![]() ![]() They are personality, or more accurately, they are important parts of personality, along with other parts, like dispositional traits, goals, and values,” writes Dan McAdams, a professor of psychology at Northwestern University, along with Erika Manczak, in a chapter for the APA Handbook of Personality and Social Psychology. “Life stories do not simply reflect personality. ![]() ![]() In telling the story of how you became who you are, and of who you’re on your way to becoming, the story itself becomes a part of who you are. Though perhaps the facts of someone’s life, presented end to end, wouldn’t much resemble a narrative to the outside observer, the way people choose to tell the stories of their lives, to others and-crucially-to themselves, almost always does have a narrative arc. ‘I suppose-this sounds stupid, but I suppose I thought there’d be more of a narrative arc.’”īut it’s not stupid at all. “‘What did you expect?’” a friend responds. “‘It’s just not how I expected my life would be,’” he says. In Paul Murray’s novel Skippy Dies, there’s a point where the main character, Howard, has an existential crisis. This article was featured in One Story to Read Today, a newsletter in which our editors recommend a single must-read from The Atlantic, Monday through Friday. ![]()
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