"We Figured Out How to Fight": Couples' Identity Stories on Overcoming Disagreements

Date
2017
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Abstract
In this research, I examined couples’ small stories about overcoming a disagreement, while analyzing how they co-constructed a sense of relational identity in these tellings. I completed semi-structured interviews with seven couples who shared stories about what helped in resolving a past conflict, and what they learned from these overlooked successes. Using a narrative analysis framework, I analyzed the content of couples’ stories with Gubrium and Holstein’s (2009) concepts of linkage and composition, and identified narrative practices involved in constructing a sense of relational identity with Bamberg and Georgakopoulou’s (2008) small story approach. Couples identified strategies that helped resolve conflict and discussed the benefits of conflict resolution. I also reviewed how couples positioned their relationship and interacted in their “we” talk to “perform” relational identity. Lastly, I discussed the implications of these findings for couples, research, and counselling, particularly the influence questions have on inviting agentive relational accounts.
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Educational Psychology
Citation
Beech, L. (2017). "We Figured Out How to Fight": Couples' Identity Stories on Overcoming Disagreements (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/28682