Meaning making about and across self-relevant experiences: Links with identity commitment and exploration processes and satisfaction with life in adolescence

Abstract

Making meaning is an important process through which individuals keep their identity up-to-date, but has often been measured in a way that conflates dispositional, trait-like influences with narrative-specific influences. The present study aimed to disentangle these influences during adolescence by examining the general tendency for meaning making, measured as self-event connections, across three self-relevant narratives in relation to dual-cycle processes of identity commitment and exploration and satisfaction with life (N = 162, M_age = 16.2, 67.3% female). Additionally, these associations were examined separately for the different narratives and event valences. Meaning making was related to the identity processes, but was not associated with satisfaction with life. This study emphasizes the importance of both dispositional and narrative-specific approaches to meaning making.