آیا رشد روایی در داستان های تجاوزات شخصی همراه با افزایش رفاه، خوددلسوزی و بخشش دیگران است؟

Abstract We tested whether narrating growth from transgressions was associated with increased well-being, self-compassion, and forgiveness. Study 1 was cross-sectional (N = 118). Studies 2 and 3 were short-term longitudinal (N’s = 77 and 88). Study 1 revealed positive associations between narrating growth and well-being. Study 2 replicated Study 1 and growth-oriented narration was associated with increased self-compassion and forgiveness at session 2 beyond expected levels given session 1 scores. Study 3 replicated some Study 2 findings and growth-oriented narration was once again associated with increased self-compassion at session 2 beyond expected levels given session 1 scores. We discuss how growth-oriented narration in specific types of events may be associated with changes in specific forms of adaptive functioning and gender differences.

1. Introduction Harming others may present particular types of challenges to the self. For example, although most us believe that it is wrong to hurt others, in the course of our complex social lives most of us will harm someone else (Pasupathi & Wainryb, 2010). Transgressions that contradict one’s beliefs about what is right may undermine one’s sense of being a decent, morally upstanding person. Beyond challenging the self our transgressions also create opportunities to develop insight into the complexity of self, others, and social situations (Pasupathi & Wainryb, 2010; see also Baumeister et al., 1990 and Stillwell and Baumeister, 1997). Because they may challenge the self in particular ways and they may present distinct developmental opportunities transgressions may be a distinct category of experience. One of the ways that people may feel better about themselves after transgressing and tap into the developmental opportunities linked to transgressing is by forming insights about personal-growth from their transgressions. Researchers who take a narrative perspective on personality and positive functioning have shown that people who narrate growth from challenging events tend to score high on a variety of forms of positive functioning such as ego-development, psychological well-being, and wisdom (e.g. Bauer and McAdams, 2004a, Mansfield et al., 2010, Pals, 2006a and Pals and McAdams, 2004). However, very little work has examined whether narrating growth from a specific type of event may be associated with gains in some domains of positive functioning as opposed to others (for preliminary work in this direction see Lilgendahl et al., 2013 and Mansfield et al., 2010). In the studies presented here we sought to broaden our understanding of what well-being and positive functioning can mean in the context of a distinct type of event, a transgression. We focused on transgressions because of the tension they can create between a person’s actions and his or her values and moral beliefs. We also focused on transgressions because of their potential relationships to particular aspects of adaptive functioning. We tested the extent to which individual differences in narrating growth from past transgressions was associated with three different forms of positive functioning, feeling good about the self, being compassionate toward the self, and being forgiving of others.