Stories of commitment: The psychosocial construction of generative lives.

Abstract

In this study, the authors analyzed the internalized life stories of 40 highly generative and 30 less generative adults with similar demographic profiles to discern the extent to which the 2 groups constructed different identities. The highly generative adults were more likely to reconstruct the past and anticipate the future as variations on a prototypical commitment story in which the protagonist (a) enjoys an early family blessing or advantage, (b) is sensitized to others' suffering at an early age, (c) is guided by a clear and compelling personal ideology that remains stable over time, (d) transforms or redeems bad scenes into good outcomes, and (e) sets goals for the future to benefit society. Commitment stories sustain and reinforce the modern adult's efforts to contribute in positive ways to the next generation. The findings connect to a growing interdisciplinary literature on narrative and human lives and suggest a new research agenda that draws on nomothetic conventions to interpret storied psychosocial constructions that people fashion to make sense of their lives in time and in culture.