Telling the Tale and Living Well: Adolescent Narrative Identity, Personality Traits, and Well-Being Across Cultures

This study explored links between narrative identity, personality traits, and well-being for 263 adolescents (age 12-21) from three New Zealand cultures: Māori, Chinese, and European. Turning-point narratives were assessed for autobiographical reasoning (causal coherence), local thematic coherence,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Child development 2017-03, Vol.88 (2), p.612-628
Main Authors: Reese, Elaine, Myftari, Ella, McAnally, Helena M., Chen, Yan, Neha, Tia, Wang, Qi, Jack, Fiona, Robertson, Sarah-Jane
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adolescent Behavior - ethnology
Adolescents
Adult
Asian Continental Ancestry Group - ethnology
Child
Child development
Child psychology
Coherence
Conscientiousness
Cultural differences
EMPIRICAL ARTICLES
European Continental Ancestry Group - ethnology
Female
Humans
Identity
Male
Maori
Narratives
Neurosis
Neuroticism
New Zealand - ethnology
Oceanic Ancestry Group - ethnology
Openness
Personal development
Personal Narratives as Topic
Personality
Personality traits
Self expression
Social Identification
Teenagers
Well being
Young Adult
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Summary:This study explored links between narrative identity, personality traits, and well-being for 263 adolescents (age 12-21) from three New Zealand cultures: Māori, Chinese, and European. Turning-point narratives were assessed for autobiographical reasoning (causal coherence), local thematic coherence, emotional expressivity, and topic. Across cultures, older adolescents with higher causal coherence reported better well-being. Younger adolescents with higher causal coherence instead reported poorer well-being. Personal development topics were positively linked to well-being for New Zealand European adolescents only, and thematic coherence was positively linked to well-being for Māori adolescents only. Negative expressivity, neuroticism, conscientiousness, and openness were also linked to well-being. Implications of these cultural similarities and differences are considered for theories of narrative identity, personality, and adolescent well-being.
ISSN:0009-3920
1467-8624
DOI:10.1111/cdev.12618