Exploratory study investigates storytelling in marriages and its influence on identity, suggesting varied experiences.
AbstractEach individual in a marriage is unique and brings his/her communication style to the relationship, especially when it comes to storytelling. Stories showcase how we navigate life and reveal snippets of our identity. This research explores storytelling in marriages and its role in identity formation. This study takes an exploratory approach utilizing semi-structured interviews. The narratives from 51 married participants showed that couples mostly reveal positive aspects of marriage and individual identity, but about a fifth of the data reveal complicated or negative aspects of identity and marital functioning. The results show that some facets showcase positive marital functioning, while others showcase less-than-ideal functioning. The variation in these themes means that—at least for our participants—happy, satisfied marriages do not look the same for everyone.
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Bourdeaux et al. (2023) studied this question.
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