Recalling Memories of Life’s Challenges with Purpose and Redemption: Resources to Foster Resilience?

Unique life challenges occur across life phases, including later life. Life story research suggests that the way challenges are narrated has consequences for multiple domains of well-being. Two factors for positively reframing challenges are one’s sense of purpose in life (Windsor et al., 2015) and redemption (McAdams et al., 2001). This study used moderated-mediation analyses to investigate whether: 1) challenge relates to psychosocial and cognitive well-being, differentially by age, and 2) narrating with greater purpose and redemption ameliorates effects of challenges on well-being, by age. Participants (N = 99 young, 88 older adults) rated self-disruption of challenging events from their lives (IV1) and reported number of recent life challenges experienced (IV2). Eudaimonic well-being (DV1) and cognitive well-being (DV2) were assessed. Purpose (M1) and redemption (M2) were reliably content-analyzed from participants’ narratives of autobiographical challenges (e.g., illness, loss of other). For Aim 1, young and older adults who experienced more challenges showed lower eudaimonic well-being but higher cognitive well-being. Perceived self-disruption was unrelated to well-being. For Aim 2, results showed that how individuals narrate (i.e., with purpose, with redemption) the challenges that have occurred in their lives mediates effects of challenge. Specifically, exhibiting a sense of purpose mediated the relation between perceived self-disruption and cognitive well-being. Redemption buffered negative effects of both self-disruption and number of challenges on eudaimonic well-being. Mediation results held regardless of age. Findings suggest purpose and redemption are two narrative mechanisms that act as psychological resources to support well-being in the face of life’s inevitable challenges.