Ego Analytic Psychology - Dan McAdams (1954 -present)

Dan McAdams, who studied at Harvard during Erikson's tenure, sees a voice emerging
in Erickson’s Childhood and Society emphasizing “human cognition, imagery,
consciousness, narrative, plans and goals” and invoking “myths, legends prototypes,
scripts, narratives-the stories we live by” to outline the life-span development of
personality and ego identity.
He suggested that each of us develop our identity and come to know who we are by
constructing a conscious or unconscious narrative of the self. The self develops as
we proceed through the psychosocial stages of development.

McAdams defining the self:

First years - set a tone for our beliefs and myths, either optimistic or pessimistic.
Elementary school years - motives and themes relating to agency (the striving for
individual independence and power) and communion (the striving for intimacy and
union) develop.
Adolescent period - face the problem of identity and become self-conscious in
myth making. Vividly remembered personal events can be key self-defining memories
with enormous power to change lives. We tend to remember a higher number of
autobiographical events and also place our stories in the context of a specific ideology
setting (incorporating ethical and religious principles that provide us with a perspective
in judging our lives and those of others.
Middle Age - develop “generativity script” that links our individual personal myths to
the collective myths of the humanity. He focuses on generativity, concern for and
commitment to future generations. He developed new model that draws on
Erickson’s theory, but makes some significant departure from it. Rather than supposing
that there is a specific stage of generativity in adulthood, McAdams suggests that
generativity becomes an important issue at that time because of increased cultural
demand for it.

McAdams and de St. Aubin (1992) have developed a self–report scale, the Loyola
Generativity Scale (LGS) to measure differences in concern with generativity. They
have looked at variations among different ethnic groups as well as the impact of
generativity on parenting political activity, and community involvements. Research
suggests that a life-course perspective on generativity is more helpful than Erickson’s
original stage model, for it permits variations observed among different lives, cultures,
and historical periods.

McAdams, Diamond, de St. Aubin, and Mansfield have found that the life stories of
generative and less generative adults differ in fundamental ways. The key difference
between the two groups was that, in the stories of generative adults, negative events
were turned into positive ones. The theme of redemption is the most powerful life
story in our culture today, particularly in America.

McAdams 3 Personality Traits

1. Dispositional traits - inherited tendencies; stay stable
2. Personal Concerns - current feelings and plans; change often
3. Life narratives - finding an identity and unifying purpose in life; adjust over longer
time periods
Individuals also vary in their characteristics motivational, social-cognitive, and
development adaptations, which are contextualized in time, place and society. At each
of the three major levels of personality, culture exerts different and increasing effects.
Most recently McAdams sees the three levels of personality more like layers that unfold
developmentally as the person successively takes on the self-positions of “actor”
(traits – from birth onward), “agent” (goals – from age 7-8 on), and “author”
(stories – late adolescence on) over time.