers have developed the Relationship Narrative Interview (RNI; Bühler, Maghsoodi, & McAdams, ; manual accessible here: https://osf.io/bq8yw/). The RNI contains a series of prompts for autobiographical recounts of relationship‐specific scenes, including relationship high points, low points, and turning points, as well as sexual high points, low points, and turning points (Bühler et al, ).…”