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intermediate

Life Story Coherence and its Relation to Psychological Well-Being

Dana Royce Baerger & Dan P. McAdams (1999)

Published
Jan 1, 1999
Journal
Narrative Inquiry · Vol. 9 · No. 1
DOI
10.1075/ni.9.1.05bae
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At a GlanceAI

Reliable coding scheme shows life story coherence can be quantified and is linked to psychological well-being.

SummaryAI

This paper turns a popular idea in narrative psychology of "life story coherence" into something that can be measured reliably. The authors show that a coding system for coherence can be applied consistently, making coherence open to quantitative study rather than only interpretation. They also find that higher life story coherence is statistically related to better psychological well-being. This supports the broader claim that mental health is connected to having a well-integrated, coherent account of one’s life.

Method SnapshotAI

The study develops and tests a quantitative coding scheme for life story coherence and correlates coherence scores with mental health outcomes.

BackgroundAI

Basic familiarity with narrative identity/life story concepts and standard ideas in psychological well-being and measurement.

In Collections

Psychology14 papers

Narrative coherence in life stories

The essential papers that built our understanding of how people turn lived experience into coherent stories — and why that coherence matters for identity. From Linde's life stories as linguistic acts, through McAdams' narrative identity framework, to Habermas and Bluck's developmental account of the life story — this collection traces how the field learned to see personality not as a set of traits, but as a story being told.

ES
Evgeny Smirnov

One of the first operationalizations of coherence in life stories across 4 domains (orientation, structure, affect, integration). And yes, a coherent life story leads to well-being.

— ES