Abstract
Introduced by J.R. Kantor in the 1920s, the concept of reactional biography, although weighty with implications for a more complete science of psychology, was left untilled and neglected until the 1970s. Even with the behaviorist-tinged “reactional” as a modifier, “biography” as a working metaphor remained undeveloped as a feature of theory building, probably because it appeared to have been borrowed from soft literary rather than hard scientific sources. To be sure, the case history form of biography had become standard procedure in the clinical arts, but it failed to serve as a central feature in systematic psychology. New life was breathed into Kantor’s “reactional biography” concept with the borrowing of narrative concepts from the field of literary studies. Subsequently, some personality and social psychologists, such as Bruner (1986), Gergen and Gergen (1986), and McAdams (1985), began to employ a fresh set of constructions, including “self-narrative,” “life-narrative,” and “identity.”
This article was composed initially in collaboration with Ralph M. Carney.
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Notes
- 1.
Space limitations do not allow a full listing of articles and books that reflect the narrative turn. Herewith is a sampling: Bruner (1986), Gergen and Gergen (1983), Hermens and Kempen (1993), Howard (1989), MacIntyre (1981), McAdams (1985), Mishler (1990), Polkinghorne (1988), Sarbin (1986a, 1986b, 1986c), Spence (1982).
- 2.
In a brief space, we cannot explore the full range of arguments that support the constructionist program. Our intention is only to show that constructionist thought influenced the turn to narrative.
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Scheibe, K.E., Barrett, F.J. (2017). The Narrative Turn in Social Psychology. In: The Storied Nature of Human Life. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48790-8_4
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