The “stuff” of narrative identity: Touring big and small stories in emerging adults’ dorm rooms.

The purpose of this research was to explore emerging adults' conceptions of self and identity using a new narrative interview methodology that elicited stories about personal belongings and cherished objects through tours of physical and virtual spaces. This research was also driven by methodological goals to explore the usefulness of a newly developed "tour" methodology, designed as an adaptation to the life story interview approach that is prominent in narrative identity research. Twenty-six emerging adults (Ages 18 to 20) were interviewed in their dorm rooms in a midsized university in Ontario, Canada, using a modified life story interview protocol (McAdams, 2008). The interview focused on personal artifacts (e.g., books, music, photos, heirlooms) and included "tours" of the belongings and artifacts contained in participants' dorm rooms and preferred virtual spaces (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, music collections). Findings suggest that both physical and virtual spaces provide visual clues and support for conceptualizing and communicating identity contents as well as support for identity processes related to continuity and change. The combined tour and life story method provided access to both "big stories" of significant events in the life story and "small stories" (Bamberg, 2004; Freeman, 2011) of everyday experiences that are relevant to the development of self and identity. We conclude by examining the theoretical, methodological, and practical implications of this research.