Do you know someone who, from the moment they open their mouth, you know you’re about to be taken on a captivating ride through some aspect of their life? The person could be recounting something as trivial as buying milk, but their delivery is entertaining and engaging. At the same time, there are people who can tell us about the most amazing event they have ever experienced, and yet they fail to capture our attention. Well, this odd and often underappreciated ability – storytelling – may actually play important roles in our psychology.
A new study proposes that people who are good storytellers tend to enjoy more fulfilling lives, feel a greater sense of meaning, and have the ability to see the “big picture”.
Over the last few decades, psychologists have become aware of the links between and consequences of stories and narratives. Previous work has shown that stories and narratives can help us make sense of ourselves and the world around us. Similarly, some researchers have argued that stories are a fundamental constituent of human memory, knowledge, and social communication. The idea is basically that to understand the world, we make up stories about it.
Some have suggested that the self, the I, is best understood from the perspective of a narrative that we all consciously or unconsciously create throughout our lives. Others have shown that writing about individual emotional experiences can lead to significant health benefits.
However, while stories have received substantial attention, the act of storytelling has not. The outcome is obvious: researchers have mostly favored the content and meaning of stories but have neglected the way they are told. Although the “what” is justifiably interesting, the “how” can also be important.
In this latest study, researchers evaluated participants’ storytelling ability using self-assessment, peer feedback, and ratings from strangers who listened to their stories. They then analyzed the recordings of stories by students trained as storytellers. At the same time, data was gathered on participants’ overall quality of life and whether they tended to focus on details or the bigger picture.
The results showed a clear connection between storytelling ability and higher scores on quality of life and a sense of meaning. Even after the researchers accounted for other factors, such as the Big Five personality traits, the effect was found to be especially strong among introverted people. These people appear to find storytelling to be a valuable means of self-expression and skill enhancement, while also helping them to better integrate and express their individual strengths.
Ultimately, the results suggest that storytelling is not just a personal skill, but actually a tool for other contexts, including professional and organizational settings.
The authors believe that these results have implications for employment. Modern workplaces tend to emphasize the need for employee engagement, motivation, and well-being as routes to success; is it possible that nurturing storytelling skills among employees could help with this? The researchers believe it could help build teams, improve communication, and help produce a culture of purpose and collaboration.
By offering storytelling workshops, the authors argue, employers could amplify the voices of the diverse people in their teams, promote a better sense of belonging and encourage innovation. In particular, storytelling is a distinctly human trait that is not easily replicated by artificial intelligence (AI), so storytelling among employees can become a valuable skill for seeing the bigger picture and devising strategies.
“The research findings highlight that storytelling is not only a tool for personal improvement but also a key to organizational success,” Professor Ron Shachar, from the Arison School of Business at Reichman University, explained in a statement.
“The ability to tell a story effectively and compellingly allows people to enjoy a more fulfilling life and helps organizations foster a cohesive, innovative, and inclusive culture, which contributes to their long-term success.”
The study is published in The Journal of Positive Psychology.
