The document discusses narrative identity, which is the concept that individuals create their identity through a cohesive story that integrates their past, present, and anticipated future. It introduces four types of coherence in storytelling and outlines various constructs used in the research of narrative identity, such as redemption, contamination, agency, communion, exploratory narrative processing, coherent positive resolution, and meaning-making. Overall, the theory emphasizes the role of narratives in shaping self-understanding and personal growth.

1. Compiled by Col Mukteshwar Prasad(Retd),
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Narrative Identity-2

2. Introduction
 Narrative comes from the Latin verb narrate, “to tell” which describes a
sequence of nonfictional or fictional events called a “story” .
 We are natural storytellers irrespective of cultures and we keep
constructing and sharing stories about ourselves detailing particular
episodes and periods in our lives and what those experiences mean to us.
 French philosopher Paul Ricoeur regards the concept of narrative identity
as fundamental to the notion of selfhood and self-understanding.
 The theory of narrative identity postulates that individuals form an identity by
integrating their life experiences into an internalized, evolving story of the
self that provides the individual with a sense of unity and purpose in life.
 It reconstructs the autobiographical past and imagines the future in such a
way as to provide a person’s life with some degree of unity, purpose, and
meaning with envisioned goals, creating a coherent account of identity in
time conveying all .
 Who they are now,
 How they came to be, and
 Where they think their lives may be going in the future.
Because there is no access to myself from the outside, I cannot define

3. Narrative Identity
 This life narrative integrates one's
 Reconstructed past,
 Perceived present, and
 Imagined future.
 Narrative is a story having (Like myths, our narrative identity contains heroes
and villains that help us or hold us back, major events that determine the plot,
challenges overcome and suffering we have endured)
 Characters,
 Episodes,
 Imagery,
 A setting,
 Plots, and
 Themes
 Like traditional model of a story it has
 A beginning (initiating event),
 Middle (an attempt and a consequence), and
 An end (denouement).

4. Structure
 By taking the disparate pieces of our lives and placing them together
into a narrative, we create a unified whole that allows us to understand
our lives as coherent — and coherence, psychologists say, is a key source
of meaning.
 As individuals develop from children to adults, four types of
coherence(primary structural elements of narratives.) emerge in their
abilities to tell stories:
 Temporal coherence: the telling of a story in a clear, chronological way,
i.e. event B follows event A.
 Causal coherence: drawing cause-and-effect relationships between
events in the narrative and also between events and their effect on the
narrator's sense of self.
 Thematic coherence: the narrator making a reflective evaluation of their
story, revealing themes, overarching trends, and creating meaning from
the narrative.
 The cultural concept of biography: the story assuming the format and
prose common to the narrator's culture and context.
 The general extent to which coherence is present or absent in a narrative
has been found to be related to a variety of important outcomes such as

5. Content
 Research on narrative identity has focused especially on the thematic
elements of personal narratives.
 Participant’s recount of personal narrative are coded in following
seven constructs:
 Redemption,
 Contamination,
 Agency,
 Communion,
 Exploratory narrative processing,
 Coherent positive resolution, and
 Meaning making.
 Performance (Newly recognized )

6. Content
 Redemption: the narrator transitions from a generally "bad"/negative state,
to a generally "good"/positive state (A → B) and can be characterized as
being a
 Sacrifice (enduring a negative event A to get the benefit of B),
 Recovery (attaining a positive state after losing it),
 Growth (bettering the self psychologically, physically, personally), or
 Learning (gaining/mastering new skills, knowledge, wisdom).
 Contamination: the narrator transitions from a generally good/positive
state, to a bad/negative state (B → A) and often is marked by a denial or
not being able to remember the 'good' of the state before overwhelmed
by the current 'bad' state.
 Common sub-themes in contamination include
 Victimization,
 Betrayal,
 Loss,
 Failure,
 Illness/injury,
 Disappointment, or

7. Content
 Agency: refers to the extent to which the narrator is autonomous, and has
the power to affect his/her own life.
 Agency is sometimes broken down into four pathways:
 Self-mastery (the protagonist masters, enlarges, or betters the self),
 Status/victory (the protagonist attains a heightened status or prestige
amongst their peers),
 Achievement/responsibility (the protagonist has significant achievement
in some task, job, or goal), and
 Empowerment (the protagonist is made better through an interaction with
something larger and greater than the self).
 Communion: the narrator is motivated to form intimate
friendships/relationships; showing intimacy, sharing, belonging, affiliation, etc.
 Common themes in communion are:
 Love/friendship,
 Reciprocal and noninstrumental dialogue,
 Providence of caring/help to another, or
 A general feeling of unity/togetherness with the world/others.

8. Content
 Exploratory narrative processing: the extent that the narrator engages in
self-exploration while telling a story
 The practice of exploratory narrative processing in times of struggle
is one avenue through which maturity develops,
 Narratives of positive self-transformation are often characterized by
increased exploratory narrative processing.
 Coherent positive resolution: the extent to which tensions dissolve,
providing closure and a satisfying ending to a narrative.
 Increased coherent positive resolution in narratives correlate with
improvements in ego-resiliency, or one's adaptability under stress.
 Meaning-making: the extent to which the narrator gleans meaning from a
narrative.
 Responses range from
 Low (no meaning; narrator simply recounts story),
 Moderate (extracting a concrete lesson from the story—for example: do
not put hands on hot surfaces), to
 High (gaining a deep insight from the narrative—for example: learning that
you can't judge a book by its cover).

9. Content
 Performance: The narrator describes life stories around the
outcome of their performance.
 This narrative tends to be seen typically among elite athletes.
 It can be considered a very dominant narrative

10. Example of Life Time Constructs Used in research
Coding
construct
Definition Example
Redemption Redemption Scenes in which a
demonstrably “bad” or emotionally negative
event or circumstance leads to a
demonstrably “good” or emotionally
positive outcome. The initial negative state
is “redeemed” or salvaged by the good that
follows it.
The narrator
describes the
death of her father
as reinvigorating
closer emotional
ties to her
other family
members.
Contaminati
on
Scenes in which a good or positive event
turns
dramatically bad or negative, such that the
negative affect overwhelms, destroys, or
erases
the effects of the preceding positivity.
The narrator is
excited for a
promotion at
work but learns it
came at the
expense of his
Friend

11. Example of Life Time Constructs Used in research
Coding
construct
Definition Example
Agency The degree to which protagonists are able
to affect change in their own lives or
influence others in
their environment, often through
demonstrations
of self-mastery, empowerment,
achievement,
or status. Highly agentic stories privilege
accomplishment and the ability to control
one’s
fate.
“I challenge myself
to the limit
academically,
physically, and on
my job. Since that
time [of
my accident and
amutation], I have
accomplished
virtually
any goal I set for
myself. ”
Communion The degree to which protagonists
demonstrate or
experience interpersonal connection
through
love, friendship, dialogue, or connection to
a
“I was warm,
surrounded by
friends
and positive
regard that day. I
felt

12. Example of Life Time Constructs Used in research
Coding
construct
Definition Example
Meaning
Making
The degree to which the
protagonist learns something or
gleans a message from an
event. Coding ranges from no
meaning (low score) to learning
a concrete lesson (moderate
score) to gaining a deep insight
about life (high score).
“It really made me go through and
relook at my memories and see
how there’s so many things
behind a situation that you never
see.
Things are not always as they
seem.”
Explorato
ry
Narrative
The extent of self-exploration
as expressed in the story. High
scores suggest deep
exploration or the development
of a richly elaborated self-
Understanding.
“I knew I reached an emotional
bottom that year . . . but I began
making a stable life again, as a
more stable independent person .
. . it was a period full of pain,
experimentation, and growth, but
in retrospect it was necessary for
me to become anything like the

13. Example of Life Time Constructs Used in research
Coding
construct
Definition Example
Coherent
Positive
Resolution
The extent to which the
tensions in the story are
resolved to produce closure
and a positive Ending.
“After many years, I finally
came to forgive my brother for
what he did. I now accept his
faults, and, as a result, I think
he and I have grown closer.”