Self-transcendence and life stories of humanistic growth among late-midlife adults

Self-transcendence is the experience of feeling connected to something greater than oneself. Previous studies have shown high scores on self-transcendence are associated with well-being and other psychological benefits, but have rarely examined the lived experiences of highly self-transcendent people.

Black and White men and women in late-midlife completed Life Story Interviews and self-report measures of self-transcendence. In Study 1 (N = 144, M_age  = 56.4), we used grounded theory methodology to differentiate the stories told by participants scoring either extremely high or extremely low on self-transcendence. In Study 2 (N = 125; M_age  = 60.4), we created a quantitative coding scheme and scored 1,375 new life story scenes.

In Study 1, six narrative themes were identified (closure, interconnectedness, lifelong learning, secure attachment, self-actualization, and spiritual pluralism) as part of a "humanistic growth story." In Study 2, four of the narrative themes were found to predict self-transcendence scores with significant effect sizes of β = .26 to .47.

In our sample, highly self-transcendent individuals tended to narrate their lived experiences as spiritual journeys of humanistic growth. This study adds to our understanding of one path of personality growth in late-midlife, that toward self-transcendence.