Personality Traits and Narrative Identity: How Experience and Behavior Shape Our Understanding of Ourselves Open Access

Abstract

Do dispositional personality traits influence the way one tells stories about their lives? Dan McAdams’ defines dispositional personality traits (Layer 1), personal concerns and motivations (Layer 2), and narrative identity (Layer 3) as different domains of personality. Previous research has examined the relationships between Layers 1 and 2 and between Layers 2 and 3, but little work has examined the potential relationship between Layers 1 and 3. In the current study, I addressed this gap by creating a novel narrative coding scheme for trait Conscientiousness, then used this scheme to code for Conscientiousness in narratives of different event types from 97 participants. Multilevel linear models were used to assess the relationship between narrative Conscientiousness expression and dispositional Conscientiousness scores. Results indicated that Conscientiousness was expressed differently depending on narrative event type, but there was minimal evidence to suggest that dispositional Conscientiousness level determined how much Conscientiousness was expressed in narratives.

Table of Contents

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………….....…….1

           Dan McAdams’ Three Layers of Personality............................................................…......2

                       Layer 1: Dispositional Traits…………...…………………………………………3

                       Layer 2: Personal Concerns and Motivations……………………......……………5

                       Layer 3: Narrative Identity………………………………………......…………….5

                       Existing Relationships between Layers……………………….…………………..8

           Trait of Choice: Conscientiousness…………...…………………………………………10

           The Current Study......................................................................................................…....11

Methods…………………………………………………………………………………………..12

           Participants……………………………………………………………………………….12

           Procedure………………………………………………………………………………...13

           Materials and Measures………………………………………………………………….14

                      Demographics……………………………………………………………………14

                      Personality……………………………………………………………………….14

                       Coding Development…………………………………………………………….15

           Analytic Plan……………………………………………………………………………..18

Results……………………………………………………………………………………………19

           Descriptive and Preliminary Statistics…………………………………………………...19

           Hypothesis Testing……………………………………………………………………….20

Discussion………………………………………………………………………………………..22

           Effects of Baseline Conscientiousness…………………………………………………...23

           Effects of Narrative Event Type…………………………………………………………25

           Limitations……………………………………………………………………………….26

           Future Directions………………………………………………………………………...27

References………………………………………………………………………………………..29

Tables…………………………………………………………………………………………….32

Figures……………………………………………………………………………………………37

Appendices……………………………………………………………………………………….38

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	Psychology
Degree	B.A.
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Psychology, Personality Psychology, Social Psychology, General
Keyword	personality traits narrative identity conscientiousness big 5 model personality narratives
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Dr. Robyn Fivush, Emory University
Committee Members	Dr. Patricia Bauer, Emory University Dr. Yun Kim, Emory University

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