Late adolescents’ self-defining memories about relationships

This study examined late adolescents ’ self-defining memories about relationships. Participants were 88 European Americans (M age 19 years) who reported 3 self-defining memories of their choosing, and were selected for the study because they reported a memory about parents and/or peers. Memory narratives were coded for themes of separation, closeness, and conflict, and for two kinds of meaning: learning lessons and gaining insight. Parent memories were found to emphasize separation more so than peer memories, which emphasized closeness. Within parent memories, however, separation and closeness were equally prevalent. Parent separation was exemplified by experiences of parental divorce, parent closeness by comforting a grieving parent, and peer closeness by episodes of first-time romance. Conflict was more prevalent in parent than peer memories, and was associated with meaning-making. Findings were discussed in terms of the usefulness of self-defining memories for illuminating contexts of relationship development in late adolescence, and for understanding the emergence of identity and the life story. Late Adolescents ’