COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF UNDERSTANDING PERSONAL GROWTH BY ADULTS OF ALL AGES
Abstract
The paper analyses ideas of adults of all ages about personal growth and development. The narratives generated by respondents while online survey were analysed. Qualitative analysis and interpretation of the experimental narratives were made using the technique of content analysis, the method for determining the semantic scope of narrative, the distribution of revealed meanings to theoretical, reflexive and factografic, etc. The analysis made it possible to determine: the level of correspondence of subjective understanding of the personal growth to the content of this concept in the scientific discourse; peculiarities of narratives of personal growth in the groups of respondents, formed by different criteria; peculiarities of the received narratives according to age and gender composition of the group of respondents, as well as differences of the received texts in size, degree of narrativity, degree of reflexivity, degree of formality, degree of emotionality; caused by status and social differences of respondents, and so on. Particular attention is paid to personal experience and reflexive rethinking the own experience while generating a narrative. Psychological contexts of generating narratives by adults of all ages are established. Analysis of the narratives in the survey revealed age subgroups of adults that differ on the features of understanding personal development and growth in general and on the specifics of awareness of their own personal development and growth. Been traced age dynamics of such parameters as (1) comprehension of their own life experience, (2) personal semantic space; (3) the dominant personal qualities.
Keywords: online survey, personal growth, personal development, narrative, personal experience
Accepted: 20.10.2014
Reviewed: 03.11.2014
Published: 03.12.2014
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2014 Zaretska Olga Oleksandrivna Зарецька Ольга Олександрівна
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Creative Commons Copyright Notice
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
