Narrative Identity Research Articles

Facing Challenging Experiences in Life – Narrative Identity Development Processes and Associations with Wellbeing During the Transition to Midlife

ABSTRACT This study investigates identity development in narratives of difficult experiences and associations with wellbeing in the transition to midlife. The narrative processes of emotional sequencing (i.e. emotional tone of how people frame their experiences: redemptive, neutral/vague, negative, and a combination of positive and negative) and positive and negative impact on the identity (i.e. how people perceive the impact of the narrated event) were examined in narratives about difficult experiences in early adulthood (Mage = 33.28, SD=0.54) and midlife (Mage = 38.62, SD =0.61). Results concerning emotional sequencing showed two typical patterns one of stability in neutral/vague sequencing, and another pattern of change from a combination of positive and negative to redemptive sequencing. Furthermore, positive and negative impact in early adulthood was associated with wellbeing in midlife. Findings in this study show that people who are neutral in their way of framing challenges maintain this outlook on life’s difficulties in the transition to midlife. The results also indicate that perceived negative impact of narrated events, and not only positive impact, in early adulthood has bearing on wellbeing during midlife.

AI assistance for coaches and therapists

ABSTRACT We found previously that ChatGPT-4 could use 50 stream-of-consciousness thoughts to make the latent construct of narrative identity explicit. We now demonstrate this as a tool for interventions by coaches and therapists. Using five narrative identities, ChatGPT-4 recommended actionable strategies and interventions tailored to the narrative identity. Artificial intelligence (AI) can thus support coaches and therapists by crafting personalized approaches drawing on the person’s narrative identity. This new assistive tool may help clients achieve greater insight, growth and well-being.

Awareness of Narrative Identity Questionnaire (ANIQ) in Early Adolescents: Psychometric Evaluation and Association with Features of Personality Disorder

Identity formation is central to adolescent development. Challenges in establishing a stable sense of self is associated with maladaptive identity function, which has been recognized as a core feature of personality pathology. The narrative identity framework offers a unique lens to garner salient information about one’s sense of self. The Awareness of Narrative Identity Questionnaire (ANIQ) is a self-report measure of narrative identity validated in adults but is yet to be validated in adolescents. The current study aimed to conduct the first psychometric evaluation of the ANIQ in a sample of 205 youth aged 10–14 years (M = 12.1 ± 1.06 years; 50.7% female; 73.7% Hispanic) recruited from a public charter school. Results confirmed the four-factor structure of the ANIQ and showed high internal consistency. Convergent validity was supported through negative associations between the ANIQ and borderline personality features and identity diffusion. Incremental validity of the ANIQ over identity diffusion in predicting borderline personality features was also examined, but not supported. Overall, results support the ANIQ as a promising instrument for the assessment of narrative identity in youth. However, some improvements to the ANIQ might be necessary in order to use it as a clinical tool in identifying youth with personality pathology.

Sweden – a nation of seafarers or peasants? Swedish naval officers and national identity as revealed in the magazine Vår Flotta, 1905–1939

Swedish national identity reflects a tradition of independent freeholding peasants, even though the majority of the population lives along the coasts. The sea has often been neglected in studies analysing Swedish national identity. This article analyses one of many Swedish narratives of national identity – namely, that found in the monthly magazine Vår Flotta: Tidskrift för Sjövapnet (Our Fleet: Magazine for the Navy). The narrative of the magazine strongly emphasized the importance of the sea to Sweden. The sea, with its strong symbolism, was a vital part of the magazine's national narrative. According to Vår Flotta, the sea and its control would determine Sweden's fate as it had historically. The navy had saved Sweden from being dragged into a war or being invaded by foreign powers. A close connection to the sea, facing its dangers, would also allow the true Swedish national qualities to develop: bravery, calmness, confidence, cleanliness and a willingness to make sacrifices for the greater good. The national-identity narrative in the magazine remained fairly constant across the 35 years studied in this article.

Family relationships as a source of narrative identity of people with advanced dementia

BackgroundThe growing body of research on narrative identity, while helpful, rarely focuses on people with dementia. In this paper, we explore how individuals living with advanced dementia construct their narrative identities in relation to their family experiences, which play a crucial role in shaping identity as shown by recent studies.MethodsWe conducted a qualitative study using data from 15 semi-structured interviews with people aged 66 to 94 who have advanced dementia. The data were analyzed using a textual-oriented discourse analysis.ResultsWe identified two discourses—autobiographical and economic—that organize their narrative identities. Through the autobiographical discourse, participants emphasized their sense of belonging within a social group and their role as custodians of family identity. Within the economic discourse, they negotiated their social utility and value, particularly in response to demeaning discourses targeting individuals who do not accumulate wealth. In the structural analysis, we identified two narrative types—looped or unfolding—that depend on their affective experiences related to their family. We especially explored how the repetition of narrative threads by individuals with dementia might indicate a traumatic background rather than just memory disruptions.ConclusionsThis study provides insights into the narrative identities of individuals with advanced dementia, shedding light on the intersection of family experiences and identity formation in this population.

(Un)conventional monuments and transformist identities in the global south: the case of the ice cream and the tuna monuments in Ecuador

ABSTRACT This article explores the construction of local monuments in Ecuador and their role in transforming space and identity narratives in order to enter into the global economy. My analysis of two structures, The Ice Cream and The Tuna, which I conceptualise as (un)conventional monuments, focuses on three aspects: the planning and construction process, their relation to the space in which they are situated, and their role in processes of identity narrative construction. As a result of a multidisciplinary analysis that includes field observation, in-depth interviews, and the analysis of documents pertaining to the design and implementation of the structures, I argue that the monuments’ transformation of urban space is not so much a reflection of the local community features as of the authorities’ desire for legitimacy in the eyes of foreign and local visitors in an economic globalised context.

Space, identity and festivals. Spatial empowerment and the construction of identity discourses through the lens of heritage festival organizers

ABSTRACT The study analyzes the discourse on local identity developed by festival organizers in a heritage city with emerging tourism development (Tarragona, Spain). Drawing on the concept of spatiality and spatial empowerment, and through data obtained from in-depth interviews with local festival organizers, an analysis about the role of spatiality in festivals is carried out. The main result shows the existence of different spatial strategies employed in festivals, which support different local identities patterns. We demonstrate this through the way festivals renegotiate local identity using an spatiality approach, and a selective location process of the festival spaces. A two-dimension typology of festivals in heritage cities is proposed in order to synthesize the diversity of identity narratives identified, resulting in four types of festivals. Finally, the article addresses various implications surrounding the dimension of spatial empowerment, both theoretical and practical.

Cognitive scripts and narrative identity are shaped by structures of power

Constructing a narrative identity involves developing an understanding of oneself as integrated through time and across contexts, a task critical to psychosocial development and functioning. However, research has primarily focused on the individual in isolation or in highly localized contexts. This is problematic because narrative identity is profoundly shaped by structures of power; thus, we cannot understand how individuals understand themselves through time, across contexts, and as a member of a particular community without attention to the structure of society. We propose a structural-psychological framework for the study of autobiographical memory, narrative, and context that examines how structures of power are maintained, and potentially changed, through the narration of autobiographical events, as guided by cognitive scripts, or master narratives.

‘For King and Empire’: The Changing Political, Economic, and Cultural Identities of Kru Mariners in Atlantic Africa, 1460–1945

AbstractThis article traces histories of the Kru in West Africa from the fifteenth to nineteenth centuries, arguing that divergent identities of fifteenth- to eighteenth-century Kru canoers became unified when that unified identity was necessary for maintaining political, economic, and cultural autonomy during and after the slave trade. In conjunction with earlier multilingual work on the Kru mariners of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, this article seeks to place the narrative of Kru identity and labor in a larger context of maritime history across the region at large. This article argues that the Kru relied on longstanding maritime traditions from localized groups to capitalize on the need for work and cash in a capitalist economy driven by growing European imperialism. The historical narrative of Kru maritime power shows how local and global identities in Atlantic Africa shifted in response to exploitation, blurring the lines between response and resistance.

Exhibiting the Nation: Identity and (Post)colonial Aesthetics in Hannah Khalil’s A Museum in Baghdad

Hannah Khalil’s play A Museum in Baghdad and its 2019 staging by the Royal Shakespeare Company focus on the complex relationship between museum and theatre as memory institutions. This relationship was enhanced by metatheatrical connections between the performance of the museum on stage, the accompanying displays in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre lobby and gift shop, and the spectators who entered the Swan Theatre auditorium. The exploration of the intricate exchange between performance, space, and audience reveals the paramount importance of two specific issues: the politics of display and the performative aspect of nation-making within national institutions. Using postcolonial and decolonial frameworks, my analysis probes the ways in which theatre may offer a better understanding of dramaturgies of display in museums through the exposure and critique of the complex cultural and social challenges that emerge from the interdependence between national cultural institutions and official narratives of belonging (such as the lack of representation of marginalized communities, homogenized views of cultural development, or targeted financial support for institutions that adhere to state narratives). Khalil’s theatrical depiction of the political intricacies of curatorial decision-making allows for a sobering examination of both the role of museums in the creation of national narratives of identity and the responsibility of the theatre to uncover the cultural mechanisms used to enforce such narratives.

Structure and Narrative Identity in Autobiographies - Focusing on the case of a Gwangju dialect speaker

Structure and Narrative Identity in Autobiographies - Focusing on the case of a Gwangju dialect speaker

Between Here and Almost There: The Greek–Turkish Border as a Place of Passage

This article studies the life-stories and identity narratives of Turks of Western Thrace (Greece) focusing on the role of the Turkish–Greek border and its changing permeability. It suggests that people who have strong attachments to both sides of a national border experience spatial liminality and the border is a place of passage between not only territories, but also lived identities. For young Turks of Western Thrace, travelling to Turkey to work or study is an established strategy that is intertwined with major life events. Drawing on ride-along interviews and focusing on five participants, who travelled to Turkey during the Cyprus crisis, the article identifies the disciplinary power of bordering on identities and life-stories. By examining how different individuals dealt with this power, and how their circumstances affected the outcomes, it explores the tensions between agency and structure, state power and resistance, and categorisation and liminality during life-planning and identity construction.

The reification of identity narratives in teacher–student discourse during an inquiry project

AbstractWe present a year‐long case study that documents the interactions between a teacher–research–mentor (TRM) and two 11th grade students working in their school laboratory on an extended inquiry project that is part of reformed mandatory requirements for advanced‐level matriculation in physics. Both the students (females) and the TRM (male) are Arab citizens of Israel, and the school is a public Arab school in Israel. Data were collected through videotaped participant observation of authentic working sessions and interviews with the TRM and the students. The analysis combines an ethnographic account with discourse analysis informed by a sociolinguistic approach that aims to answer the following research questions: (1) how are a teacher's identity‐narratives reified in teacher–student discourse in authentic sessions of mentoring students' inquiry? (2) how do they shape students' learning? and (3) how do they emerge from social–historical contexts? The findings problematize the challenges involved in engaging students from nondominant communities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics learning. The analysis articulates the complexity of this challenge by showing how teachers' identity narratives shape the social construction of student–teacher discourse, generate tensions that undermine successful implementations of reformed learning experiences, and how this vicious cycle is profoundly influenced by the embedding social and historical contexts. The implications for research and practice are discussed.

Cognitive dependencies and psychological health correlates of coherence in autobiographical reasoning

ABSTRACT Autobiographical reasoning is a process by which an individual creates a coherent life account. The degree of coherence in autobiographical reasoning has been related to psychological health correlates such as depression and self-esteem in previous studies, but with inconsistent findings. Similarly, the basic psychological processes required to achieve coherence have been previously studied with regard to intelligence, but infrequently, and also with mixed findings. In the present study, we first developed and evaluated a German version of the Awareness of Narrative Identity Questionnaire (ANIQ) as an established measure of self-reported coherence. Second, we tested for cognitive dependencies on intelligence and memory indices. Third, we analysed its associations with psychological health correlates. We assessed a sample of 272 participants and thereof 189 participants again two-weeks later. Results supported the assumptions of the German ANIQ’s psychometric qualities (factor structure, test-retest reliability, invariance) and validity (with regard to self-consciousness, self-concept clarity, and written accounts of personal turning points). We found coherence to be independent of intelligence and verbal memory, but partially dependent on figural memory. Coherence was related to depression, positivity, self-esteem, and self-esteem stability, but not to anxiety, substantiating its salutogenic effects.

Rhetorical Dance of Belonging: Chamaole Narratives of Race, Indigeneity, and Identity from Guam

Rhetorical Dance of Belonging: Chamaole Narratives of Race, Indigeneity, and Identity from Guam

Nativized exoticism in “el país de todas las sangres”

ABSTRACT In this paper I develop a perspective of nativized exoticism to describe how discourses around Peruvian Chineseness as both assimilated and exotic promote a multicultural mestizo national narrative that nevertheless overlooks questions of representation and the subject gaze. Using a qualitative approach, my argument connects micro-level analysis of spoken and mediated discourse to the broader contemporary and sociohistorical context. Findings extend existing work on processes of racialization in diaspora and the image of Asians as “perpetual foreigners” as well as imagined societies (Anderson, B. 2006. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. London: Verso) and myths of equalizing mestizaje in Latin America. Findings further connect cotidian discourses to broader issues of appropriation and materiality within the national identity narrative.

Crafting Identity out of Uncertainty: Narratives of Israeli Adults Adopted as Infants

The present qualitative study examined the identity of 24 adults adopted as infants in Israel in closed adoptions who searched for their biological families. Previous research has shown that adoption-related uncertainty (ARU) may be characteristic of adoptees. Based on Erikson’s (1968) theory of identity formation and the concept of narrative identity (McAdams, 2011), we investigated how ARU relates to participants’ sense of identity. Based on the risk and resilience approach (Garmezy, 1991), we conceptualized ARU as a risk factor for identity formation and identified protective factors in the personal and social domains. Results showed that all participants experienced ARU regarding some major identity components. The analysis revealed two basic styles of coping with ARU: Limiting, in which adoption issues are avoided, and Expanding, in which they are dealt with more openly. We discussed the study’s limitations and implications for future research and practice.

The politics of street names: Reconstructing Iran’s collective identity

AbstractWith the radical political change in 1979, Iran's revolutionary state assumed the responsibility of re‐rewriting the past history to forge a new sense of belonging, a particularly collective religious (Shia) identity. It launched a complex process of forgetting and remembering to first eliminate the national (Persian), non‐religious memories and heritage, associated and celebrated by the previous regime and then establish a sense of continuity with the country's Shia past; a feeling markedly engendered with a distinguishing symbolic reservoir of Shia traditions and memories, presented in history books, literature, the media, and everyday culture.This paper seeks to examine the role of street names in this process of reconstructing a new religious (Shia) collective memory and identity with particular reference to Tehran, Iran, during the 1979‐2019 period. It seeks to analyze changes in the city's street names and analyze the widespread renaming of streets and public spaces in the city as one means of both ‘de‐commemorating’ the pre‐revolutionary regime and marking the Shia legacy and memories as the signifiers of a widespread political maneuver to articulate a new version of the past and narrative of identity since the 1979 revolution.

Between redemption and affirmation: German identity in affective narratives of the ‘refugee crisis’

The German ‘refugee crisis’ produced formidable levels of civil society assistance, involving citizens and locations with no previous experience in refugee support. Grounded in research with citizen volunteers in a rural region in southern Germany conducted at a time when rightwing populism gained strength, this article explores how volunteers reflect on their relations with refugees while negotiating distinctly German identities. Scholarship on volunteering in refugee settings has looked at the emotional aspect of this work largely for its political import. This article expands attention to emotions in volunteering from a form of political practice on the ground to a practice of narrative reasoning. In a close reading of interview-derived narratives as affective practices the relevance of locality, identity and history for refugee reception comes to the fore. Deploying the notions of ‘redemptive’ and ‘affirmative’ Germanness the article shows how volunteers draw on specific historical trajectories to produce moral arguments about the support and incorporation of strangers. This article argues that volunteers’ affective involvement with history and locality needs unpacking if their relations of solidarity are to be understood.

'On paper, you're normal': narratives of unseen health needs among women who have had children removed from their care.

Mothers who have children removed from their care often have complex needs. These women have poor health outcomes and are dying earlier than their peers from preventable and amenable causes. Yet there is little known about how health care services might mitigate these risks. This study aimed to listen to the voices of women who had children removed from their care to understand their experiences of health and healthcare. We used a narrative approach to collect and analyse interview data with six mothers who had experienced child removal in England. Each participant was asked to reflect on their life and main health challenges. Three narrative subplots were developed to consolidate experiences of unmet health need: (i) 'on paper you're normal': narratives of complex need, (ii) 'in my family, everyone had issues': narratives of whole family need and (iii) 'I'm still mummy, no matter where they are': narratives of maternal identity and health. Findings highlight limitations within current systems of support, including a culture of distrust and women falling between the gaps of services. Women's narratives illustrate opportunities for health intervention, especially immediately following child removal.