A phenomenological study of the experience of having family stories told about oneself

To describe and gain an understanding of adults' experiences of having stories told about themselves by other family members, twenty participants were interviewed and asked to relate stories they had heard family members tell about them. This request initiated a lengthy, non-structured interview during which the stories and information about the context in which each story was told were gathered. Interviews were then analyzed to categorize story plots as well as to develop a thematic structure of the experience of having stories told about oneself. Results revealed that nine plot categories encompassed all 79 stories told. The thematic structure Included four focal themes; that is, themes most figural or prominent in the immediate storytelling experience. In addition, five themes were found to describe the family context in which stories were told. Focal themes describing what participants reported being aware of when listening to such stories were: (1) the Storyteller, (2) Me, (3) How It Felt and (4) Then/Now. The five family themes concerning the family context (i.e.. Family themes) were described as involving an awareness of: (1) History, (2) Relationship Patterns, (3) Distinctiveness, (4) Attitudes, and (5) Values. Stories related by participants varied widely in richness and detail; two participants, in fact, produced no complete stories providing, instead, only repetitive patterns or descriptions they reported other family members had used to describe them. The majority of participants reported that their family often told stories, that they enjoyed swapping stories in their families, and that they found stories told about themselves meaningful and important.