Knowra Narrative identity Narrative identity Narrative identity is the understanding of who one is formed by interpreting one’s life as a story. It links remembered past, experienced present, and imagined future into a sense of continuity.
Autobiographical memory : Memory for personally experienced events and the contexts in which they occurred. Recalled episodes provide much of the material people arrange into a life story.
Narrative coherence : The perceived organization and continuity of a story’s events and themes. Coherence helps connect separate experiences into an intelligible personal history.
Dan P. McAdams : An American psychologist known for research on personality, life stories, and narrative identity. His theory describes identity as an evolving life story shaped by culture and development.
Psychological continuity : The persistence of psychological connections, such as memories, intentions, and character, across time. It explains identity through continuing mental relations rather than through a life story.
Meaning in life : The sense that one’s life has significance, purpose, or coherence. A coherent personal story can help organize experiences into a meaningful whole.
Personal identity : The conditions under which a person remains the same individual over time. Narrative identity is one account of how personal identity persists through change.
Causal attribution : The process of assigning causes to events and outcomes. Explanations of why events happened shape the meaning assigned to them in a life story.
Jerome Bruner : An American psychologist whose work examined how people use narrative to make sense of experience. His account of narrative thought helps explain why personal experience is organized as story.
Trait theory : An approach to personality that describes people through relatively enduring characteristics. It summarizes stable dispositions without requiring a narrative account of a life.
Psychological well-being : A broad condition of positive functioning, including purpose, self-acceptance, and personal growth. Narrative interpretations of adversity and change can be associated with well-being.
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