Abstract

FELINTO, Tuíla Maciel et al. Life Events and Building Identity during Emerging Adulthood. Estud. pesqui. psicol. [online]. 2020, vol.20, n.2, pp. 500-518. ISSN 1808-4281.  http://dx.doi.org/10.12957/epp.2020.52582.

During the emerging adulthood life period, the way that the events are understood is influenced by the internalized life story narrative. The investigation of the kind of experience that is most frequent in this period contributes to the understanding of the way life stories and identities are built. The goal of this study was to investigate the most frequently found themes in the events considered the most important ones by Brazilian undergraduates. Participants were 287 college students, with ages between 18 and 35 years (M = 22,55; SD = 5.88), who completed a questionnaire about the seven most important events that happened in their lives. Participants also rated each event for valence, importance, prevalence, and the age in which it occurred. The events mentioned were mostly positive, a result in line with the literature on autobiographical memory. The three most mentioned categories were related to the exploration of identity and possibilities that are characteristic of the emerging adulthood.

Keywords : life story; life events; autobiographical memory; emerging adulthood.

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