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Cited by 1,743Identity, Memory, and TherapyPsychological and Temporal Perspectives ResearchMemory Processes and Influences

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Getting a life: The emergence of the life story in adolescence.

Habermas, Tilmann, Bluck, Susan·2000·Psychological Bulletin
DOI 10.1037/0033-2909.126.5.748
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Abstract

In the life story, autobiographical remembering and self-understanding are combined to create a coherent account of one's past. A gap is demonstrated between developmental research on the story-organization of autobiographical remembering of events in childhood and of life narratives in adulthood. This gap is bridged by substantiating D.P. McAdams's (1985) claim that the life story develops in adolescence. Two manifestations of the life story, life narratives and autobiographical reasoning, are delineated in terms of 4 types of global coherence (temporal, biographical, causal, and thematic). A review of research shows that the cognitive tools necessary for constructing global coherence in a life story and the social-motivational demands to construct a life story develop during adolescence. The authors delineate the implications of the life story framework for other research areas such as coping, attachment, psychotherapeutic process, and the organization of autobiographical memory.

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Metadata

Authors
Habermas, T., & Bluck, S.
Affiliations
Max Planck Society (DE)
ORCID
Venue
Psychological Bulletin
Publisher
American Psychological Association (APA)
Published
2000
Volume
126
Issue
5
Pages
748-769
ISSN
  • 0033-2909 (ISSN-L)
  • 1939-1455
DOI
10.1037/0033-2909.126.5.748
OpenAlex
W1964153899
Cited by
1,743
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 80 · 2025: 85 · 2024: 100 · 2023: 70 · 2022: 137 · 2021: 108 · 2020: 98 · 2019: 113 · 2018: 95 · 2017: 81 · 2016: 89 · 2015: 104 · 2014: 70 · 2013: 92 · 2012: 70
FWCI
24.37
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Psychological Bulletin (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (submittedVersion)
  • Max Planck Digital Library (submittedVersion)
  • MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Identity, Memory, and Therapy
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Psychological and Temporal Perspectives Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
Keywords
life stories, adolescence, autobiographical memory, autobiographical reasoning, global coherence, self-understanding, narrative development, McAdams, coping, attachment, therapeutic process
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Psychology, Adolescent, Autobiographies as Topic, Female, Humans, Life Change Events, Male, Personality Development, Self Concept

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