When: Saturday, February 10, 2024, 1:45 PM – 2:55 PM PST
Where: Ballroom 6AB Upper Level, San Diego Convention Center (In-Person) and Virtual

The Society for Personality and Social Psychology is pleased to announce Dan P. McAdams as the 2024 Annual Convention Constellation honoree. The Constellation Symposium (previously the Legacy Program) is designed to honor legacy figures in social and personality psychology. One of the unique features of this program is that it allows presenters to self-identify their work as being part of the honoree's legacy. In order to enhance recognition of our Constellation honoree across all presentation types in 2024, we are asking submitters to identify if their presentation should include the “Constellation” tag as part of the submission process. Common reasons to identify work as part of the Constellation Program include: being connected to the honoree as a former student/postdoc/student of a student/etc., or relying on concepts, theories, and findings strongly associated with the honoree. This will enable the digital program to include the "Constellation" tag alongside other keywords.

Speakers

Dan P. McAdams: Explorations in the Study of Lives (and the Stories We Tell About Life)

Once Upon a Time:  The Birth and Growth of Narrative Identity in Psychological Science

Dan P. McAdams, Northwestern University

I trace the concept of narrative identity from its origins in my early efforts to teach the ideas of Erik Erikson to the recent proliferation of research on the cultural, political, social, personological, and neuroscience dimensions of life stories. An especially illuminating line of research has examined the redemptive stories told by highly generative American adults. The concept of narrative identity has also helped to revive psychology’s commitment to biographical and idiographic studies.

Additional Presentations

The Plot Thickens:  The Role of Structures of Power in the Stories We Tell

Kate C. McLean, Western Washington University

I examine the influence of McAdams’ work on the rejuvenation of the study of lives, as well as recent evolutions of the field.  I focus on the study of persons as deeply embedded within socio-cultural, political and historical contexts. I define a structural-psychological approach for the study of people and how it reveals limitations to common approaches in personality science, as well as promises for new avenues of research.

And They All Lived Happily Ever After. Or Did They? Research on Narrative Identity and Well-Being and Reflections on the Field of Narrative Identity Research

Jonathan M. Adler, Olin College of Engineering

I will provide an overview of the broad field of research linking individual differences in narrative identity with psychological well-being, examining the cumulative evidence this body of work provides and considering the overlooked issues and pressing questions.  I will then discuss McAdams’ role in promoting a particular culture in the field, one grounded in his interests in generativity and human development.

About This Year's Constellation Honoree

Dan P. McAdams is the Henry Wade Rogers Professor of Psychology and Professor of Human Development and Social Policy at Northwestern University.  A personality and lifespan developmental psychologist, McAdams is a pioneer in the study of life narrative. His theoretical and empirical writings focus on themes of power, intimacy, redemption, and generativity across the adult life course. McAdams is the author of over 300 scientific articles and chapters, numerous edited volumes, and 8 books.  Most recently, he is the author (with Will Dunlop) of The Person:  A New Introduction to Personality Psychology (2022) and also The Strange Case of Donald J. Trump:  A Psychological Reckoning (2020).  His honors include the Henry A. Murray Award for the study of lives, the Jack Block Award for career contributions to personality psychology, and the 2006 William James Award for best general-interest book in psychology, for The Redemptive Self:  Stories Americans Live By.