scholarly journals Personal, Master, and Alternative Narratives: An Integrative Framework for Understanding Identity Development in Context

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate C. McLean ◽  
Moin Syed
Keyword(s):  
Identity Development ◽  
Personal Identity ◽  
Master Narrative ◽  
Cultural Narratives ◽  
Master Narratives ◽  
Case Examples ◽  
Integrative Framework ◽  
Individual Agency ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Future Work

In this paper we propose a model for examining personal identity development that moves attention from a relatively exclusive examination of the individual, to an examination of the intersection between self and society. We propose that a master narrative model of identity development allows researchers to 1) align the study of culture and individual on the same metric of narrative, 2) investigate the processes of negotiating personal and cultural narratives, the latter of which are embedded within the structures of society, and 3) investigate the internalization of those structures in personal identities. In laying out this model we define a narrative approach to identity development, five principles for defining master narratives (ubiquity, utility, invisibility, rigidity, and their compulsory nature), three types of master narratives (life course, structural, and episodic), and case examples of each type. This model brings attention to the interaction between self and society, as well as to the constraints on individual agency to construct a personal identity. We conclude by raising questions that emerge out of this framework that we hope will inspire future work on the relation between self and society in the study of identity development.

Identity Development in Immigrant Youth

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 336-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seth J. Schwartz ◽  
Alan Meca ◽  
Miguel Ángel Cano ◽  
Elma I. Lorenzo-Blanco ◽  
Jennifer B. Unger
Keyword(s):  
Identity Development ◽  
Personal Identity ◽  
Immigrant Youth ◽  
Group Level ◽  
Intergroup Processes ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Societal Level ◽  
Majority Groups ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Future Work

Abstract. Rates of immigration are at an all-time high in many Western countries, and immigration can exert profound influences on identity development. These influences occur both at the individual level and at the group level, but these two sets of influences have rarely been considered simultaneously. Accordingly, this article adopts a multilevel approach to identity development among immigrant youth, with a focus on North American receiving contexts. We focus not only on individual ethnic, national, and personal identity development, but also on the societal-level intergroup processes (e.g., threats and stereotypes) that constrain the identity options available to immigrants. We highlight the prominence of biculturalism – endorsement of both heritage and destination-country identities – but also discuss ways in which biculturalism may be difficult to attain for some immigrants and immigrant groups. We also emphasize the interplay between individual immigrants’ identities and the mechanisms through which defensive policies enacted by “threatened” majority groups may harm identity development among immigrant youth. The article concludes with a listing of priorities for future work.

scholarly journals Master Narrative Identity Development in Cultural Context: The Role of Deviating from Master Narratives.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate C. McLean ◽  
Jennifer Lilgendahl ◽  
Chelsea Fordham ◽  
Elizabeth Alpert ◽  
Kathryn Szymanowski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Identity Development ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Personality Development ◽  
Great Majority ◽  
Master Narrative ◽  
Master Narratives ◽  
Identity Processes ◽  
Shared Stories ◽  
Group Experiences ◽  
Relative Neglect

Objective: The great majority of research on identity and personality development has focused on individual processes of development, to the relative neglect of the cultural context of development. We employ a recently articulated framework for the examination of identity development in context, centered on the construct of master narratives, or culturally shared stories. Method: Across three studies we asked emerging and mid-life adults (n = 512) to narrate personal experiences of deviations from these master narratives. Results: Across three quantitative studies we show that 1) those who elaborated their deviation experiences were more likely to be in structurally marginalized positions in society (e.g., ethnic or sexual minorities); 2) those who elaborated an empowering alternative to the master narrative were more likely to be engaged in identity processes; and 3) master narratives maintain their rigidity by the frequency of their use. In qualitative analyses, we illustrate the rigidity of master narratives, as well as the degree to which they take shape in social and group experiences. Conclusions: These studies emphasize the importance of cultural context in considering personality and identity development.

scholarly journals Personal Identity Development in Cultural Context: The Socialization of Master Narratives about the Gendered Life Course

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate C. McLean ◽  
Samantha Boggs ◽  
Alexandra Lowe ◽  
Chelsea Fordham ◽  
Kristin Gudbjorg Haraldsson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Identity Development ◽  
Gender Identity ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Emerging Adults ◽  
Emerging Adult ◽  
Master Narrative ◽  
Master Narratives ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Personal Experiences

The present studies focused on the role and socialization of biographical master narratives – cultural narratives that prescribe the types and ordering of events that should occur in one’s personal life identity narrative – by focusing on adolescent and emerging adult gender identity development. We employed a combined explanatory and triangulation mixed methods design. Study 1a (n = 414) was a survey study examining the expected biographical master narrative events for men and women, and the content of master narrative deviation and conformity in an emerging adult sample. In Study 1b (n = 14) we interviewed participants from Study 1a about their conformity and deviation narratives, as well as their socialization experiences regarding gendered biographical master narratives. In Study 2 mothers and adolescents (n = 11 pairs), engaged in conversation about expected life course events, as well as a follow-up interview about their conversation. We first found that there are more gender differences in the personal experiences of conformity to and deviation from master narratives compared to the expectations of the life course (Study 1a). Second, deviating is related to more engagement in identity processes (Study 1a). Third, emerging adults report contradictions in retrospective reports of socialization messages regarding expectations (Study 1b), a finding confirmed in a discourse analysis of mothers and their adolescents (Study 2). Overall, across the studies, we see that 1) adolescents and emerging adults are engaged in a delicate balance of negotiating between various cultural and familial messages, as well as personal experiences, about gender identity particularly in regards to gender equality and, 2) there is a complex relation between socialization messages about gender equality that may make some biographical master narratives about the expected life course events for men and women more resistant to change.

scholarly journals Applying the Master Narrative Framework to Gender Identity in Emerging Adulthood

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate C. McLean ◽  
Hannah Shucard ◽  
Moin Syed
Keyword(s):  
Identity Development ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Personal Identity ◽  
Personal Narratives ◽  
Master Narrative ◽  
Identity Exploration ◽  
Discourse Processes ◽  
Content Domain ◽  
Narrative Framework ◽  
Cultural Components

We applied a novel framework to identity development, capturing both content and process, and personal and cultural components of identity in the content domain of gender. We examined master (and alternative) narratives: ubiquitous, powerful cultural stories with which individuals negotiate in constructing personal identity. Study 1 was a quantitative investigation of personal narratives about gender (n = 245); Study 2 was a qualitative study of discourse processes concerning gender roles (n = 12). Employing three approaches to identity development (status, narrative, and discursive) in a mixed methods-design, we found that most individuals position themselves around a newer, alternative narrative about gender equality. However, in social interactions this narrative got less airtime, in favor of narratives representing either traditional views, or gender equality. Further, those who were exploring their identities were more likely to employ the less traditional narrative, suggesting a link between changing master narratives and personal identity exploration.

scholarly journals Links Between Life Stories and Identity Profiles in Emerging Adults From Georgia

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 422-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nino Skhirtladze ◽  
Nino Javakhishvili ◽  
Seth J. Schwartz ◽  
Koen Luyckx
Keyword(s):  
Identity Development ◽  
Identity Formation ◽  
Emerging Adults ◽  
Personal Identity ◽  
Life Stories ◽  
Life Story ◽  
Case Examples ◽  
Life Story Interview ◽  
Dual Cycle ◽  
Quantitative And Qualitative Methods

In this study, we examine personal identity formation using two approaches: a dual-cycle model of identity development and a narrative life-story model. We used quantitative and qualitative methods for studying personal identity: Luyckx et al.’s Dimensions of Identity Development Scale and D. P. McAdams’ life-story interview. Using six cases selected from a sample of 62 Georgian emerging adults, we illustrate how identity profiles created using six identity dimensions (exploration in breadth, commitment-making, identification with commitment, reflective exploration in depth, reconsideration of commitment, and ruminative exploration) are reflected in life stories depicting participants’ paths toward identity commitments and their ideas about the future and life themes. This article demonstrates how identity dimensions are connected to the context and how this connection is manifested in their life stories. The research illustrates theoretical exemplification by case studies and exemplifies the manifestation of dual-cycle identity development theorizing in case examples through narratives.

The Life Story, Domains of Identity, and Personality Development in Emerging Adulthood

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael W. Pratt ◽  
M. Kyle Matsuba
Keyword(s):  
Identity Development ◽  
Emerging Adulthood ◽  
Personal Identity ◽  
Life Story ◽  
Transition Period ◽  
Personality Development ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Personality Research ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Life Course

This book is about the life story and its integration into the wider personality in development, as depicted in Erikson’s theory of personality stages. The authors focus on how this personal identity narrative develops in emerging adulthood, the transition period from adolescence to young adulthood. They utilize a framework proposed by McAdams, which treats personality development as composed of three levels acquired across the life course: behavioral traits; personal values and motives; and finally, the life story, which provides some sense of a coherent personal identity. The life story and identity development are examined through the lens of different identity domains, including ideological domains such as religion, morality, and vocation, and various relational domains, including family, close peer and romantic relationships, and wider civic concerns. In a series of chapters the authors review personality development in each of these domains following McAdams’s three-part model, and describe the growth of the life story in each. All these chapters review the empirical personality research literature and then discuss findings from the authors’ ongoing longitudinal, mixed methods study following a sample of young Canadians across emerging adulthood, drawing on the individual narrative voices of the sample to illustrate this life story development. The authors also present case studies of the emerging adulthood of well-known public figures at the end of each chapter. The final chapter ties together these various lines of evidence around some general issues concerning the role of the life story in the study of the emerging adult personality.

scholarly journals Personal identity development in cultural context: The socialization of master narratives about the gendered life course

2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 116-126
Author(s):  
Kate C. McLean ◽  
Samantha Boggs ◽  
Kristin Haraldsson ◽  
Alexandra Lowe ◽  
Chelsea Fordham ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Identity Development ◽  
Gender Identity ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Emerging Adults ◽  
Emerging Adult ◽  
Master Narrative ◽  
Master Narratives ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Personal Experiences

The present studies focused on the role and socialization of biographical master narratives – cultural narratives that prescribe the types and ordering of events that should occur in one’s personal life identity narrative – by focusing on adolescent and emerging adult gender identity development. We employed a combined explanatory and triangulation mixed methods design. Study 1a ( n = 414) was a survey study examining the expected biographical master narrative events for men and women, and the content of master narrative deviation and conformity in an emerging adult sample. In Study 1b ( n = 14) we interviewed participants from Study 1a about their conformity and deviation narratives, as well as their socialization experiences regarding gendered biographical master narratives. In Study 2 mothers and adolescents ( n = 11 pairs), engaged in conversation about expected life course events, as well as a follow-up interview about their conversation. We first found that there are more gender differences in the personal experiences of conformity to and deviation from master narratives compared to the expectations of the life course (Study 1a). Second, deviating is related to more engagement in identity processes (Study 1a). Third, emerging adults report contradictions in retrospective reports of socialization messages regarding expectations (Study 1b), a finding confirmed in a discourse analysis of mothers and their adolescents (Study 2). Overall, across the studies, we see that (a) adolescents and emerging adults are engaged in a delicate balance of negotiating between various cultural and familial messages, as well as personal experiences, about gender identity particularly in regards to gender equality and, (b) there is a complex relation between socialization messages about gender equality that may make some biographical master narratives about the expected life course events for men and women more resistant to change.

Objective Measurement of Sustained Pupillary Constriction: A Pilot Study Using an App-Based Pupilometer

2020 ◽  
pp. 57-63
Keyword(s):  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Modern Technology ◽  
Objective Measurement ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Case Examples ◽  
Pupillary Reaction ◽  
Sympathetic Nervous Systems ◽  
Pupillary Constriction ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Right

Background: The pupillary reaction is controlled by the two main branches of the autonomic nervous system, namely the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems. New discoveries in pupil research has identified that intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells have an impact on pupillary constriction, particularly sustained pupillary constriction. In the current paper, an objective measurement of sustained pupillary constriction versus the inability to maintain sustained pupillary constriction are observed. The variability in the sustained pupillary constriction, i.e. Alpha Omega pupil, can be objectively identified with the use of modern technology. Case Examples: Two female subjects were adapted to dim illumination, and then two objective pupil measurements of the right eye using Reflex – PLR Analyzer by BrightLamp© (Indianapolis, IN, USA) with sustained illumination were obtained. Subject 1, a 25 year-old-female, demonstrated normal ability of the pupil to constrict and sustain constriction for 10 seconds. She was used as a control for subject 2. Subject 2, a 27 year-old-female, demonstrated the inability to sustain pupillary constriction. She reported being under great psychological stress. Her pupil began to re-dilate between 2 and 3 seconds after the initial constriction. Conclusion: Objective pupillometry can be used to assist in many diagnoses and provides the clinician invaluable information on the state of the individual, and qualifications of sustained pupillary constriction can now be assessed in an objective manner.

Married Life in the Middle Ages, 900-1300

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabeth van Houts
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Married Couple ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Emotional Life ◽  
Social And Emotional ◽  
Individual Agency ◽  
Married Life ◽  
The Face ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Individual

This book contains an analysis of the experience of married life by men and women in Christian medieval Europe c. 900–1300. The focus will be on the social and emotional life of the married couple rather than on the institutional history of marriage. The book consists of three parts: the first part (Getting Married) is devoted to the process of getting married and wedding celebrations, the second part (Married Life) discusses the married life of lay couples and clergy, their sexuality, and any remarriage, while the third part (Alternative Living) explores concubinage and polygyny as well as the single life in contrast to monogamous sexual unions. Four main themes are central to the book. First, the tension between patriarchal family strategies and the individual family member’s freedom of choice to marry and, if so, to what partner; second, the role played by the married priesthood in their quest to have individual agency and self-determination accepted in their own lives in the face of the growing imposition of clerical celibacy; third, the role played by women in helping society accept some degree of gender equality and self-determination to marry and in shaping the norms for married life incorporating these principles; fourth, the role played by emotion in the establishment of marriage and in married life at a time when sexual and spiritual love feature prominently in medieval literature.

scholarly journals Phenomenological approaches to personal identity

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jakub Čapek ◽  
Sophie Loidolt
Keyword(s):  
Personal Identity ◽  
Life Experiences ◽  
The Self ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
The Social ◽  
Phenomenological Perspective ◽  
Nineteenth And Twentieth Centuries ◽  
Continental Tradition ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Temporal Becoming

AbstractThis special issue addresses the debate on personal identity from a phenomenological viewpoint, especially contemporary phenomenological research on selfhood. In the introduction, we first offer a brief survey of the various classic questions related to personal identity according to Locke’s initial proposal and sketch out key concepts and distinctions of the debate that came after Locke. We then characterize the types of approach represented by post-Hegelian, German and French philosophies of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. We argue that whereas the Anglophone debates on personal identity were initially formed by the persistence question and the characterization question, the “Continental” tradition included remarkably intense debates on the individual or the self as being unique or “concrete,” deeply temporal and—as claimed by some philosophers, like Sartre and Foucault—unable to have any identity, if not one externally imposed. We describe the Continental line of thinking about the “self” as a reply and an adjustment to the post-Lockean “personal identity” question (as suggested by thinkers such as MacIntyre, Ricœur and Taylor). These observations constitute the backdrop for our presentation of phenomenological approaches to personal identity. These approaches run along three lines: (a) debates on the layers of the self, starting from embodiment and the minimal self and running all the way to the full-fledged concept of person; (b) questions of temporal becoming, change and stability, as illustrated, for instance, by aging or transformative life-experiences; and (c) the constitution of identity in the social, institutional, and normative space. The introduction thus establishes a structure for locating and connecting the different contributions in our special issue, which, as an ensemble, represent a strong and differentiated contribution to the debate on personal identity from a phenomenological perspective.

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