Meaning Making in the Life Story, and Not Coherence or Vividness, Predicts Well-Being up to 3 Years Later: Evidence From High Point and Low Point Stories

Abstract

This study investigated emotionally intense, identity-salient memories—high and low points from the life story—for vividness, meaning, and coherence. Three approaches of perennial interest to memory researchers were operationalized in terms of these memory characteristics: meaning centered, coherence focused, and valenced processing. The study tested which approach best accounted for concurrent and future subjective well-being (SWB), including development differences. Life story episodes were collected and analyzed from an emerging adult sample and a late-midlife sample, as were self-reports of SWB over a 3-year period. The meaning-centered approach received support in both samples, concurrently and longitudinally. Notably, the coherence and vividness codes did not relate to SWB. Developmental differences were found: negative meaning predicted SWB among emerging adults whereas positive meaning predicted SWB among late-midlife adults. These relationships held when controlling for neuroticism and extraversion.