Love as story,love as storytelling

Across three studies, individual differences in the degree to which (a) participants enjoyed autobiographical storytelling with their romantic partners (storytelling enjoyment [SE]) and (b) thought about these relationships in narrative terms (narrative mindset [NM]) were examined in relation to psychological functioning and romantic relationship narratives. Drawing data from over 1,650 participants, relationship satisfaction, certain positive personality traits, and a dimension of secure attachment corresponded with both SE and NM. SE and NM also related to features of participants' relationship narratives. Storytelling and applying a NM to one's love life may carry implications for functioning within the romantic domain.