Research paper
McAdams DP. The psychology of life stories. Review of General Psychology. 2001 Jun;5(2):100-122. doi:10.1037/1089-2680.5.2.100
Why we cite it
Provides the foundational theoretical framework for understanding identity as an internalized, evolving life story — directly relevant to the project's discussion of behavioral transformation. McAdams's model explains why lasting change (like dietary transformation) requires more than willpower or information: it requires revising the narrative of who you are. The distinction between redemption sequences (where suffering leads to growth) and contamination sequences (where good is spoiled by bad) explains why some people transform through difficulty while others are diminished by it — central to the "phoenix" metaphor in companion 295.
About the author
Dan P. McAdams, PhD, is the Henry Wade Rogers Professor of Psychology at Northwestern University, where he is also Professor of Human Development and Social Policy. He holds a BA from Yale University and a PhD from Harvard University (1979). He is a pioneer of the life story model of identity and among the most cited scholars in narrative psychology, with approximately 300 scientific articles and chapters. He has received the Henry A. Murray Award (APA Division 8, for distinguished contributions to the study of individual lives), the Theodore Sarbin Award (APA Division 24, for theoretical and philosophical psychology), and the Jack Block Award (APA Division 1, for personality psychology), and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.