Self-transcendence and life stories of humanistic growth among late-midlife adults.
Journal of personality April 1, 2021 Hollen N Reischer, Laura J Roth, Jorge A Villarreal et al. 52 citations
People who feel strongly connected to something larger than themselves tend to tell life stories centered on themes of closure, interconnectedness, lifelong learning, secure attachment, self-actualization, and spiritual pluralism—a pattern called a 'humanistic growth story.' In a sample of 144 Black and White men and women in late-midlife (average age 56.4), qualitative analysis identified these six narrative themes. A second quantitative study of 125 participants (average age 60.4) found that four of these themes predicted self-transcendence scores with effect sizes from β = .26 to .47. Highly self-transcendent individuals narrated their lives as spiritual journeys of humanistic growth, suggesting one path of personality development in late-midlife.