The Transforming, Transformative Self

The developmental path of the transformative self is not straightforward, easy, or uniform. This chapter charts how the transformative self itself develops over time, from the theoretical perspectives of Eriksonian identity development and eudaimonic growth. The chapter provides an overview of how one’s degrees of identity exploration and commitment in a world of others shape one’s development over time. High versus low degrees of exploration and commitment yield four identity statuses or pathways: searchers, traditionalists, pathmakers, and drifters. This chapter surveys recent research and theoretical adjustments on the Eriksonian ideal, notably regarding non-idealized pathways of development. Excerpts from the bildungsroman genre illustrate the internal and interpersonal conflicts of eudaimonic growth that arise along all four pathways, plus non-ideal developments, from the perspectives of male and female characters, and then in the contexts of relationships, work, and religious views.

Nature, Nurture, and ’Ndividuality

The field of psychology is under a spell of believing that the person is merely a product of nature and nurture. This belief holds that the individual person plays no causal role in their own development. This belief assumes that epiphenomena (like persons, which originate from nature and nurture) lack real agency and cannot be a cause of themselves at a later time, so personal growth and the transformative self are illusions. This chapter explains the faulty logic in such beliefs and presents the nature, nurture, and ‘ndividuality model of personhood, which holds that the individuality of the whole person influences that person’s own development in ways not explained by nature, nurture, or their interaction. This model relies not on notions of free will or even intentionality but rather on another model of the person as a self-organizing system—a dynamic, organismic system within a pluralistic ecology of systems.

Growth Themes in Personal Narratives

Theme in a personal narrative conveys the narrator’s value orientations (what the person values, is motivated by, needs, or believes is important in an event) but not whether the event turns out well (tone does that). Three great themes in both literature and life stories are agency, communion, and growth. Themes of eudaimonic growth are central to the transformative self. Growth themes come in various, overlapping forms, notably agentic, communal, reflective, and experiential forms. Growth themes and growthy tones work together to convey not only the value orientation of growth but also the value fulfillment or attainment of eudaimonic growth, experienced as a sense of meaningfulness. Growth themes link actions to motives and to mechanisms of development, which may be why growth themes are powerful predictors of separate measures of happiness, love, wisdom, and growth, regardless of the type of event.

Transformative Self-Regulation and the Quiet Ego

This chapter examines how the transformative self facilitates long-term self-regulation. Most research on self-regulation targets the immediate moment (referred to here as micro self-regulation) or personal events that last weeks or months (meso self-regulation). In contrast, the transformative self functions as a tool for macro self-regulation in one’s attempt to shape one’s life over time (for which evolving life stories are especially well suited). Hedonic, transformative self-regulation comes in the forms of realistic optimism, self-improvement motivation, cybernetic feedback motives, intentional self-development, and the flexible pursuit of goals. Eudaimonic, transformative self-regulation is especially helpful for adaptation to life’s difficulties and is found in dual-process models of adaptation to loss and potential trauma. These dual processes aim to regulate and balance both affect and meaning-making. The quiet ego represents a synthesis of these forms of self-regulation, balancing detached awareness (e.g., mindfulness), inclusive identity (e.g., interdependence, compassion), perspective-taking (e.g., value perspectivity), and growth-mindedness.

The Dark Side of the Transformative Self

The pursuit of growth has a dark side. The person who has a transformative self can too easily strive for growth in ways that are paradoxically counter to eudaimonic growth and that are harmful to the self and others. This chapter explores the dark side of the transformative self in four forms. First, perfectionism in its maladaptive forms involves impossible or otherwise unchecked ideals for perfection. Second, eudaimonic materialism values moral virtue and wisdom but veers toward moralism and intellectual self-adulation. Third, “wanting it all” aims for a well-rounded life but can manifest as a problem of overcommitment, for which cultural master narratives of success place women at particular risk. Fourth, in contrast, a never-ending search for meaning, or “ceaseless seeking,” involves an unrelenting pursuit of an idealistically true self or meaning in life and can manifest as a problem of undercommitment.

Growth Structure in Personal Narratives

Narrative content and structure are intertwined. However, this chapter identifies the features of narrative structure that do not overlap with narrative content. Narrative content conveys the facts, themes (i.e., value orientations), and tones (i.e., value fulfillments) of a story, whereas narrative structure conveys the objectively assessed degrees of complexity and coherence (i.e., value perspectivity) by which the narrator interprets the narrative content. The transformative self tends toward a relatively complex and coherent narrative structure, which develops over time, manifesting as psychological maturity and wisdom. The value perspectivity of narrative structure is what distinguishes wisdom from goods such as happiness, love, and meaningfulness. However, wisdom blends structural perspectivity with humane themes. This chapter distinguishes narrative phenomena that sound like structure but function more proximally as content: closure, subtypes of coherence, continuity over time, and affective sequences. The chapter also explores narrative structure in dialogical positioning. The chapter concludes by summarizing Chapters 4–7.

The Cultural Master Narrative of Personal Growth

This chapter first examines the enduring, cultural ideal of growth, providing a historical context for the modern transformative self. The chapter then introduces cultural master narratives as story prototypes that a culture cherishes in part because they provide individuals with examples of how to live a good life in that culture. The transformative self has a cultural master narrative in the bildungsroman genre of literature—stories that extol character development, personal growth, and self-actualization as the path to happiness, love, and wisdom. Generally speaking, the bildungsroman protagonist rejects the materialistic values of society’s mainstream and forges a personal path of humane growth. On this path, the protagonist learns how to resolve internal conflicts such as money versus meaning, self-discovery versus self-invention, individuation versus interdependence, and playing roles versus living authentically. The chapter introduces characters from a handful of bildungsroman novels that will serve to illustrate concepts throughout the book.

Authenticity, Self-Actualizing, and Self-Authorship

The transformative self aims toward authenticity and self-actualizing, which this chapter addresses from a developmental perspective. Two forms of authenticity are distinguished. Essentialist authenticity defines the true self as solely a matter of self-discovery and being true to one’s inborn traits or perceived soul. Existentialist authenticity also values self-discovery but emphasizes self-invention and being true to one’s values. Essentialist authenticity does not necessitate moral concerns, but existentialist authenticity does. The chapter argues that authenticity emerges not only via the matching principle of authenticity (matching actions with some true self) but also via the poiesis principle (the humane, self-making processes and perspectivity of a quiet ego). Youthful authenticity emphasizes independence and identity consolidation, whereas mature authenticity emphasizes interdependent self-actualizing. The chapter then examines self-actualization as maturely authentic self-understanding. Finally, the chapter reframes Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to correct common oversimplifications of belongingness and esteem in light of the developing, transformative self.

The Aging, Transformative Self

The transformative self is not just for the young. This chapter focuses on the aging self and how the person who has a transformative self interprets growth throughout the adult years. The chapter starts by debunking the popular belief—in both popular culture and academic psychology, despite the research evidence—that growth is just for the young. Research shows that older adults hold at least as many growth-oriented concerns as decline-oriented concerns, both in their memories and in their goals. However, growth is not a Pollyanna concept; eudaimonic growth is not easy. The chapter shows what young growth versus mature growth sounds like in personal narratives. Young and mature growth are examined in terms of concerns for self-identity, relational intimacy, and generative concern for future generations—and then in relation to well-being and wisdom.

The Self Beyond the Story

This brief chapter, more of a coda, questions the capacity of narrative to fulfill the aims of self-identity and the transformative self. The person who has a transformative self uses their life story to cultivate growth and a good life. But in several ways, a growth story urges the individual to transcend their own story and habitual self-identity. The transformative self’s valuing of experiential growth propels the person toward the experience of being alive and toward experiencing meaningful activities and relationships for themself rather than for the identities that they suggest. The transformative self’s valuing of reflective growth beckons the person ever beyond scriptedness and toward transcendent insights that words ultimately cannot capture. Thus, the transformative self leads the person toward eudaimonic growth both with words and beyond them.