The Redemptive Self: Stories Americans Live ByOxford University Press, 2005 M11 10 - 400 pages Who are we as Americans? What is our deep identity? How do we make a good life? Renowned psychologist Dan P. McAdams suggests that the key to American identity lies in the stories we live by. And the most powerful life story in America today is the story of redemption. On a broad societal scale and in our own private lives, we want first and foremost to transform our suffering into a positive emotional state, to move from pain and peril to redemption. American identity is the redemptive self. Based on 10 years of research on the life stories of especially caring and productive American adults, The Redemptive Self explores the psychological and cultural dynamics of the stories Americans tell to make sense of who they are. Among the most eloquent tellers of redemptive stories are those midlife adults who are especially committed to their careers, their families, and making a positive difference in the world. These highly "generative" men and women embrace the negative things that happen to them, for it is by transforming the bad into good that they are able to move forward in life and ultimately leave something positive behind. Unconsciously, they find inspiration and sustenance in the rich store of redemptive tales that American culture offers - from the autobiographies of Massachusetts Puritans, Benjamin Franklin, and escaped African-American slaves to the stories of upward mobility, recovery, fulfillment, and release that come to us today from Hollywood, 12-step programs, self-help experts, religious stories, political speeches, business gurus, and Oprah. But can all American lives find redemption? Some people seem unable to make their lives into redemptive tales. Instead, their stories show contaminated plots and vicious cycles. Moreover, might there be a dark side to the redemptive stories Americans love? While these stories can sustain a productive and caring approach to life, they can also suggest a peculiarly American kind of arrogance and self-righteousness. For all their strengths, redemptive stories sometimes fail, and sometimes suggest important failings in the way Americans see themselves and the world. The Redemptive Self encourages us to examine our lives and our stories in full, to apprehend both the good and the bad in the stories we live by. By doing so, we may fashion better stories and better lives for the future. |
Contents
3 | |
Chapter 1 Redemption and the American Soul | 15 |
Chapter 2 The Generative Adult | 45 |
Chapter 3 Life Stories | 73 |
Chapter 4 The Chosen People | 101 |
From Emerson to Oprah | 119 |
Chapter 6 God Bless America | 145 |
Chapter 7 Black and White | 171 |
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adolescence adulthood adults tend African American Ameri argued attachment theory autobiographies behavior believe Black Bob Love chapter childhood chosen Christian church commitment contamination sequence culture Deborah destiny early advantage Elliot Emerson emotional episodic memory Erik Erikson Erikson especially example experience feel Freud friends future goals hero highly generative adults highly generative American Horatio Alger human Ibid idea individual inner interview involved Journal of Personality Katherine Ann Power kind less generative adults levels life-story lives manifest destiny Maruna McAdams meaning memory midlife moral mother move narrate narrative identity negative Oprah parents past personality psychology political positive protagonist psychological psychotherapy Puritans redemptive relationships religion religious role scenes scores self-esteem self-help sense slave narratives Social Psychology society spiritual suffering suggest Tanya tell themes theory things tion tive told traits values White York