Developing the Narrating Identity Questionnaire: A measure of beneficial self-integration and change

Abstract

The present research introduces the Narrating Identity Questionnaire (NIQ), a new measure designed to capture how literary reading can temporally integrate self and other in autobiographical memory, distinguishing productive self-perceptual depth from rumination. The NIQ was developed and validated across three studies with university students. In Study 1, an initial NIQ item pool was administered after a meaningful literary reading experience, and exploratory factor analysis revealed three factors: Memory Transformation, Poignant Bivalent Self-Understanding, and Ruminative Separation and Isolation. In Study 2, the factor structure was cross-validated under a different questionnaire order to test for order effects, and in Study 3, it was confirmed with an added general metaphor comprehension task. The NIQ demonstrated adequate internal consistency and a stable three-factor structure across studies. Importantly, expressive engagement with a text (e.g., deeply identifying with metaphoric content) strongly predicted increased self-understanding (β ≈ 0.70, p < .001) and also some ruminative thought (p < .01), whereas integrative engagement (e.g., taking an analytical perspective on the text) did not directly predict either outcome (βs ∼ 0, n.s.). Expressive engagement accounted for a large portion of variance in self-understanding outcomes (approximately 45–60 %; 95 % CI of β [0.40, 0.98] in Study 1). Although integrative engagement did not directly predict rumination, group-level comparisons indicated a buffering effect: the sample with an added integrative task showed significantly lower rumination scores (M = 2.54) than the original sample (M = 3.21; difference ∼0.67 on a 5-point scale, 95 % CI [0.51, 0.83], p < .001, Cohen's d ≈ 0.76). Together, these findings support the NIQ's capacity to distinguish between healthy self-perceptual depth and maladaptive rumination following literary reading. The discussion highlights theoretical implications for narrative identity development, the dual role of expressive reading in fostering insight versus rumination, and the potential of the NIQ for future research and practical applications. Key strengths, such as the multi-study design and integration of literary theory with psychological measurement, are discussed alongside limitations including sample characteristics and the need for broader validation.