The Redemptive Story: A Requisite for Sustaining Prosocial Behavioral Patterns Following Traumatic Experiences

Abstract

Trauma exposure has been associated with a host of negative outcomes (e.g., diminished social functioning). Recently, however, trauma has been found to correspond with a small number of positive outcomes, including an increase in prosocial behavior. In this article, we consider how this heightened prosociality is maintained following the initial trauma. We argue that a redemptive narrative, wherein the tragedy experienced is framed as leading to the prosocial behavior in question, is necessary to sustain this prosocial shift. Constructing such a narrative infuses the resulting behavioral pattern with a sense of meaning and purpose. This process is illustrated through examination of a life narrative generated by a highly prosocial individual who, earlier in her life, had suffered the death of her daughter. Discussion concerns the social and personal antecedents of the redemptive story, the applicability of this story to various types of traumas, and the relation between the construction of this story and well being.

Notes

¹All participant names in this article are pseudonyms.

²We deem prosocial behavior a positive response to trauma, as there exists a causal link between prosocial behevior and well being (Dunn, Aknin, & Norton, 2008), although such behaviors may offer more personal benefit for some relative to others (see Poulin, 2013).

³Indeed, participants themselves commonly identify the desire to reduce distress as the reason for their increase in prosocial behavior following traumatic experiences (see Piferi et al., 2006).

⁴Of course, it is also possible that some individuals make the conscious choice to “redeem” a traumatic experience by engaging in prosocial activities. We contend that, here as well, the narrative framing of the relation between trauma and prosociality will influence the narrator's long-term (prosocial) behavioral pattern.

⁵The name of the humanitarian organization is withheld to preserve the anonymity of our participant.