How to Tell a Life: The Development of the Cultural Concept of Biography

Abstract

Extending research on age norms in adults, the development of the knowledge of two components of the cultural concept of biography, biographical salience of and age norms for life events was studied from late childhood to early adulthood in Study 1 and across adulthood in Study 2. The largest increase in knowledge was found between ages 8 and 12, with knowledge reaching its maximum at age 16. Across adulthood knowledge was relatively stable, with a small decline in older adults. In addition, across adolescence, personal memories increasingly corresponded to norms of biographical salience, although idiosyncratic events continued to dominate. The acquisition of knowledge of the cultural concept of biography may parallel developments in autobiographical memory, reminiscing, and life narratives.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Study 1 was supported by Grant #HA 2077 from the German Research Council (DFG) as part of a study on the development of life narratives. We would like to offer thanks to David Rubin and Susan Bluck for discussions of the original ideas, to Cybèle de Silveira, Verena Diel, and Martha Havenith for data collection, entry, and coding, to Dorthe Berntsen, Rebekka Messinesis, and Susanne Döll for helpful suggestions on the manuscript, and to Anna Pate for great help with language and style.