ABSTRACT
Although growth has been a central focus in narrative research, few studies have examined growth comprehensively, as a story that emerges across the interpretation of many events. In this study, we examined how individual differences in autobiographical reasoning (AR) about self‐growth relate to traits and well‐being in a national sample of midlife adults (N= 88) who ranged in age from 34 to 68. Two patterns of growth‐related AR were identified: (1) positive processing, defined as the average tendency to interpret events positively (vs. negatively), and (2) differentiated processing, defined as the extent to which past events are interpreted as causing a variety of forms of self‐growth. Results showed that positive processing was negatively related to neuroticism and predicted well‐being even after controlling for the average valence of past events. Additionally, differentiated processing of negative events but not positive events was positively related to openness and predictive of well‐being. Finally, growth‐related AR patterns independently predicted well‐being beyond the effects of traits and demographic factors.