The hard chapter is part of the gift.
Researchers Asked 157 People in Their Fifties to Describe Their Lives as a Novel. The Ones Most Focused on the Next Generation Told Stories That Turned Hard Times Into Something Good.
In a 2015 study in Psychological Science, Dan McAdams and Jen Guo asked adults to tell their lives as a novel. The way they told it said a lot about who they hoped to help.
Ask someone to tell you their life and they will not read out a list. They will tell a **story,** with a beginning, a hard stretch, and a turn.
Researchers at Northwestern University asked **157 adults in their mid-fifties** to do exactly that. The people who cared most about **the generations coming after them** were more likely to tell the story a particular way.
The study found a link, not a cause. Still, it hints at something worth holding onto: **how you tell your hard chapters may be part of what you hand down.**
1. 157 people told their lives as a novel
Each person sat for an interview of **two to three hours.** They were asked to describe their life as a novel, with **chapters, key scenes, characters and themes.** They were asked about their happiest and least happy moments, a turning point, and what the next chapter might hold.
Trained coders then read each interview for **five themes,** and compared them with how much each person said they cared about **the well-being of future generations.**
The question was not what happened. It was how they told it.
2. The hard times had a turn in them
The five themes were an **early advantage,** a sense that **other people suffer,** **strong moral beliefs,** **goals to help others later,** and **hard times that led to something good.**
All five were **strongly linked** to caring about future generations. The researchers call this pattern a **redemptive story.** It was also stronger among people who reported **better mental health and well-being.**
People who think about those who come next tend to tell their hard chapters as chapters, not endings.
3. Here is the honest part: it is a link, not a cause
The study reports **associations.** It cannot say that telling your life this way makes you more caring, or that caring makes you tell it this way. It looked at **one narrow age range, 55 to 57,** and the authors say more work is needed to know whether the pattern holds across places and cultures.
It also did not test families, phone calls or recorded stories. What it offers is a **picture of how caring people narrate a life,** nothing more.
A small study, honestly limited, and still a useful way to look at your own story.
A strong commitment to generativity can be difficult to sustain in the long run.Dan McAdams, Northwestern University, on the 2015 study in Psychological Science
What you get with LifeScribe
- A 2015 study in Psychological Science interviewed 157 adults aged 55 to 57 for two to three hours each.
- They described their lives as a novel, and coders rated five redemption themes.
- All five themes were strongly linked to caring about the well-being of future generations.
- The redemptive story was also stronger among people with better mental health and well-being.
- The study showed associations only, covered one narrow age range, and did not test families or recorded stories.
- Built on documented research: McAdams and Guo, Psychological Science, 26(4), 475 to 483, 2015.
Start free, with nothing to lose
Just a phone call, free. Ari listens, asks about your life, and keeps your stories in your own voice for the people you love.
Your hard chapters and the way you got through them are part of what your family will want to hear. Told in your own voice, they last. It is just a phone call.
Tell the whole story, including the turn.
Ari calls, listens, asks what came next, and keeps your stories in your own voice for the people you love.
Questions grandparents ask us
What did the study actually find?
In a 2015 study of 157 adults aged 55 to 57, people who cared more about the well-being of future generations were more likely to describe their lives with five redemption themes, including hard times that led to something good.
Who ran it?
Dan McAdams and Jen Guo of Northwestern University, published in Psychological Science, volume 26, pages 475 to 483, in 2015.
Does it prove that telling your story this way changes you?
No. It found associations and cannot say which way they run. It also covered one narrow age range.
Did it study families or recorded stories?
No. It studied long interviews with adults in their mid-fifties. This page makes no claim that recording your story changes anything about your life.
Why does it matter for a life story?
It suggests that the way people tell their hard chapters is part of how they care for those who come next. Telling your story in your own words keeps that version for your family.
https://getlifescribeapp.com/blog/the-hard-chapter-that-turned