An important component of a developing identity is an understanding of personal
persistence or self-continuity—how one remains the same person throughout the various
changes in their life (Chandler, Lalonde, Sokol & Hallet, 2003). Chandler et al., (2003)
have suggested that individuals vary in terms of both the style (essentialist or narrativist)
and the level of complexity of their reasoning regarding self-continuity. In previous
research this variability has been measured using a lengthy interview process. The
present study explored the feasibility of more efficiently measuring variability in selfcontinuity
understanding with the creation of a new Likert scaled questionnaire. Factor
analysis suggested that 20 of the newly created questionnaire items clearly displayed a 2-
factor structure mirroring the “essentialist” and “narrativist” styles reported by Chandler
et al. (2003). Initial evidence of convergence between the interview and questionnaire
methods is also apparent in that those rated as essentialists in the interview scored higher
on the first essentialist factor than narrativists and narrativists by the interview scored
higher on the second narrativist factor than essentialists.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:uvic.ca/oai:dspace.library.uvic.ca:1828/1796 |
| Date | 26 October 2009 |
| Creators | Allen, James William |
| Contributors | Lalonde, Christopher Edward |
| Source Sets | University of Victoria |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Rights | Available to the World Wide Web |
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