Telling Our Stories: Perceptions of Parental Conditional Regard and their Effects on Narrative Identity and Well-Being
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2007
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Haverford College. Department of Psychology
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Thesis
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Award
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eng
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Haverford users only
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Abstract
Conditional regard from parents has been shown to negatively affect children’s self-esteem and well-being. However, the mechanism by which this occurs has never been elucidated. This question was explored by analyzing the self-defining memory narratives of 45 undergraduate students at Haverford College for autobiographical reasoning, to assess whether it may be the mediating factor between parental conditional regard and measures of self-concept. Parental conditional regard (PCR) was found to correlate with lacking positive, growth oriented autobiographical reasoning as well as the presence of mixed, ambivalent and confused autobiographical reasoning. Additionally, PCR was found to correlate with negative emotional valence of narratives as well as the rejection of parental ideals for participants’ identity. The mediation of autobiographical reasoning between PCR and measures of self-concept was not found, but a number of unpredicted correlations, specifically that between of high levels of PCR and rejection of parental ideals, provide a promising avenue for future research on the effects of parents on children’s development of positive, coherent narrative identity.