Storying Research: Exploring the Benefits of Participatory Narrative Inquiry as a Methodology for Wellbeing Research

Abstract

As the field of positive psychology matures, many have called for an expansion in epistemological and methodological approaches to enable a more complex study of wellbeing. This article addresses this call by examining the benefits of using storying methods in wellbeing research. We explore how this can address some of the limitations in the extant psychological literature. Participatory Narrative Inquiry (PNI) is introduced as an example of a storying methodology that can facilitate a democratised approach to studying complex phenomena. We outline the theoretical and meta-theoretical underpinnings of this approach and provide an overview of the essential and supplementary methods used within each phase of the methodology. The methodology is juxtaposed with other similar qualitative methods to support researchers in discerning what type of inquiries PNI may be best suited to. We argue that interdisciplinary methodologies such as PNI can support the development and refinement of contextually relevant theories and practices needed to progress the field of positive psychology as it enters its third wave of development.