Research
My research focuses on the power of storytelling, how stories help us bond together, create a sense of identity, and heal from stressful events. Each of us creates a life story, a story that weaves memories of our personal experiences into a narrative of how we became the person we are and who we want to become. My research asks how this process unfolds across development. Within this broader question, my colleagues, students, and I have examined three major issues, family storytelling, gender differences in autobiographical memory, and autobiographical memory, stress and coping. For a more general overview of my research, see:
Fivush, R. (2019). Family narratives and the development of an autobiographical self: Social and cultural perspectives on autobiographical memory. Routledge.
https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429029158
Fivush, R. (2022). Sociocultural perspectives on autobiographical memory. In The development of memory in infancy and childhood (pp. 262-285). Psychology Press. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003016533-11
Fivush, R. (2011). The development of autobiographical memory. Annual review of psychology, 62, 559-582. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.121208.131702