TY - JOUR
T1 - The nature of narrative coherence
T2 - An empirical approach
AU - Adler, Jonathan M.
AU - Waters, Theodore E.A.
AU - Poh, Justin
AU - Seitz, Sophia
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was not formally pre-registered. It is exploratory and does not test hypotheses. The data were collected as part of a major longitudinal study of narrative identity development (see Manczak, Zapata-Geitl, & McAdams, 2014). Given the potentially identifying information inherent in personal narratives, the transcripts cannot be made public, though interested scholars should contact Dan McAdams ([email protected]) to discuss access. The coherence codes assigned in this study will be made available. The study from which the data were drawn was funded by a grant to Dan McAdams from the Foley Family Foundation. No additional funding was provided.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Elsevier Inc.
PY - 2018/6
Y1 - 2018/6
N2 - Coherence represents a foundational element of personal narratives, but the empirical nature of narrative coherence remains elusive. The present study applied an inductive empirical approach to determining the structure of narrative coherence, exploring shared and unique contributions from different established coding systems. Life stories from a diverse sample of 158 community adults were coded using three common coding systems for operationalizing narrative coherence (Baerger & McAdams, 1999; Lysaker, Clements, Plascak-Hallberg, Knipscheer, & Wright, 2002; Reese et al., 2011). Principle components analysis indicated three components, which were labeled Temporal Detail, Psychological Context, and Meaning/Interpretation. The three components do not map onto the existing coding systems in a one-to-one manner. This study suggests future directions for the quantitative study of narrative coherence.
AB - Coherence represents a foundational element of personal narratives, but the empirical nature of narrative coherence remains elusive. The present study applied an inductive empirical approach to determining the structure of narrative coherence, exploring shared and unique contributions from different established coding systems. Life stories from a diverse sample of 158 community adults were coded using three common coding systems for operationalizing narrative coherence (Baerger & McAdams, 1999; Lysaker, Clements, Plascak-Hallberg, Knipscheer, & Wright, 2002; Reese et al., 2011). Principle components analysis indicated three components, which were labeled Temporal Detail, Psychological Context, and Meaning/Interpretation. The three components do not map onto the existing coding systems in a one-to-one manner. This study suggests future directions for the quantitative study of narrative coherence.
KW - Coherence
KW - Development
KW - Identity
KW - Narrative
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jrp.2018.01.001
DO - 10.1016/j.jrp.2018.01.001
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85044646429
SN - 0092-6566
VL - 74
SP - 30
EP - 34
JO - Journal of Research in Personality
JF - Journal of Research in Personality
ER -