Narrative Identity
Narrative identity refers to the coherent story with which a person understands themselves in relation to the past, present, and future. It's the way someone makes meaning of experiences and integrates that meaning into a sense of who they are.
Narrative identity is not a fixed trait, but a dynamic and continuously developing framework of interpretation.
Deepening
Within psychology, narrative identity is described by researchers such as McAdams, among others. The premise is that people do not experience their lives as isolated events, but as a coherent story.
That story contains:
Experiences
Interpretations
Turning points
Self-images
Future expectations
Narrative identity arises through repeated meaning-making. When certain experiences recur structurally, they are integrated into how someone sees themselves. This process occurs largely implicitly.
An important distinction within INR:
Narrative identity is broader than the concept of "narrative" as used in the INR Model.
"Narrative" within INR refers to the current frame of meaning that guides behavior.
Narrative identity refers to the broader life story layer in which that narrative can be embedded.
Narrative identity thus forms a theoretical underpinning of the narrative layer, but it is not identical to it.
Relationship to INR
Within the INR Model framework, narrative identity serves as the scientific foundation for the Narrative layer.
INR focuses on the “here-and-now” frame of meaning that makes behavior make sense. Narrative identity shows how such frames of meaning develop through repeated self-interpretation over time.
While narrative identity describes one’s life story, INR describes how specific narratives within that story trigger behavioral responses.
Narrative identity explains continuity.
INR explains behavioral logic within a context.