Power, Intimacy, and the Life Story

Download or read book Power, Intimacy, and the Life Story written by Dan P. McAdams and published by Guilford Press. This book was released on 1988-01-01 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Who am I? And how do I fit into the world? These are the questions individuals ask themselves to make sense of their lives. Power, Intimacy and the Life Story addresses the human quest for identity. The author reinterprets some of the classic writings in psychology as he shows how each of us constructs a life story in order to meet the identity challenge and create a sense of unity and purpose in our lives. Written for the social scientist, practicing clinician, educated layperson, and student, this compelling study describes how we construct stories that are organized by the two general life themes of power and intimacy. Using the results of questionnaires and interviews with both college students and older adults, the author illustrates an innovative way of understanding human lives in literary terms.