Narrating the generative life

Psychological Science
Dan P McAdams, Jen Guo

Abstract

Generativity is an adult's concern for and commitment to promoting the well-being of future generations. Analyzing lengthy life-narrative interviews of late-midlife adults, we examined the extent to which a particular kind of life story is empirically linked to self-report measures of generativity and other indices of psychosocial adaptation in midlife. The results showed that highly generative adults are significantly more likely than their less-generative counterparts to construe their lives as variations on a prototypical redemption narrative, wherein the story's protagonist (a) enjoys an early advantage in life, (b) exhibits sensitivity to the suffering of other people, (c) develops a clear moral framework, (d) repeatedly transforms negative scenes into positive outcomes, and (e) pursues prosocial goals for the future. The psychological and cultural features of redemptive life stories are considered, as are the problems and potentialities of life-narrative research in psychological science.

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Citations

Nov 3, 2015·Journal of Adolescence·Moin Syed, Kate C McLean
Nov 6, 2015·Journal of Personality·William L DunlopDan P McAdams
Mar 11, 2018·Journal of Personality·Jack J BauerMichael F Steger
Sep 23, 2016·Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin·Jen GuoDan P McAdams
Jun 8, 2018·The Journals of Gerontology. Series B, Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences·Molli R Grossman, Tara L Gruenewald
Jun 29, 2018·Topics in Cognitive Science·Lucas M BiettiAdrian Bangerter
Aug 24, 2017·Journal of Personality·Kate C McLeanDan P McAdams
Oct 13, 2017·Journal of Personality·Sonia SengsavangPamela Sadler
Dec 10, 2017·Journal of Personality·Jonathan M Adler
Sep 19, 2018·Perspectives on Psychological Science : a Journal of the Association for Psychological Science·James C Kaufman
Feb 28, 2019·American Journal of Health Promotion : AJHP·Jessica GrossmeierSara S Johnson
Mar 23, 2019·American Journal of Health Promotion : AJHP·Sara S Johnson
Apr 16, 2019·Journal of Health Communication·Jie ZhuangXiaodi Yan
Aug 12, 2020·Journal of Personality·Hollen N ReischerDan P McAdams
Oct 22, 2019·Journal of Trauma & Dissociation : the Official Journal of the International Society for the Study of Dissociation (ISSD)·Brianna C DelkerKate C McLean
Feb 2, 2019·Frontiers in Psychology·Azriel Grysman, Jennifer Lodi-Smith
Mar 5, 2019·Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin·David G Winter, Ryan Leclerc
Mar 7, 2021·Environmental Science and Pollution Research International·Kuo-Shu Yuan, Tung-Ju Wu
Mar 14, 2021·Journal of Aging Studies·Rodrigo SerratFeliciano Villar
Oct 4, 2021·Journal of Personality·Nicole Maria ThomasDirk Kranz
Nov 30, 2021·International Journal of Aging & Human Development·Patricia Kahlbaugh, Christopher J Budnick

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