Synthesizing contemporary integrative interpersonal theory and the narrative identity approach to examine personality dynamics and regulatory processes

Objective: The goal of this paper is to promote the integration of two approaches to personality and assessment: Contemporary Integrative Interpersonal Theory (CIIT) and the Narrative Identity Approach (NI). Methods: We review CIIT and NI, describe their similarities and differences, and articulate opportunities to integrate the approaches to more fully account for personality dynamics and self-regulation. Results: We identify several areas within which concepts from CIIT and NI could be synthesized and offer four concrete suggestions for integrating the assessment methods within each approach: (1) using narratives to explicate interpersonal perception, (2) using stories to clarify interpersonal context, (3), using the Interpersonal Situation as a framework for unpacking narrative elements, and (4) coding interpersonal sequences in narrative data. Conclusions: CIIT and NI have potential to augment one another both theoretically and methodologically in ways that would be fruitful for conceptualizing and studying personality dynamics and self-regulation.