Skip to main content

Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((ASID,volume 84))

Abstract

Social and personality psychologists have begun to apply the “narrative” metaphor in studies on cognitions and persons’ knowledge structures. In some recent conceptualizations, the self is considered to be a narrative phenomenon. The narrative approach might help to unify concepts of the self as a knowledge or belief system, and understand the self as an information processor and decision maker. In other words, it is argued that the narrative approach could integrate classical notions of “me” and “self” within one model of a mental structure that actively regulates processes of selfunderstanding, decision making, and acting. The aim of this chapter is to conceptualize this approach within the self domain and to discuss its potentialities.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 259.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 329.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 329.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Adler, A. (1927). The Practice and Theory of Individual Psychology. New York: Harcourt, Brace.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baumeister, R.F. (1989). The problem of life’s meaning. In D. Buss, & N. Cantor (Eds.), Personality Psychology: Recent Trends and Emerging Directions (pp. 138–148). New York: Springer-Verlag.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Berne, E. (1972). What Do You Say after You Say Hello? N.Y.: Grove Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Black, J.B., & Bower, G. (1980). Story understanding as problem solving. Poetics, 9, 223–250.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bruner, J. (1986). Actual Minds, Possible Worlds. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bruner, J. (1991). The narrative construction of reality. Critical Inquiry, 18, 1–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bruner, J., & Luciello, J. (1989). Monologue as narrative recreation of the world. In K. Nelson (Ed.), Narratives from the Crib (pp. 73–97). Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cantor, N., & Kihlstrom, J.F. (1987). Personality and Social Intelligence. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carlson, R. (1981). Studies in script theory: Adult analogs of a childhood nuclear scene. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 40, 501–510.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gergen, K.J., & Gergen, M.M. (1983). Narrative form and the construction of psychological science. In T.R. Sarbin (Ed.), Narrative Psychology: The Storied Nature of Human Conduct. New York: Praeger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gergen, M.M., & Gergen, K.J. (1984). Social construction of narrative accounts. In K. Gergen, & M. Gergen (Eds.), Historical Social Psychology. Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gergen, K.J., & Gergen, M.M. (1985). Narrative and the self as relationship. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in Experimental Social Psychology. New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gollwitzer, P. (1990). Action phases and mind-sets. In E.T. Higgins, & R. Sorrentino (Eds.), Handbook of Motivation and Cognition (Vol. 2). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Higgins, E.T. (1987). Self-discrepancy: A theory relating self to affect. Psychological Review, 94, 319–340.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Howard, G.S. (1991). Culture tales: A narrative approach to thinking, cross-cultural psychology, and psychotherapy. American Psychologist, 46, 187–197.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kuhl, J. (1986). Motivation and information processing: A new look at decisionmaking, dynamic change and action control. In R. Sorrentino, & E.T. Higgins (Eds.) Handbook of Motivation and Cognition (Vol. 1). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuhl, J., & Beckmann, J. (Eds.). (1985). Action Control: From Cognition to Behavior. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuiper, N.A., & Derr, P.A. (1981). The self as a cognitive prototype: An application to person perception and depression. In N. Cantor, & J.F. Kihlstrom (Eds.), Personality, Cognition, and Social Interaction. Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lehrer, R. (1986). Characters in search of an author: The self as a narrative structure. In T.R. Sarbin (Ed.), Narrative Psychology: The Stored Nature of Human Conduct. New York: Praeger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mancuso, J.C., & Sarbin, T.R. (1983). The self narrative in the enactment of roles. In T.R. Sarbin, & K. Scheibe (Eds.), Studies in Social Identity. New York: Praeger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mandler, J., & Johnson, N. (1977). Remembrance of things parsed: Story structure and recall. Cognitive Psychology, 9, 111–151.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mandler, J. (1984). Stories, Scripts, and Scenes: Aspects of Schema Theory. Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Markus, H. (1977). Self-schema and processing information about the self. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 35, 63–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Markus, H., & Cross, S. (1990). The interpersonal self. In: L. Pervin (Ed.), Handbook of Personality: Theory and Research. New York: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Markus, H., & Nurius, P. (1986). Possible selves. American Psychologist, 41, 954–969.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McAdams, D. P. (1987). A life-story model of identity. In R. Hogan, & W.H. Jones (Eds.), Perspectives in Personality (Vol. 2). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McAdams, D.P. (1985). Power, Intimacy and the Life Story: Personological Inquiries into Identity. New York: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nash, C. (Ed.), (1990). Narrative in Culture. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Polkinghorne, D.E. (1988). Narrative Knowing and the Human Sciences. Albany, N.Y. SUNY Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prince, G. (1973). A Grammar of Stories. The Hague: Mouton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rogers, T.B. (1981). A model of the self as an aspect of human information processing system. In: N. Cantor, & J. Kihlstrom (Eds.), Personality, Cognition, and Social Interaction. Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rumelhart, D. (1975). Notes on a schema for stories. In D.G. Bobrow, & A. Collins (Eds.), Representation and Understanding: Studies in Cognitive Science. New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rumelhart, D. (1984). Schemata and the cognitive system. In R.S. Wyer, & T.K. Srull (Eds.), Handbook of Social Cognition (Vol. 1). Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rumelhart, D., & Ortony, A. (1977). The representation of knowledge in memory. In R. Anderson, R. Spiro, & W. Montague (Eds.), Schooling and the Acquisition of Knowledge. Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schank, R. (1990). Tell me a Story: A New Look at the Real and Artificial Intelligence. New York: Scribner’s.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schank, R., & Abelson R. (1977). Scripts, Plans, Goals, and Understanding. Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sarbin, T.R. (Ed.). (1986). Narrative Psychology: The Storied Nature of Human Conduct. New York: Praeger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scheibe, K. (1986). Self-narratives and adventure. In T.R. Sarbin (Ed.), Narrative Psychology: The Storied Nature of Human Conduct. New York: Praeger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, S.E., & Schneider, S.K. (1989). Coping and the simulation of events. Social Cognition, 7, 174–194.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Toolan, M.J. (1988). Narrative: A Critical Linguistic Introduction. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trzebinski, J. (1989). The role of goal categories in the representation of social knowledge. In L. Pervin (Ed.), Goal Concepts in Personality and Social Psychology. Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trzebinski, J. (1992). Narracyjne Formy Wiedzy Potocznej (Narrative forms of common-sense knowledge). Poznan: Nakom.

    Google Scholar 

  • White, H. (1987). The Content of the Form: Narrative Discourse and Historical Representation. Baltimore: John Hopkins U. Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wicklund, R., & Gollwitzer, P. (1982). Symbolic Self-Completion. Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vitz, P.C. (1990). The use of stories in moral development. American Psychologist, 45, 709–720.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zukier, H. (1986). The paradigmatic and narrative modes in goal-guided inference. In R. Sorrentino, & E.T. Higgins (Eds.), Handbook of Motivation and Cognition (Vol. 1). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1995 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Trzebinski, J. (1995). Narrative Self, Understanding, and Action. In: Oosterwegel, A., Wicklund, R.A. (eds) The Self in European and North American Culture: Development and Processes. NATO ASI Series, vol 84. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-0331-2_7

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-0331-2_7

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-4146-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-011-0331-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics