Upcoming Events

 

Humans are natural storytellers. As such, in late adolescence, we implicitly start to craft a story of our own lives as a tool for making sense of the events that have occurred in our lives and our role within them. As we age and continue to add experiences to our stories, these narratives become increasingly complex, nuanced, and personalized, and assist in finding meaning in our lives. Prior research has found that certain narrative themes (e.g., high levels of agency, high levels of connection to others) contribute to higher well-being and increased life satisfaction. Other narrative themes may negatively impact mental health (e.g., having a challenging time taking away any positives from negative experiences). This talk will provide an overview of narrative identity from a theoretical perspective, with an emphasis on applicability to older adulthood. Preliminary data examining relationships between narrative themes and mental health outcomes in older adults will also be presented.

 

Friday, March 6th, 12:00 to 1:00pm