Culture, Self-Narratives and Autobiographical Memory: Using a Semiotic Narrative Approach to Investigate Cross-cultural Differences

Various methods have been utilized to study culture and self. Despite advances in research on narratives and culture in understanding the self, to date, there is a lack of empirical studies investigating the cross-cultural differences in self-narrative structure. A self-narrative approach is important to unpack how the self differs cross-culturally because ‘What’ and ‘How’ people narrate about themselves is informed by their cultures. This thesis demonstrates the use of a semiotic narrative structure proposed by Greimas, particularly the Actantial Model, as a methodologically principled way of understanding how individuals construct culturally-informed selves in their self-narratives. To address the overarching aim of investigating cross-cultural differences using a semiotic narrative approach, three questions are raised concerning ‘What’ contents and ‘How’ people narrate about themselves as well as how self-narration relates to autobiographical memory in constructing a self-narrative in different cultures. Three studies are conducted. Study 1 utilized interviews to explore and test the coding system as well as the viability of Greimas’s framework as a systematic approach in analyzing self-narratives in cultural comparative research. Qualitative differences in self-narrative contents consistent with past research are replicated with this method. Key episodes in autobiographical memory were found in the contents of the self-narrative structure, showing that the experiences stored in autobiographical memory are used to construct self-narratives. Study 1 results are used to develop an online survey for self-narrative research, which was piloted and validated in Study 2. Through a mixed-method design, Study 2 found variations in self-narrative structure and self-narrating style between European-Australians and Singaporean/Malaysian Chinese. Contents of key events and self-narrative structure were associated, with self-agency as a major theme of what individuals recall. Study 3 employed an online survey developed from Study 2, with a sample of European-Australians (n = 60) and Singaporean Chinese (n = 60). Firstly, qualitative and quantitative evidence indicated cross-cultural differences in 'What’ people share in the contents of their self-narratives. European-Australians present with more individual self-focused contents compared to the Singaporean Chinese, who had more other-focused contents in their self-narratives. Secondly, how people share their self-narratives, which is their self-narrating style, also differed cross-culturally. European-Australians use an elaborative style consistent with previous research, and prioritize the individual self in the foreground, which is termed a decontextualized self-narrating style. In contrast, the Singaporean Chinese showed evidence of repetitive style consistent with previous research, and present a self that is embedded in social context, which is termed a contextualized self-narrating style. Thirdly, how self-narration and autobiographical memory are related was demonstrated through the key events of individuals’ lives which were again found in the self-narrative structure. The memories that engage self-agency are recalled most in key events and used in self-narrative construction. Lastly, important to both cultural groups is the role of religion in individual lives, which can now be investigated within the self-narrative structure as it influences identity and self-processes. Together, these findings reveal the importance and implications of a semiotic narrative approach in understanding not only cross-cultural differences, but also how culture and self co-construct.