What is the Good Life? A Master Narrative Approach to the Study of Morals and Values in American Emerging Adults

This study examines the ways in which emerging adults in the United States narratively constructed identities in relation to their conceptions of the good life. What does it mean to be a good person? Am I living a good life? How can I lead a better life? All of these variations of the Who-am-I question––in relation to Who-I-should-be and Who-I-want-to-be––were investigated in this qualitative study. In-depth, life-story interviews (N = 24) were conducted with individuals between the ages of 18 and 29 across the U.S. The findings of a discursive thematic analysis indicate that emerging adults highly value subjectivity, independence, and interdependence when considering what makes a person and a life good. More than any one particular belief system, emerging adults expressed the values of individualism, idiosyncrasy, pluralism, and relativism when considering the features of a good life. They placed particular importance on deciding these beliefs on their own, and that there is not one answer to the question of what makes a life good. Results indicate that these values are fundamental to the master narrative of emerging adulthood in the U.S.