The Development of Socioculturally Positive and Negative Identities Through Negotiation With Master Narratives

A crucial component of narrative identity development, the most contextualized aspect of personality, is the formation of socioculturally positive and negative identities. However, gaps remain in understanding how individuals develop these identities through their interactions with society. To uncover these processes, this mixed-methods study applied a master narrative approach to Japanese emerging adults who deviate from master narratives, or widely shared stories in society. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 104 Japanese emerging adults aged 18–24 years (75.96% women; M age = 20.73, SD = 1.23). Quantitative analyses revealed that those who deviated from master narratives developed socioculturally positive identities by elaborating on alternative narratives that differed from or challenged the master narratives. Socioculturally negative identities were associated with connecting deviant experiences to a stable self-concept and finding others or groups who shared similar alternative narratives. The qualitative analysis provided nuance to these findings, suggesting that master narratives either enable or constrain the development of individuals’ socioculturally positive and negative identities. Additionally, individuals negotiated with master narratives in various ways based on their identity work. In these bidirectional pathways, individuals employed culturally relevant alternative narratives in Japan. These findings enhance the understanding of identity and personality development within sociocultural contexts.