Longing for my Desirable Self: A Thematic Analysis of Individuals' Narratives of their Breakups

Elham Zamanshoar; Hamid Rezaeian; Simin Hosseinian; Abbas Abdollahi

doi:10.18502/qjcr.v21i83.11086

Elham Zamanshoar PhD student in counseling, counseling department, faculty of education and psychology, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran
Hamid Rezaeian Assistant professor of counseling department, faculty of education and psychology, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran
Simin Hosseinian professor of counseling department, faculty of education and psychology, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran
Abbas Abdollahi Associate Professor of counseling department, faculty of education and psychology, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/qjcr.v21i83.11086

Keywords: Narrative Identity, Romantic Breakup, Transition, Life Story, Thematic Analysis

Abstract

Aim: Romantic breakup has temporary and lasting effects on individual's psychological health. The aim of this study was to investigate the identity narrative of people with breakups.

Methods: Using purposive sampling method, 15 participants with breakup who met the inclusion criteria were selected. Their stories were collected using a modified form of "relationship narrative interview." Then, data were analyzed with thematic analysis method (Clark and Brown, 2015). After determining the sub-themes and main themes, a conceptual model of participant's narrative was presented.

Findings: Sixty-three sub-themes and 13 themes were formed during the analysis. The results show that participants tend to narrate the past as failure, the present as suspension, and the future as despair. The concept of the desirable self was hidden in their narratives, the desirable self that the individual had experienced or was in search of in that particular relationship.

Conclusion: Based on the results, it seems that people with romantic breakup who are experiencing a state of interruption in their transition, have a kind of rupture in their identity narrative that they feel they cannot repair. The results of this study can be effective in better understanding their identity narrative and possibly creating a psychological intervention for this situation.