Narrative identity among people with disabilities in the United States during the Covid-19 pandemic: The interdependent self

Jonathan M Adler; Robert B Manning 3rd; Rachel Hennein; Julia Winschel; Alessandra Baldari; Kathleen R Bogart; Michelle R Nario-Redmond; Joan M Ostrove; Sarah R Lowe; Katie Wang

doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2022.104302

Narrative identity among people with disabilities in the United States during the Covid-19 pandemic: The interdependent self

J Res Pers. 2022 Dec:101:104302. doi: 10.1016/j.jrp.2022.104302. Epub 2022 Sep 28.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Olin College of Engineering, 1000 Olin Way, MH 368, Needham, MA 02492, USA.
² Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, 60 College Street, New Haven, CT 06510, USA.
³ Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School of Public Health, 60 College Street, New Haven, CT 06510, USA.
⁴ Yale School of Medicine, 333 Cedar St, New Haven, CT 06510, USA.
⁵ Department of Psychology, Yale University, 2 Hillhouse Ave., New Haven, CT 06510, USA.
⁶ School of Psychological Science, Oregon State University, 2950 SW Jefferson Way, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA.
⁷ Departments of Psychology and Biomedical Humanities, Hiram College, 11730 Garfield Road, Hiram, OH 44234, USA.
⁸ Department of Psychology, Macalester College, 1600 Grand Avenue, Saint Paul, MN 55105, USA.

Abstract

This study examines narrative identity among a large, diverse sample of people with disabilities (PWDs) in the United States during the "second wave" of the Covid-19 pandemic (October-December 2020). The study relied on abductive analyses, combining a purely inductive phase of inquiry followed by two rounds of investigation that filtered inductive insights through three theoretical lenses: social-ecological theory, the theory of narrative identity, and perspectives from the interdisciplinary field of disability studies. The central result was the identification of a particular configuration of self, one that was demonstrably interdependent with both immediate interpersonal contexts and with broader cultural contexts. This interdependent self was interpreted in both positive and negative ways by PWDs. These findings invite future inquiry into commonplace conceptualizations of an independent self at the center of personality research and suggest that dominant conceptualizations of "the good life" may overly emphasize independence.

Keywords: Disability; Interdependent self; Narrative identity; Social-ecological model.

Abstract

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