About

Dan P. McAdams is the Henry Wade Rogers Professor of Psychology and a professor of human development and social policy at Northwestern University. He is recognized as one of the nation's foremost researchers in the field of narrative psychology. McAdams served as the interim dean of the School of Education and Social Policy at Northwestern University from January 2022 through May 2023. His research primarily focuses on narrative psychology, the development of a life-story model of human identity, and themes such as power, intimacy, and redemption in human lives. He is well-known for formulating a life-story theory of human identity, which posits that modern adults give their lives a sense of unity and purpose by constructing and internalizing self-defining life stories or 'personal myths.' His work explores how autobiographical memory, psychological biography, and the themes of modernity influence the self and identity development.

Research topics

• Psychology
• Social psychology
• Developmental psychology
• Psychotherapist
• Literature
• Psychoanalysis
• Aesthetics
• Medicine
• Gerontology
• Theology
• Psychiatry
• Art

Selected publications

• Agency and Communion Across Nine Years of Middle Adulthood: Between- and Within-Person Associations with Well-being and Developmental Outcomes

  Journal of Adult Development · 2026-04-24

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Agency and communion are two core motivational themes in narrative identity, reflecting drives for independent control and relatedness, respectively. Despite significant attention to the salience of these narrative themes, no previous research has examined thematic change or associations with well-being and developmental outcomes in late midlife. In a diverse sample of 128 adults transitioning from middle to later adulthood, life story interviews were conducted at three time points (ages 55, 60, and 65, approximately). Five autobiographical scenes from each participant per wave were coded for agency and communion, for a total of 1,913 scenes. At the between-person level, adults who were highly generative and reported greater ego integrity at age 65 tended to tell life stories marked by fulfilled agency and communion. Higher levels of these themes across the three waves were also linked to greater well-being and life satisfaction at age 65. There was no significant within-person change in agency or communion across the three waves of this longitudinal study, and the small changes that did occur did not predict well-being or developmental outcomes assessed at age 65. Taken together, the findings suggest that fulfilled agency and communion function as enduring markers of narrative identity that significantly relate to adjustment in late midlife.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Narrative Identity Self-Evaluation Scale

  PsycTESTS Dataset · 2025-01-01

  datasetSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• The moral dimensions of narrative identity

  2025-09-18

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  Narrative identity is a person’s internalized story of how they have come to be the person they are becoming. As autobiographical authors, people reconstruct the past and imagine the future to create stories that provide life with unity and purpose. How does morality find its way into life stories? The current chapter first considers dimensions of morality that appear in psychological development before the emergence of narrative identity, as children and young adolescents engage morality as social actors and motivated agents. Building on this foundation, the construction of a narrative identity in young adulthood may itself enhance or affirm a person’s moral sensibility. Moreover, research suggests that people who live morally noteworthy lives, such as especially generative midlife adults who commit themselves to promoting the well-being of future generations, tend to construct life narratives of personal redemption. Redemptive life stories may frame life as a moral quest while supporting the generative adult’s commitment to making the world a better place for future generations.

  PublisherDOI

• Narrative Self‐Transcendence: Decreased Regret and Increased Acceptance Over Late Midlife

  Journal of Personality · 2025-03-24 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  INTRODUCTION: Self-transcendence-connectedness within and beyond the self-is a complex phenomenon theorized to increase with age, but evidence is mixed. This longitudinal study is the first to investigate changes in self-transcendence across late midlife using life story narratives. METHOD: We tracked self-reported and narrative identity self-transcendence scores of 163 participants as they aged from M = 56.4 (SD = 0.95) to M = 64.5 (SD = 0.94). Participants were 64.4% women, 35.6% men; 55.2% White, 42.9% Black, 1.8% interracial/other; median income was $75,000-$100,000; median education was college graduate. RESULTS: Self-transcendence narrative themes of closure and self-actualization increased significantly over time, especially between ages 60-65, but self-reported self-transcendence did not change. These trends were not uniform; race-by-gender groups exhibited distinct trajectories over time. DISCUSSION: Late midlife is seen as ushering in opportunities for increased self-transcendence, especially acceptance of oneself and one's life. We found some of the strongest empirical evidence of this phenomenon to date. On average, US Black and White adults narrated their life stories with less regret and more satisfaction with self across late midlife. Findings demonstrate the utility of leveraging first-person narrative identity methods to collect and analyze data about rich, complex personality constructs and highlight positive changes associated with late midlife.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Mental illness and personal recovery: A narrative identity framework

  Clinical Psychology Review · 2025-01-09 · 13 citations

  reviewOpen accessSenior author

  This article presents a metamorphic model to describe the manifold role of narrative identity, a person's internal life story, across the course of mental illness and personal recovery. First, early adversity and negative co-authoring may contribute to the development of a fragile life story, which itself may combine with life stressors to increase the likelihood of mental illness. Second, mental illness may negatively impact the development of narrative identity, which in turn may exacerbate the devastating effects of mental illness on daily functioning. Finally, positive changes in narrative identity, as they are influenced by recovery stories of peers and the supportive co-authorship provided by mental health professionals, may contribute in powerful ways to the process of personal recovery. In sum, the metamorphic model demonstrates how narrative identity, as it is implicated in a variety of social spheres, shapes and is shaped by the course of mental illness and recovery. We also show how the model differs from other personality-oriented theories of psychopathology and how it may guide future research and interventions. • We develop a narrative identity framework for mental illness and recovery. • Narrative identity can be a vulnerability to mental illness and is • Narrative identity is negatively impacted by mental illness. • Narrative identity can be a resource for personal recovery. • Narrative identity-psychopathology interactions unfold in a socio-cultural ecology.

  PublisherDOI

• Interpersonal synchronization: An overlooked factor in development, social cognition, and psychopathology

  Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · 2025-02-08 · 8 citations

  review
  PublisherDOI

• Historical Consciousness: Recollections of Major Historical Events in the Personal Life Story

  Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · 2025-03-25 · 2 citations

  articleSenior author

  How do people incorporate collective major historical events into their personal life stories? This study investigates the concept of historical consciousness, which is the extent to which individuals integrate the recollection of major historical events into their narrative identity in personally meaningful ways. A sample of 134 midlife adults were asked to describe in detail two major historical events, social movements, or societal changes that impacted them and explain their personal significance. Individual differences in the degree to which the participants incorporated these collective events into their narrative identities were coded on a dimension running from "tuning history out" (low scores) to "witnessing history" (medium) to "living history" (high). Scores on the narrative measure of historical consciousness were positively associated with extraversion, identification with all humanity, indicators of psychosocial adjustment (i.e., generativity and psychological well-being), and civic and political engagement behaviors.

  PublisherDOI

• Narrative Self-Transcendence: Decreased Regret and Increased Acceptance Over Late Midlife

  2025-02-04

  preprintOpen accessSenior author

  Introduction: Self-transcendence—connectedness within and beyond the self—is a complex phenomenon theorized to increase with age, but evidence is mixed. This longitudinal study is the first to investigate changes in self-transcendence across late midlife using life story narratives. Method: We tracked self-reported and narrative identity self-transcendence scores of 163 participants as they aged from M=56.4 (SD=0.95) to M=64.5 (SD=0.94). Participants were 64.4% women, 35.6% men; 55.2% White, 42.9% Black, 1.8% interracial/other; median income was $75,000–$100,000; median education was college graduate. Results: Self-transcendence narrative themes of closure and self-actualization increased significantly over time, especially between ages 60–65, but self-reported self-transcendence did not change. These trends were not uniform; race by gender groups exhibited distinct trajectories over time.Discussion: Late midlife is seen as ushering in opportunities for increased self-transcendence, especially acceptance of oneself and one’s life. We found some of the strongest empirical evidence of this phenomenon to date. On average, U.S. Black and White adults narrated their life stories with less regret and more satisfaction with self across late midlife. Findings demonstrate the utility of leveraging first-person narrative identity methods to collect and analyze data about rich, complex personality constructs and highlight positive changes associated with late midlife.

  PublisherDOI

• Narrative Self-Transcendence: Decreased Regret and Increased Acceptance Over Late Midlife

  2025-03-25

  preprintOpen accessSenior author

  Introduction: Self-transcendence—connectedness within and beyond the self—is a complex phenomenon theorized to increase with age, but evidence is mixed. This longitudinal study is the first to investigate changes in self-transcendence across late midlife using life story narratives. Method: We tracked self-reported and narrative identity self-transcendence scores of 163 participants as they aged from M=56.4 (SD=0.95) to M=64.5 (SD=0.94). Participants were 64.4% women, 35.6% men; 55.2% White, 42.9% Black, 1.8% interracial/other; median income was $75,000–$100,000; median education was college graduate. Results: Self-transcendence narrative themes of closure and self-actualization increased significantly over time, especially between ages 60–65, but self-reported self-transcendence did not change. These trends were not uniform; race by gender groups exhibited distinct trajectories over time.Discussion: Late midlife is seen as ushering in opportunities for increased self-transcendence, especially acceptance of oneself and one’s life. We found some of the strongest empirical evidence of this phenomenon to date. On average, U.S. Black and White adults narrated their life stories with less regret and more satisfaction with self across late midlife. Findings demonstrate the utility of leveraging first-person narrative identity methods to collect and analyze data about rich, complex personality constructs and highlight positive changes associated with late midlife.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Author response for "Narrative Identity, Traits, and Trajectories of Depression and Well-Being: A 9-Year Longitudinal Study"

  2024-05-26

  peer-review
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Peter B. Zeldow

  17 shared

• Jonathan M. Adler

  Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering

  17 shared

• Steven R. Daugherty

  16 shared

• Jack J. Bauer

  University of Dayton

  15 shared

• Ed de St. Aubin

  Marquette University

  13 shared

• Henry R. Cowan

  12 shared

• Kate C. McLean

  Western Washington University

  12 shared

• Jennifer Lilgendahl

  Haverford College

  11 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Social Psychology

  University of California, Santa Barbara

  1987

• M.A., Social Psychology

  University of California, Santa Barbara

  1984

• B.A., Psychology

  University of California, Santa Barbara

  1981