The Redemptive Self: Stories Americans Live by DAN P. McADAMS OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS The Redemptive Self This page intentionally left blank The Redemptive Self STORIES AMERICANS LIVE BY DAN P. McADAMS 3  3 Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that further Oxford University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education. Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Copyright ©  by Dan P. McAdams Published by Oxford University Press, Inc.  Madison Avenue, New York, New York  www.oup.com Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data McAdams, Dan P. The redemptive self : stories Americans live by / Dan P. McAdams p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN- ---- ISBN --- . Self-perception—United States. . Redemption—Psychology— Miscellanea. . Success—United States—Psychological aspects. I. Title. BF..SM  .⬘—dc           Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper To the memory of Jeanne M. Foley (–) This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgments I am grateful to the many colleagues, students, friends, and family members who have made contributions to this book. Jon Adler, Michelle Green, Robert Hogan, five anonymous (and extraordinarily conscientious) reviewers, and my wife Rebecca Pallmeyer read the entire manuscript and provided me with many thoughtful comments and critiques. Jim Anderson, Nana Akua Anyidoho, Susan Arellano, John Barresi, Ed de St. Aubin, Alexandra Freund, Ruthellen Josselson, Alan Lepp, Dan Lewis, Gina Logan, Mary Anne Machado, Shadd Maruna, Tom McGovern, Arlin Meyer, Dan Ogilvie, Ken Paller, Jen Pals, Jefferson Singer, and Paul Wink read and commented on selected chap- ters. Although they did not always say what I wanted to hear, I benefited greatly from the wise counsel I received from all these astute readers. Thank you also to Catharine Carlin and Heather Hartman at Oxford University Press for their editorial advice and enthusiastic support. What was to become the book’s main thesis became clear to me in a wonderful conversation I had with Alan Lepp in the summer of . David Winter, Jeff Smith, and Carl Smith made invaluable suggestions for books to read on the topic of redemption and American history. Peter Zeldow sug- gested the very cool idea of coding stories from People magazine for redemp- tion imagery. Jim Egan gave me an original Horatio Alger book, along with good ideas about redemption and the American dream. Dick Anderson dug up the Cardinal George quote with which I begin chapter . My mother, Millie McAdams, helped me research the  mayoral election in Gary, Indiana, as background for chapter . Between tennis sets, Greg Korak made a key sug- gestion regarding the role of atonement in redemption. My analysis of gener- ativity among African American adults was strongly influenced by my stim- ulating collaboration and friendship with Phil Bowman. Other colleagues who have had a big impact on my thinking regarding generativity, redemp- tion, and life narratives over the past few years include Don Browning, Bert viii  Cohler, Anne Colby, Bill Damon, Kai Erikson, Bert Hermans, Tae-Chang Kim, John Kotre, Amia Lieblich, Ron Manheimer, Bill Peterson, Michael Pratt, Peter Raggatt, Todd Schultz, Mark Snyder, Avril Thorne, Jerry Wake- field, and Barbara Woike. I owe special thanks to the many undergraduate and graduate students and postdocs who have worked with me over the past few years on the re- search projects described in this book. All of the following have made major contributions to our efforts to understand generativity, redemption, and life narratives in adulthood: Jay Azarow, Dana Baerger, Jack Bauer, Reginald Blount, Irene Carvalho, Ann Diamond, Amanda Faniff, Jennifer Goldberg, Holly Hart, Bonnie Kaplan, Avi Kay, Amy Kegley, Erin Kennedy, Emily Kissel, Martha Lewis, Elizabeth Mansfield, David McConville, Derek McNeil, Nathania Montes, Allison Patten, Elizabeth Reyes, April Sakaeda, and Janet Shlaes. I owe enormous gratitude to the Spencer Foundation for funding my research between  and  and to the Foley Family Foundation for funding my research for the past eight years and establishing the Foley Cen- ter for the Study of Lives at Northwestern University. Without the support of Steve Fisher, Wendy Bosworth, and the late Jeanne M. Foley of the Foley Family Foundation, this book could not have been written. Finally, I must thank again my wife, Rebecca Pallmeyer, who continues to be the most redemptive force in my life narrative. Contents Prologue A Life Story Made in America  Chapter  Redemption and the American Soul  Chapter  The Generative Adult  Chapter  Life Stories  Chapter  The Chosen People  Chapter  My Good Inner Self: From Emerson to Oprah  Chapter  God Bless America  Chapter  Black (and White)  Chapter  Contaminated Plots, Vicious Circles  Chapter  When Redemption Fails  Chapter  Culture, Narrative, and the Self  Epilogue An American’s Confessions and Final Thoughts  Notes  References  Index 