Shows that a coherent life story emerges mainly in adolescence, shaped by autobiographical reasoning and culture.
SummaryAI
This review clarifies what a “life story” is and why it is not just a collection of childhood memories. The authors argue that a full life story develops only in adolescence, when young people gain stronger autobiographical reasoning that links events into a biography and helps make sense of disruptions. By comparing life stories to single-event narratives and autobiographical reasoning to other kinds of reasoning, the paper sharpens key concepts and shows how cultural context supports (and constrains) life-story development. The implications are practical for research and practice focused on narrative identity: to study or support life-story coherence, adolescence and cultural tools for narration are central targets.
Method SnapshotAI
Conceptual and developmental review synthesizing findings from the prior 15 years of research on life-story development.
BackgroundAI
Basic knowledge of developmental psychology and narrative identity (autobiographical memory and how people make meaning from life events).