zynphull’s Reviews > Constructing the Self > Status Update

Soon gonna review it properly. Finished it two days ago

And promptly Hardcastle gives us the answer: we rely on narratives in order to enact self construction because these narratives are anchored in memory, and we have an innate tendency to better store in memory information about events that are emotionally significant to us, or which we find particularly pleasant or unpleasant. In its core, we make our stories out of what we like or dislike.

Hardcastle shows us the goods. Our self-creation is enacted through the narratives about us we tell each other and ourselves. However, the factor determining what gets in the stories (and what is left out), both in our memory and narration itself, is affective valence. Stories have a "point" and that is communicating about how we felt. We normally favour this personal kind of tale over possible "neutral" descriptions

Self-narratives are socially contingent and constantly changing, often fuzzy and open to multiple readings, like cloud formations. Still, they seem crucial to our well-being. How can we cling to such flimsy a device in maintaining our sense of self?