Self-transcendence and life stories of humanistic growth among late-midlife adults—Reischer 2021

Self-transcendence involves reaching beyond oneself. High self-transcendence is linked to well-being and other psychological benefits, although studies seldom examine highly self-transcendent people's experiences. Late-midlife Black and White men and women completed Life Story Interviews and self-transcendence tests. In Study 1 (N = 144, Mage = 56.4), we used grounded theory to identify self-transcendence stories. Study 2 (N = 125; Mage = 60.4) objectively classified 1,375 life narrative instances. Study 1 identified six narrative themes: closure, connectivity, lifelong learning, solid relationships, and self-actualization. Study 2 predicts self-transcendence with =.26 to.47. Self-transcendent persons in our sample described their lives as spiritual humanistic journeys. This study discusses late-midlife self-transcendence.

Reischer, H. N., Roth, L. J., Villarreal, J. A., & McAdams, D. P. (2021). Self-transcendence and life stories of humanistic growth among late-midlife adults. Journal of personality, 89(2), 305–324. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12583