Books
McLean, K. C. (2024). Why Change is Hard: The Power of Master Narratives over Self and Society. New York: Oxford University Press.
McLean, K. C. (2015). The Co-authored Self: Family Stories and the Construction of Personal Identity. New York: Oxford University Press.
Edited Works
McLean, K. C. (Ed). Cultural Methodologies in Psychology: Describing and Transforming Cultures. Oxford University Press.
McLean, K. C., & Syed, M. (Eds.), (2014). The Oxford Handbook of Identity Development. New York: Oxford University Press.
Greenhoot, A. G. & McLean, K. C. (Eds.), (2013). Memory: Special Issue on the Costs and Benefits of Finding Meaning in the Past.
McLean, K. C., & Pasupathi, M. (Eds.), (2010). Memory: Special Issue on Silence and Memory.
McLean, K. C., & Pasupathi, M. (Eds.), (2010). Narrative Development in Adolescence: Creating the Storied Self. New York, NY: Springer.
Journal Articles
Delker, B. C., Michel, P., Fogel, C. A., Patterson, A. L., Mize, G., Huber, T., & McLean, K. C. (2024). How do young men narrate the redemption story of a sexual assault perpetrator? European Journal of Psychotraumatology.
Lamarche, V. M., Blackie, L. E. R., McLean, K. C. (2024).The story of ‘us’ is the story of ‘me’: The influence of attachment style on narratives of romantic transgressions and high points. PLOS ONE.
Weststrate, N. M., McLean, K. C., & Fivush, R. (2024). Intergenerational Storytelling and Positive Psychosocial Development: Stories as Developmental Resources for Marginalized Groups. Personality and Social Psychology Review.
Camia, C., McLean, K. C., & Waters, T. (2024). Autobiographical memory functions as a stable property of narrative identity. Personality Science.
McLean, K. C. There is great value in hearing vicarious memories, but what if you don’t have access to them? Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition.
Booker, J. A., Fivush, R., Greenhoot, A. F., McLean, K. C., Wainryb, C., & Pasupathi, M. (2024). Emerging Adults’ Journeys out of the Shutdown: Longitudinal Narrative Patterns in a College Career Defined by COVID. Developmental. Psychology.
McLean, K. C., Moriarity, N., Starling, K., & Weststrate, N. M. (2024). Letters from queer elders: Transmitting intergenerational wisdom in the LGBTQ+ communities. Journal of Homosexuality.
Klimstra, T. A., McLean, K. C. (2024) Reconsidering Normative Interpretations in Personality Research. European Journal of Personality.
McLean, K. C., Fish, J., Rogers, L. O., & Syed. M. (2023). Integrating Systems of Power and Privilege in the Study of Resilience. American Psychologist.
Turner, K., Lilgendahl, J. L., Syed, M., & McLean, K. C. (2023). Testing Exploratory Narrative Processing as a Mechanism of Change in Identity Status Processes over Four Years in College-Going Emerging Adults. Developmental Psychology.
Rogers, L. O., Moffitt, U., McLean, K. C., & Syed, M. (2023). Research as Resistance: Dismantling the Master Narrative of Good Science. American Psychologist.
Weststrate, N. M., Turner, K., & McLean, K. C. (2023). Intergenerational Storytelling as a Developmental Resourcein the LGBTQ+ Community. Journal of Homosexuality.
McLean, K. C., Pasupathi, M. & Syed, M. (2023). Cognitive Scripts and Narrative Identity are Shaped by Structures of Power. Trends in Cognitive Science.
Gonzalez, A., Koepf, I., McLean, K. C. (2023). “The system is unfair”: Uncontrollable attributions for inequality more equitable giving in adolescents. Infant and Child Development.
Blackie, L., Weststrate, N.M. Turner, K., Adler, J., & McLean, K. C. (2023) Broadening our Understanding of Adversarial Growth: The Contribution of Narrative Methods. Journal of Research in Personality.
Järdmo, C., Eriksson, P. L., Malm, I., & McLean, K. C., Frisén, A. (2023). Creating something new from past experiences – The meaning of change in repeated narratives. Journal of Personality.
Mansfield, C. D., Pasupathi, M., & McLean, K. C. (2022). The Challenges of the Experimental Paradigm in Narrative Identity Research. Journal of Research in Personality.
Syed, M., & McLean, K. C. (2022). Who Gets to Live the Good Life? Master Narratives, Identity, and Well-Being within a Marginalizing Society. Journal of Research in Personality.
Pasupathi, M. Booker, J. Ell, M. Follmer Greenhoot A., McLean, K., Wainryb, C., & Fivush, R. College, Interrupted: Profiles in First-Year College Students Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic Across One Year. EmergingAdulthood.
Weststrate, N., & McLean, K. C. (2022) “You Have to Give Them Hope”: A Psychobiography of Harvey Milk. Journal of Personality.
Delker, B. C., Michel, P., Turner, K., & McLean, K. C. (2022). Perceptions of Stories Interpersonal Violence: Implications for Survivors and Cultural Compassion: A Registered Report. Collabra.
Booker, J. A., Ell, M., Fivush, R., Greenhoot, A. F., McLean, K. C., Wainryb, C., & Pasupathi, M. (2022). Early impacts of college, interrupted: Considering first-year students’ narratives about covid and reports of adjustment during college shutdowns. Psychological Science.
Weststrate, N. M., & McLean, K, C. (2022). Protest, Panic, Policy, and Parades: Memory for Cultural-Historical Events and Psychosocial Development in the LGBTQ+ Community. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity.
Patterson, A., Dunlap, D., Patterson, A., Payne, N., Peterson, A., Tiemersma, K., Turner, K., Wolin, H., Lilgendahl, J.P., & McLean, K. C. (2022). The Role of Repeated Narration in Identity Development: The Evaluation of the Transition to College Over Time. Qualitative Psychology.
McLean, K. C., & Syed, M. A (2021). Different Road Towards a Better Personality Science. Commentary on Leising et al. Personality Science.
McLean, K. C., Dunlap, D., Jennings, S. C., Litvitskiy, N. S., & Lilgendahl, J. P. (2021). Stability and Change in Autobiographical Reasoning: A Four-Year Longitudinal Study of Narrative Identity Development. Journal of Personality.
McLean, K. C. & Riggs, A. E. (2021). No Age Differences? No Problem. Infant and Child Development.
Laura, E. R. & McLean, K. C. (2021). Examining the Longitudinal Associations between Repeated Narration of Recent Transgressions within Individuals’ Romantic Relationships and Character Growth in Empathy, Humility, and Compassion. European Journal of Personality.
McLean, K. C., Koepf, I.M., Lilgendahl, J. P. (2021). Identity Development and Major Choice Among Underrepresented Students Interested in STEM Majors: A Longitudinal Qualitative Analysis. Emerging Adulthood.
Jayawickreme, E., Infurna, F. J., Alajak, K., Blackie, L. E. R., Chopik, W. J., Chung, J. M., Dorfman, A.,Fleeson, W., Forgeard, M. J. C., Frazier, P., Furr, M., Grossman, I., Heller, A., Laceulle, O. M., Lucas, R. E., Luhmann, M., Luong, G., Meijer, L., McLean, K. C., Park, C. L., Roepke, A. M., al Sawaf, Z., Tennen, H., White, R. M. B., & Zonneveld, R. (2020). Post-Traumatic Growth as Positive Personality Change: Challenges, Opportunities and Recommendations. Journal of Personality.
Eriksson, P. L., McLean, K. C., & Frisén, A. (2020). Ta Det Onda Med Det Goda [Accepting the Bad That Comes with the Good] – A Cultural Framework for Identity Narratives of Difficult Experiences in Sweden. Identity.
McLean, K. C., Delker, B. C., Dunlop, W. L., Salton, R., & Syed, M. (2020). Redemptive Stories and Those Who Tell Them are Preferred in the U.S. Collabra.
Pasupathi, M., Greenhoot, A. F., Fivush, R. A., & McLean, K. C. (2020). Intra-individual Variability in Narrative Identity: Complexities, Garden Paths, and Untapped Research Potential. European Journal of Personality.
Delker, B. C., Salton, R., McLean, K. C., & Syed, M. (2020). Who has to tell their trauma story and how hard will it be? Influence of cultural stigma and narrative redemption on the storying of sexual violence. PLOS ONE.
Blackie, E. R., Colgan, J., McDonald, S., McLean, K. C. (2019). A Qualitative Investigation into the Cultural Master Narrative for Overcoming Trauma and Adversity in the United Kingdom. Qualitative Psychology.
Lilgendahl, J. P., & McLean, K. C. (2019). Narrative Identity Processes and Changes in Well-being Across the Transition to College: A Contextualized Approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: PPID.
Van Doeselaar, C., Klimstra, T., Meeus, W., Denissen, J., & McLean,K. C. The link between the dual-cycle model of identity and narrative identity in adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence.
Delker, B., Salton, R., & McLean, K. C. Giving voice to silence: Empowerment and disempowerment in the developmental shift from trauma ‘victim’ to ‘advocate.’ Journal of Trauma and Dissociation.
Breen, A. V.,Scott, A. C., & McLean, K. C. (in press). The “Stuff” of Narrative Identity: Touring Big and Small Stories in Emerging Adults’ Dorm Rooms. Qualitative Psychology.
Pasupathi, M., McLean, K. C., Weeks, T., Hynes. (in press). Tailoring Narration for Distinct Audiences in Emerging Adulthood. Emerging Adulthood.
McLean, K. C., Köber, C., & Haraldsson, K. The repeated narration of specific events: What repetition can tell us about the identity stability in mid-life (in press). Qualitative Psychology.
McLean,K. C., Fordham, C., Boggs, S., Byers, S., Haraldsson, K., Lowe, L., Syed, M. (in press). Personal Identity Development in Cultural Context: The Socialization of Master Narratives about the Gendered Life Course. International Journal of Behavioral Development.
McLean,K. C., Syed, M., Pasupathi, M., Adler, J. M., Dunlop, W.L., Drustrup, D., Fivush, R., Graci, M. E., Lilgendahl, J. L., Lodi-Smith, J., McAdams, D. P., & McCoy, T. (in press). The Empirical Structure of Narrative Identity: The Initial Big Three. Journal of Personality: PPID.
McLean,K. C. (in press). The Creation of Stories: For the Person, or for the Group? Invited commentary for Evolutionary Studies in Imaginative Culture.
Sica, L. S., Sestito, L. A., Syed, M., & McLean, K. C. (in press). I became an adult when…Pathways of identity resolution and adulthood transition in Italian freshman’s narratives. Identity.
Weststrate, N. M., Ferrari, M., Fournier, M. A., & McLean, K. C. (2018). “It was the best worst day of my life”: Narrative content, structure, and process in wisdom-fostering life event memories. The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences.
Panattoni, K., & McLean, K. C. (in press). The Curious Case of the Coding and Self-Ratings Mismatches: A Methodological and Theoretical Detective Story. Imagination, Cognition, and Personality.
McLean, K. C., Lilgendahl, J. P., Fordham, C., Alpert, L., Marsden, E., & Szymanowski, K., & McAdams, P. (in press). Master Identity Development in Cultural Context: The Role of Deviating from Master Narratives. Journal of Personality.
Adler, J. M., Dunlop, W. L, Fivush, R., Lilgendahl, J. P., Lodi-Smith, J., McAdams, D. P., McLean, K. C., Pasupthi, M., & Syed, M. (author order is alphabetical) (2017). Research methods for studying narrative identity: A primer. Social Psychology and Personality Science.
Galliher, R., McLean, K. C., Syed, M. (2017). An Integrated Model for Studying Identity Content in Context. Developmental Psychology.
McLean, K. C., Shucard, H., & Syed, M. (2017). Applying the Master Narrative Framework to Gender Identity in Emerging Adulthood: Emerging Adulthood, 5, 93-105.
McLean, K. C., Pasupathi, M., Fivush, R., Grenhoot, A. F., & Wainryb, C. (2016). Does within person variability in narration matter and for what? Journal of Research in Personality.
McLean, K. C. & Syed, M. (2015). Personal, Master, and Alternative Narratives: An Integrative Framework for Understanding Identity Development in Context. Human Development, 58, 318 – 349.
Breen, A. V., McLean, K.C., Cairney, K., & McAdams, D. P. (2016). Movies, Books and Identity: Exploring the Narrative Ecology of the Self. Qualitative Psychology.
McLean, K. C., Syed, M., and Shucard, H. (2016) Bringing Identity Content to the Fore: Links to Identity Development Processes. Emerging Adulthood.
Shaw, J., McLean, K. C., Taylor, B., Swartout, K., & Querna, K. (2016). Beyond resilience: Why we need to look at systems too. Psychology of Violence, 6, 34-41.
Syed, M., & McLean, K. C. (2016). Understanding Identity Integration: Theoretical, Methodological, and Applied Issues. Journal of Adolescence, 47, 109-118.
Mansfield, C. D., Pasupathi, M., & McLean, K. C. (2015). Is narrating growth in stories of personal transgressions associated with increased well-being, self-compassion, and forgiveness of others? Journal of Research in Personality, 58, 69-83.
Manczak, E., McLean, K. C., McAdams, D. P., & Chen, E. (2015). Physiological reactivity during parent-adolescent discussions: Associations with scaffolding behaviors and relationship quality. Annals of Behavioral Medicine.
Chen, E., McLean, K. C., & Miller, G. E. (2015). Shift-and-Persist Strategies: Associations with Socioeconomic Status and the Regulation of Inflammation among Adolescents and their Parents. Psychosomatic Medicine, 77, 371-382.
McLean, K. C. Syed, M., Yoder, A., & Greenhoot, A.F. (2014). Identity Integration: The Importance of Domain Content in Linking Narrative and Status Approaches to Emerging Adult Identity Development. Journal of Research on Adolescence.
Jennings, L. E., Pasupathi, M., & McLean, K. C. (2013). Intricate Lettings Out and Lettings In’: Listener Scaffolding of Narrative Identity in Newly-Dating Romantic Partners. Self and Identity.
Jennings, L. E., McLean, K. C. (2013). Storying Away Self-Doubt: Can Narratives Dispel Threats to the Self? Journal of Research in Personality, 47, 317–329.
McLean, K. C., Wood, R.,& Breen, A. (2013). Reflecting on a difficult life: Narrative construction and delinquency in vulnerable adolescents and the hazards of reflecting on difficult experiences. Journal of Adolescent Research, 28, 431-452.
McAdams, D. P., & McLean, K. C. (2013). Narrative Identity. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 22, 233-238.
McLean, K. C., & Morrison-Cohen, S. (2013). Moms Telling Tales: Maternal Identity Development in Conversations with their Adolescents about the Personal Past. Identity, 13, 120-139.
Lilgendahl, J. L., McLean, K. C., Mansfield, C. (2013). When is Meaning-making Unhealthy for the Self? The Roles of Neuroticism, Implicit Theories and Memory Telling in Trauma and Transgression Memories. Memory, 21, 79- 96.
McLean, K. C. & Jennings, L. E. (2012). Teens Telling Tales: How Maternal and Peer Audiences Support Narrative Identity Development. Journal of Adolescence, 35, 1455-1469.
McLean, K. C. & Pasupathi, M. (2012). Looking forwards and looking backwards: Two approaches to identity development. Identity Special Issue: Reintegrating Erikson: A Theoretical and Empirical Synthesis of Eriksonian Identity Models,12, 8 – 28.
Mansfield, C., McLean, K. C., & Lilgendahl, J. P. (2010). Narrating Traumas and Transgressions: Links between Narrative Processing, Wisdom, and Well-being. Narrative Inquiry, 20, 246 – 273.
McLean, K. C., & Pasupathi, M. (2010). Old, New, Borrowed, and Blue? The emergence and retention of meaning in autobiographical storytelling. Journal of Personality, 79, 135 – 164.
McLean, K. C., & Mansfield, C. D. (2010). To Reason or Not to Reason: Is Autobiographical Reasoning Always Beneficial? In T. Habermas (Ed.), New Directions in Child and Adolescent Development: The development of autobiographical reasoning in adolescence and beyond, 131, 85–97.
Weststrate, N.,& McLean, K. C. (2010). The rise and fall of gay: Gay identity development in different historical and cultural cohorts. Memory, 18, 225 – 240.
McLean, K. C., Breen, A., & Fournier, M. A. (2010). Adolescent identity development: Narrative meaning-making and memory telling. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 166 – 187.
Remick, A. K., Pliner, P., McLean, K. C. (2009). Attitudes to Eating Reveal Interesting Aspects of the Self. Eating Behaviors, 10, 42 – 44.
McLean, K. C., & Breen, A. (2009). Gender differences in adolescent meaning-making. Developmental Psychology, 45, 702-710.
McLean, K. C., & Pals, J. L. (2008). Reminiscence functions: Emotional valence, age and well- being. Memory, 751-672.
Pasupathi, M., McLean, K. C., & Weeks, T. (2008). The told and untold narrative self. Journal of Personality, 77, 89-124.
McLean, K. C. (2008). The emergence of narrative identity. Social and Personality Compass, 2, 1-18.
McLean, K. C., & Fournier, M. (2008). The Content and Processes of Autobiographical Reasoning in Narrative Identity Journal of Research in Personality, 42, 527-545.
McLean, K. C. (2008). Stories of the young and the old: Reflections on self-continuity. Developmental Psychology, 44, 254-164.
McLean, K. C., Pasupathi, M., & Pals. J. L. (2007). Selves creating stories creating selves: A process model of narrative self development in adolescence and adulthood. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 11, 262-278.
McLean, K. C., & Pasupathi, M. (2006). Collaborative narration of the past and extraversion. Journal of Research in Personality, 40, 1219-1231.
McLean, K. C., & Pratt, M. W. (2006). Life’s little (and big) lessons: Identity statuses and meaning- making in the turning point narratives of emerging adults, Developmental Psychology, 42, 714-722.
McLean, K. C. (2005).Late adolescent identity development: Narrative meaning-making and memory telling. Developmental Psychology, 41, 683-691.
Thorne, A., McLean, K. C., & Lawrence, A. (2004). When remembering is not enough: Reflecting on self- defining events in late adolescence. Journal of Personality, 72, 513-542.
McLean, K. C., & Thorne, A. (2003). Late adolescents’ self-defining memories about relationships. Developmental Psychology, 39, 635-645.
Thorne, A., & McLean, K. C. (2002). Gendered reminiscence practices and self-definition in late adolescence. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, 46, 261-271.
Book Chapters
McLean, K. C., Syed, M., Haraldsson, K., & Lowe, L. (in press). Narrative identity in the social world. In P. Corr & G. Matthews (Eds.), Handbookof Personality Psychology. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
McLean, K. C., & Lilgendahl, J. (2019). Narrative identity in adolescence and adulthood: Pathways ofdevelopment. In D. P. McAdams, J. Tackett, & R. Shiner (Eds.), The Handbook of Personality Development (pp. 418 – 432). New York: Guilford.
Syed, M., Pasupathi, M., & McLean, K. C. (in press). Master Narratives, Ethics, and Morality. In L. A. Jenson (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Moral Development.New York: Oxford.
McLean, K. C., & Syed, M. Narrative Identities. (in press). In S. Hupp & J. Jewell (Eds.), TheEncyclopedia of Child and Adolescent Development. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell.
Syed, M., & McLean, K. C. (in press). Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development. Submitted to The SAGE Encyclopedia of Intellectual and Developmental Disorders. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
McLean, K. C. (2017). And the Story Evolves: The Development of Personal Narratives and Narrative Identity (pp. 325 – 338). In J. Specht (Ed.), Personality Development Across the Lifespan. Elsevier.
Dys, S. B., Schellenberg, E. G., & McLean, K. C. (2017). Musical Identities, Music Preferences, and Individual Differences (pp. 247 -266). In R. MacDonald, D. Miell, and D. Hargreaves (Eds)., Musical Identities, 2nd Edition. New York: Oxford University Press.
McLean, K. C., & Breen, A. V. (2016). Selves in a World of Stories (pp. 385 – 400). In J. A. Arnett (Ed.) Handbook of Emerging Adulthood. New York: Oxford University Press.
Breen, A. V., & McLean, K.C. (2016). The intersection of personal and master narratives: Is redemption for everyone (pp. 197 – 214)? In B. Schiff & S. Patron (Eds.), Narrative Matters: Papers from the 2012 Conference. New York: Oxford University Press.
McLean, K. C., & Syed, M. (2015). The Field of Identity Development Needs an Identity: An Introduction to the Handbook of Identity Development. In K. C. McLean and M. Syed (Eds). The Oxford Handbook of Identity Development (pp. 1 – 10). New York: New York: Oxford University Press.
Syed, M., & McLean, K. C. (2015). The Future of Identity Development Research: Reflections,Tensions, and Challenges. In K. C. McLean and M. Syed (Eds). The Oxford Handbook of Identity Development, (pp. 562-574). New York: New York: Oxford University Press.
McLean, K. C., & Morrison-Cohen, S. (2013) “But Wait, It Gets Even Weirder…”: The Meaning of Stories. In C. Routledge & J. Hicks (Eds.), The experience of meaning in life: Classical perspectives, emerging themes, and controversies, (pp. 201 – 212). New York: Springer.
McLean, K. C., & Pasupathi, M. Narrative approaches to identity development in adolescence.In J. R. Levesque (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Adolescence. New York, NY: Springer.
Kroger, J., & McLean, K. C. (2011). Identity Narratives during the Adult Years: Development and Learning. C. Hoare (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Reciprocal Adult Development and Learning 2nd ed. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Breen. A., & McLean, K. C. (2010). Constructing Resilience: Adolescent Motherhood and the Potential for Self-Transformation (pp. 151 – 168). In K. C. McLean & M. Pasupathi (Eds.), Narrative Development in Adolescence: Creating the Storied Self. New York: Springer.
Alea, N., McLean, K., C. & Vick, S. C. (2009). The story of us: Examining marital quality via positive and negative relationship narratives. In K. S. Pearlman (Ed.), Marriage: Roles, Stability and Conflicts. Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science Publishers, Inc.
McLean, K. C., & Thorne, A. (2006). Identity light: Entertainment as a vehicle for self development. In McAdams, Josselson, & Lieblich (Eds.), Identity and story: Creating self in narrative (pp. 111-127), Washington DC: APA Press.
Thorne, A., McLean, K. C., & Dasbach, A. (2004). When parents’ stories go to pot: Telling personal transgressions to teenage kids. In M. W. Pratt & B. E. Fiese (Eds.), Family stories and the lifecourse: Across time and generations, (pp. 187-212). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Thorne, A., & McLean, K. C. (2003). Telling traumatic events in adolescence: A study of master narrative positioning. In R. Fivush & C. Haden (Eds.), Connecting culture and memory: The development of an autobiographical self, (pp. 169-186). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.