Narrative Identity: What Is It? What Does It Do? How Do You Measure It?. (March 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: McAdams, Dan P.
• Other Names: Grysman Azriel guest-editor.; Mansfield Cade D. guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Imagination, cognition and personality. Volume 37:Number 3(2018:Mar.)
• Page Start: 359
• Page End: 372
• Publication Date: 2018-03
• Subjects: narrative identity -- personality -- life story -- autobiographical memory; Consciousness -- Periodicals; Imagination -- Periodicals; Personality -- Periodicals; 153
• DOI: 10.1177/0276236618756704
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0276-2366

Abstract

In this commentary, I provide an historical perspective on the methodological and conceptual issues that are raised by the papers in this volume, with a focus on the idea of narrative identity as it relates to autobiographical memory. Referring back to the emergence of the concept of narrative identity in the 1980s, I consider old and new ideas regarding the form and function of narrative identity and methodological challenges that arise in efforts to measure and code psychologically important features of life-narrative accounts.