The search for meaning in later life: On the connection between religious narratives and narratives of aging

Abstract

Older adults’ life stories are often connected with religious stories. In-depth interviews with 26 older Dutch adults indicate three groups of religious narratives (experiential, ontological, and critical narratives) and three master narratives of aging (active aging, decline, and inner growth). The narrative of aging as inner growth, which strives for a balance between opposites, offers a way out of the polarity between active aging and aging as decline. Kendall’s tau-b correlation analysis shows that relative use of affirmative religious narratives tends to be positively correlated with relative use of supportive and negatively correlated with use of invalidating narratives of aging.