EGO-IDENTITY STATUS AND NARRATIVE STRUCTURE IN RETROSPECTIVE ACCOUNTSOF PARENTAL CAREER INFLUENCE

In this paper, the relationship between identity status categories and the experience of parental influence on career development is examine d. The life stories of 11 young adults regarding significant events th rough which their parents influenced them were classified by narrative structure based on Gergen and Gergen's macrostructure framework. The resulting narrative types were then assessed in terms of their relatio nship to each participant's score on the Extended Objective Measure of Ego-Identity Status. Both observational associations and Fisher's Exa ct Tests of Probabilities suggest a relationship. Results indicated th at narratives of parental influence on career development may be refle ctive of one's stage of identity formation, that is, to one's progress in exploring and committing to career values and goals. (C) 1996 The Association for Professionals in Services for Adolescents