Self-transcendence and life stories of humanistic growth among late-midlife adults.

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.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Self-transcendence is the experience of feeling connected to something greater than oneself. Previous studies have shown high scores on self-transcendence are associated with well-being and other psychological benefits, but have rarely examined the lived experiences of highly self-transcendent people. Black and White men and women in late-midlife completed Life Story Interviews and self-report measures of self-transcendence. In Study 1 (N = 144, Mage = 56.4), we used grounded theory methodology to differentiate the stories told by participants scoring either extremely high or extremely low on self-transcendence. In Study 2 (N = 125; Mage = 60.4), we created a quantitative coding scheme and scored 1,375 new life story scenes. In Study 1, six narrative themes were identified (closure, interconnectedness, lifelong learning, secure attachment, self-actualization, and spiritual pluralism) as part of a "humanistic growth story." In Study 2, four of the narrative themes were found to predict self-transcendence scores with significant effect sizes of β = .26 to .47. In our sample, highly self-transcendent individuals tended to narrate their lived experiences as spiritual journeys of humanistic growth. This study adds to our understanding of one path of personality growth in late-midlife, that toward self-transcendence.