This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Feinstein, D. Articles by Granger, D. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Mythmaking and Human Development

777 East Main Street, Ashland, Oregon, 97520.

Stanley Krippner, Ph.D.

Dennis Granger, Ph.D.

As the richly articulated cultural myths of the past have faded from social prominence and lost their viability in guiding individuals through predictable life crises, uniquely personal myths have assumed significance in helping individuals organize personal reality. After a brief survey of "personal mythology" as a concept within psychology, this article examines the mythic nature of thought and the historical shift in the foundations of consciousness from the myths of the collective to myths that increasingly bear the unique stamp of the individual. We will describe how the evolution of an individual's personal mythology takes the form of a dialectical pattern in which prevailing and emerging myths compete as new mythic structures evolve. This natural dialectic may be facilitated through a five-stage model we have developed and used in clinical, educational, and community settings. The model is presented as an approach that allows the individual to participate consciously in attitudinal and behavioral change. We close with a summary of eight principles that seem to govern the evolution of the individual's mythology and speculate about characteristics of the mythologies associated with higher levels of personality integration.

Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Vol. 28, No. 3, 23-50 (1988)
DOI: 10.1177/0022167888283003


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				D. Feinstein At Play in the Fields of the Mind: Personal Myths as Fields of Information Journal of Humanistic Psychology, July 1, 1998; 38(3): 71 - 109. [Abstract]

				G. M. Spreitzer, R. E. Quinn, and J. Fletcher Excavating the Paths of Meaning, Renewal, and Empowerment: A Typology of Managerial High-Performance Myths Journal of Management Inquiry, March 1, 1995; 4(1): 16 - 39. [Abstract]

				N. King Myth, Metaphor, Memory: Archeology of the Self Journal of Humanistic Psychology, April 1, 1990; 30(2): 55 - 72. [Abstract]