Association between Narrative Meaning Making and Psychological State

Year 2021, , 134 - 151, 29.12.2021

Filiz Sayar

https://doi.org/10.18863/pgy.943952

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the past events that create a turning point in life and fictional events that can create a turning point in the context of narrative meaning-making style, psychological state and gender. The sample of the study consists of 81 non-clinical volunteers between the ages of 18-35, undergraduate students/graduates. In the study, the participants were asked to write a total of four autobiographical memories, two of which were about the past and two about the future. To measure the psychological state, Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Adult Psychological Resilience Scale (PRS), Psychological Wellbeing Scale (PWS), Social Comparison Scale (SCS), Ideal and Real Self-Concept Scale (IRSCS) were applied. As a result of the statistical analysis, thematic coherence in positive memories was found to be associated with scores of BAI in women; with PWS, PRS, and SCS in men and factual elaboration was found to be associated with PRS in women. Interpretative elaboration in negative memories predicted the scores of IRSCS, agency PWS and SCS scores in males.Interpretive elaboration in positive fictional narratives in women with BAI and BDI; with BDI in men; seeking support in negative memories was observed to be associated with BAI in women and BDI in men. In conclusion, the relationships between the meaning-making process and the psychological state have a very specific and complex mechanism, and thematic coherence is a strong predictor of psychological well-being and self-concept. In women, factual elaboration was associated with resilience, and in negative memories, self-connections were associated with the level of social comparison. Women preferred to tell more negative memories, while men preferred more positive memories, and motivational themes came to the fore in men's narratives.

Keywords

Meaning making, narrative identity, self, psychological well-being, gender

Anlatısal Anlam Oluşturma ve Psikolojik Durum İlişkisi

Abstract

Bu çalışmada, yaşamda dönüm noktası yaratan geçmiş olaylar ile dönüm noktası yaratabilecek kurgusal olayların anlatısal anlam oluşturma tarzı, psikolojik durum ve cinsiyet bağlamında incelenmesi amaçlanmıştır. Araştırmanın örneklemini 18-35 yaş arası lisans öğrencisi/ mezunu, klinik olmayan 81 gönüllü oluşturmaktadır. Çalışmada, katılımcılardan ikisi geçmişe, ikisi geleceğe dair toplam dört otobiyografik anı yazmaları istenmiş, psikolojik durumu ölçmek için ise katılımcılara Beck Anksiyete Envanteri (BAE), Beck Depresyon Envanteri (BDE), Yetişkinler İçin Psikolojik Dayanıklılık Ölçeği (PDÖ), Psikolojik İyi Oluş Ölçeği (PİOÖ), Sosyal Karşılaştırma Ölçeği (SKÖ), İdeal ve Gerçek Benlik Kavramı Ölçeği (İGBKÖ) uygulanmıştır. İstatistiki analizler sonucunda, olumlu anılarda tematik tutarlılığın kadınlarda BAE puanlarıyla; erkeklerde PİOÖ, PDÖ ve SKÖ ile; olgusal detaylandırmanın ise kadınlarda PDÖ ile ilişkili olduğu bulunmuştur. Olumsuz anılarda yorumlayıcı detaylandırma erkeklerde İGBKÖgerçek puanlarını, eylemlilik ise PİOÖ ve SKÖ puanlarını anlamlı olarak yordamıştır. Olumlu kurgusal anlatılarda yorumlayıcı detaylandırmanın kadınlarda BAE ve BDE ile; erkeklerde BDE ile; olumsuz anılarda ise destek aramanın kadınlarda BAE ile, erkeklerde BDE ile ilişkili olduğu bulunmuştur. Sonuç olarak, anlam oluşturma süreci ile psikolojik durum arasındaki ilişkilerin oldukça spesifik ve karmaşık bir mekanizmaya sahip olduğu, tematik tutarlılığın psikolojik esenlik ve kendilik kavramının güçlü bir yordayıcısı olduğu gözlenmiştir. Kadınlarda olgusal detaylandırmanın psikolojik dayanıklılıkla, olumsuz anılarda ise kendilik bağlantılarının sosyal karşılaştırma düzeyiyle ilişkili olduğu saptanmıştır. Kadınlar daha çok olumsuz, erkekler ise daha çok olumlu anı anlatmayı tercih etmiş, motivasyonel temalar erkeklerin anlatılarında öne çıkmıştır.

Keywords

Anlam oluşturma, anlatısal kimlik, kendilik, psikolojik iyi oluş, cinsiyet

References

• Abele AE, Wojciszke B (2007) Agency and communion from the perspective of self versus others. J Pers Soc Psychol 93(5): 751–763.
• Adler JM (2012) Living into the story: Agency and coherence in a longitudinal study of narrative identity development and mental health over the course of psychotherapy. J Pers Soc Psychol 102: 367–389.
• Adler JM, Lodi-Smith J, Philippe FL ve ark. (2015) The incremental validity of narrative identity in predicting well-being: A review of the field and recommendations for the future. Pers and Soc Psychol Rev 20(2): 142–175.
• Bakan D (1966) The dual reality of human existence: An essay on psychology and religion. Chicago, IL: Rand MacNally.
• Barbee AP, Cunningham MR, Winstead BA ve ark. (1993) Gender role expectations on the social support process. J Soc Issues 49(3): 175-190.
• Basım HN, Çetin F (2011) Yetişkinler için psikolojik dayanıklılık ölçeği'nin güvenilirlik ve geçerlilik çalışması. Turk Psikiyatri Derg, 22(2): 104-114.
• Bauer JJ, McAdams DP (2004) Growth Goals, Maturity, and Well-Being. Dev Psychol 40(1): 114–127.
• Beck AT, Epstein N, Brown G ve ark. (1988) An inventory for measuring clinical anxiety: Psychometric properties. J of Couns and Clin Psychol 56: 893-897.
• Beck AT, Ward CH, Mendelson M ve ark. (1961) An inventory for measuring depression. Arch of Gen Psychiat 4:561-571.
• Bruner J (1994) The remembered self. In The remembering self: Construction and accuracy in the self narrative, (Eds U Neisser, R Fiurish): 41-54. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
• Diener E, Wirtz D, Tov W ve ark. (2010) New wellbeing measures: Short scales to assess flourishing and positive and negative feelings. Soc Indic Res 97: 143-156.
• Fivush R, Baker-Ward L (2005) The Search for Meaning: Developmental Perspectives on Internal State Language in Autobiographical Memory. J of Cogn Dev 6:455–62.
• Fivush R, Booker JA, Graci ME (2017) Ongoing narrative meaning-making within events and across the life span. Imaging Cogn Pers, 37(2), 127–152.
• Frattaroli J (2006) Experimental disclosure and its moderators: A meta-analysis. Psychol Bull 132:823–865.
• Friborg O, Hjemdal O, Rosenvinge JH ve ark. (2003) A New Rating Scale for Adult Resilience: What are the Central Protective Resources behind Healthy Adjustment? Int J Methods Psychiatr Res12:65-76.
• Graci ME, Fivush R (2017) Narrative meaning making, attachment, and psychological growth and stress. J Soc Pers Relat 34(4): 486–509.
• Graci ME, Watts AL, Fivush R (2018). Examining the factor structure of narrative meaning–making for stressful events and relations with psychological distress. Memory 26:1220–1232.
• Greenhoot AF, McLean KC (2013) Introduction to this special issue. Meaning in personal memories: Is more always better? Memory 21: 2–8.
• Gilbert PS, Allan S, Trent D ve ark. (1991) A Social Comparison Scale: Psychometric Properties and Relationship to Psychopathology. Pers Individ Dif 19(3): 293-299.
• Grysman A, Denney A (2016) Gender, experimenter gender and medium of report influence the content of autobiographical memory report. Memory 25(1):1–14.
• Grysman A, Fivush R, Merrill NA ve ark. (2016) The influence of gender and gender typicality on autobiographical memory across event types and age groups. Mem Cogn 44: 856–868.
• Grysman A, Hudson JA (2011). The self in autobiographical memory: Effects of self-salience on narrative content and structure. Memory 19(5): 501–513.
• Habermas T, Bluck S (2000) Getting a life: The emergence of the life story in adolescence. Psychol Bull 126:748–769.
• Habermas T, Diel V, Welzer H (2013) Lifespan trends of autobiographical remembering: Episodicity and search for meaning. Conscious Cogn 22: 1061-1072.
• Habermas T, Köber C (2015) Autobiographical reasoning in life narratives buffers the effect of biographical disruptions on the sense of self-continuity. Memory 23: 664–674.
• Hisli N (1988) Beck Depresyon Envanteri’nin geçerliği üzerine bir çalışma. Psikoloji Derg 6(22): 118-22.
• Huang M, Schmiedek F, Habermas T (2021). Only some attempts at meaning making are successful: The role of change-relatedness and positive implications for the self. J Pers 89:175-187.
• Kapıkıran NA (2004) İdeal ve Gerçek Benlik Kavramı Ölçeğinin güvenirliği. Pamukkale Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Derg 16(16):14-25.
• Leaper C, Ayres MM (2007) A meta-analytic review of gender variations in adults' language use: Talkativeness, affiliative speech, and assertive speech. Pers Soc Psychol Rev, 11(4):328–363.
• Merrill N, Waters TEA, Fivush R (2016) Connecting the self to traumatic and positive events: links to identity and well-being. Memory 24:1321–1328.
• McAdams DP, Pals JL (2006) A new Big Five: Fundamental principles for an integrative science of personality. Am Psychol 61: 204-217.
• McLean, KC, Pasupathi M (2010) Old, new, borrowed, and blue? The emergence and retention of meaning in autobiographical storytelling. J Pers 79:135–164.
• McLean KC, Pasupathi M, Fivush R, ve ark. (2016). Does within person variability in narration matter and for what? J Res Pers 69: 55 - 66.
• McLean KC, Syed M, Pasupathi M ve ark. (2020) The empirical structure of narrative identity: the initial big three. J Pers Soc Psychol 119(4): 920–944.
• Moskowitz DS, Suh EJ, Desaulniers J (1994) Situational influences on gender differences in agency and communion. J Pers Soc Psychol 66(4):753-761.
• Pals JL (2006) Narrative Identity Processing of Difficult Life Experiences: Pathways of Personality Development and Positive Self-Transformation in Adulthood. J Pers 64:1079 – 1110.
• Park CL (2010) Making sense of the meaning literature: An integrative review of meaning making and its effects on adjustment to stressful life events. Psychol Bull 136:257–301.
• Pasupathi M, Mansour E (2006) Adult age differences in autobiographical reasoning in narratives. Dev Psychol 42(5): 798–808.
• Pasupathi, M, Mansour E, Brubaker JR (2007) Developing a life story: Constructing relations between self and experience in autobiographical narratives. Hum Dev 50(2-3):85-110.
• Pasupathi M, Wainryb C (2010) Developing moral agency through narrative. Hum Dev 53:55–80.
• Reese E, Haden CA, Baker-ward L ve ark. (2011) Coherence of personal narratives across the lifespan: A multidimensional model and coding method. J Cogn Dev 12: 424–462.
• Reevy GM, Maslach C (2001) People's use of social support: Gender and personality differences. Sex Roles 44: 437-459.
• Sales JM., Merrill NA, Fivush R (2013) Does making meaning make it better? Narrative meaning making and well-being in at-risk African-American adolescent females. Memory 21: 97–110.
• Sczesny S, Kaufmann MC (2018) Self-presentation in online professional networks: men's higher and women's lower facial prominence in self-created profile images. Front Psychol 8: 2295.
• Sools A, Mooren JHM (2012) Towards narrative futuring in psychology: Becoming resilient by imagining the future. Grad J Soc Sci 9(2): 203-226.
• Sools A, Tromp T, Mooren JHM (2015) Mapping letters from the future: Exploring narrative processes of imagining the future. J Health Psychol 20: 350– 364.
• Suitner C, Maass A (2008) The role of valence in the perception of agency and communion. Eur J Soc Psychol, 38, 1073–1082.
• Şahin NH, Durak A, Şahin N (1993) Sosyal Karşılaştırma Ölçeği: Bilişsel-Davranışçı Terapilerde Değerlendirme. Ankara, Türk Psikologlar Derneği Yayınları.
• Telef BB (2013) Psikolojik iyi oluş ölçeği (PİOO): Türkçeye uyarlama, geçerlik ve güvenirlik çalışması. Hacettepe Eğitim Fakültesi Derg 28 (3): 374-384.
• Ulusoy M, Şahin N, Erkmen H (1996) Turkish version of The Beck Anxiety Inventory: Psychometric properties. J Cogn Psychot: Int quarterly 12:28-35.
• Waugh R (2001) Measuring ideal and real self-concept on the same scale, based on a multipaceted hierarchical model of self-concept. Educ Psychol Meas 61(1): 85-92.