American Dreams: Insights about Culture, Parenting, and Healthy Development from Family Stories

Humans are natural storytellers. And we use stories to understand ourselves, our relationships, and our family histories. Multiple projects have shown that the stories we carry about ourselves offer important glimpses in development, personality differences, and the complex ways we maintain a sense of self. Further, stories shared in family interactions highlight important parent-child behaviors, with impacts on the ways family history and values are passed on from generation to the next. We focused on three stories shared by these adults that reflected important family experiences and personal insights: stories shared with them about their parents as they were growing up—stories that included pursuing work, romance, immigrating to the U.S., and taking on important roles to support the family; respondents’ personal and self-defining stories that highlighted key milestones in their lives shaped how they understand themselves and their place in the world; and respondents’ relationship-defining memories with their children, including stories about stepping into parenthood, problem-solving with children, and feeling fulfillment and joy through the bonds with their children.