The Problem of Narrative Coherence
Abstract
A growing number of psychological theorists, researchers, and therapists agree that people create meaningful selves through the individual and social construction of coherent life stories. But what is a coherent story? And are good life stories always coherent? This article addresses the problem of narrative coherence by considering the propositions that coherent life stories (1) provide convincing causal explanations for the self, (2) reflect the richness of lived experience, and (3) advance socially-valued living action. Like all stories, life stories exist to be told or performed in social contexts. Most criteria for coherence, therefore, reflect the culture within which the story is told and the life is lived.
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The coherence of higher-order narrative representations varies from person to person, with some having more clearly articulated stories for situating their experiences than others.
“Although higher-order narratives in fl uence cognitive processes, the coherence of these narrative representations varies from person to person, with some having more clearly articulated stories for situating their experiences than others (McAdams 2006).”
From Whatever next? Predictive brains, situated agents, and the future of cognitive science (2013) · cites this paper as McAdams 2006
Cites
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“Reviewing research on life-storytelling and narrative understanding, Habermas and Bluck (2000) demonstrate that the full expression of narrative identity awaits the consolidation of four different cognitive skills, each linked to a form of narrative coherence.”
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Clark, A. (2013) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x12000477 · Cited by 5,924 · see citing works
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- Authors
- Mcadams, D. P.
- Affiliations
- Northwestern University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Mcadams, Dan P.
- ORCID
- Mcadams, Dan P.
- Venue
- Journal of Constructivist Psychology
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2006-04
- Volume
- 19
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 109-125
- ISSN
- 1072-0537 (ISSN-L)
- 1521-0650
- OpenAlex
- W2031334042
- Cited by
- 346
- References
- 4
- Citations by year
- 2026: 14 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 42 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 22 · 2017: 18 · 2016: 21 · 2015: 20 · 2014: 20 · 2013: 22 · 2012: 12
- FWCI
- 14.17
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Constructivist Psychology (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Identity, Memory, and Therapy
- Social Sciences › Education › Qualitative research in health
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Social Representations and Identity
- Keywords
- narrative coherence, life stories, self-construction, lived experience, social construction of identity
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