The development of narrative identity in late adolescence and emergent adulthood: the continued importance of listeners.
Research on narrative identity in late adolescence and early adulthood has not extensively examined how conversational storytelling affects the development of narrative identity. This is a major gap, given the importance of this age period for narrative identity development and the clear importance of parent-child conversations in the development of narrative identity. The authors present a series of 3 studies (n = 220) examining how late adolescents and early adults construct narrative identity in ways that are shaped by their listeners. The findings suggest that late adolescents and early adults construct more meaning-laden, interpretive accounts of their everyday experiences when they converse with responsive friends. Further, even within this sample's abbreviated age range, the authors found evidence for age-related increases in the factual content of personal memories. Such findings illuminate the importance of friends in the construction of narrative identity during this key developmental period.
Pasupathi
Monisha
M
Department of Psychology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 54112, USA. pasupath@psych.utah.edu
Hoyt
Timothy
T
D000293:Adolescent; D001288:Attention; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D033062:Friends / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D033262:Narration; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D018187:Personal Construct Theory; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D012649:Self Concept; D055815:Young Adult