Self -narratives of difficult life experiences in adulthood

A central task of adult life is to construct a positive identity-defining life narrative. The process of remembering life experiences that were emotionally difficult is an important challenge to this identity task. What are the different ways adults respond to this challenge? This study proposes that individuals differ in how they remember difficult life experiences and conceptualizes these differences in terms of two dimensions. First, how open is the individual to embracing the impact of the experience on identity? Second, to what extent has the individual resolved the experience so that it contributes to a positive identity? These dimensions were crossed to create four distinct constructions of self, or self-narratives: Transformed (Open and Resolved), Conflicted (Open and Unresolved), Distanced (Closed and Resolved), and Threatened (Closed and Unresolved).;The current research examined self-narratives of difficult life experiences that women wrote in midlife (age 52) in a longitudinal study from early adulthood (age 21) through late midlife (age 60). First, the proposed two-dimensional model was demonstrated within the self-narratives. Second, each type of self-narrative was characterized by a distinct pattern of emotions. Third, the self-narratives were related to personality patterns reflecting broad processes of identity construction from early to middle adulthood. Women who were emotionally open in early adulthood were more likely to later embrace the impact of the experience on identity through constructing Open Self-Narratives. In addition, women who increased in ego-resiliency from early to middle adulthood constructed Resolved Self-Narratives, reflecting a positive sense of identity in midlife. Fourth, the self-narratives predicted psychological and physical health outcomes in late midlife. With respect to psychological health, women with Resolved Self-Narratives felt better about their lives, whereas women with Open Self-Narratives demonstrated greater maturity. Physical health was predicted by an interaction such that women with Transformed Self-Narratives were the healthiest and women with Conflicted Self-Narratives were the least healthy. Overall, women with Transformed Self-Narratives demonstrated the most adaptive profile, combining subjective well-being, maturity, and physical health. In conclusion, this study suggests that self-narratives constitute emotionally significant components of identity and are associated with coherent patterns of personality processes and health outcomes in adulthood.