Dan McAdams
Special guest
Dan McAdams is The Henry Wade Rogers Professor of Psychology at Northwestern University.
His research interests include: Narrative psychology. The development of a life-story model of human identity. Generativity and adult development. Themes of power, intimacy, and redemption in human lives. Modernity and the self. Autobiographical memory. Psychological biography.
Dan McAdams has been a guest on 1 episode.
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69: Special Series Episode 1: Exemplars and Narratives
September 28th, 2026 | 41 mins 7 secs
barry schwartz, cristine legare, dan mcadams, dilip jeste, emotions, eranda jayawickreme, exemplars, gordon pennycook, happiness, interventions, judgment, judith glück, justin brienza, kristján kristjánsson, laurie paul, meaning, measuring wisdom, metacognition, monika ardelt, narratives, philosophy, psychology, purpose, reasoning, social science, steven fleming, tom costello, training ethan kross, well being, wisdom
Welcome to a five-episode special series built around the first Annual Review of Psychology chapter on wisdom since 2011.
Episode 1: Exemplars and Narratives (with Cristine Legare, Dan McAdams, and L.A. Paul)
When we face life challenges, where do our ideas about wise judgment, or even wisdom writ large come from, and how do they shape the way we work through such challenges and live thereafter? Cristine Legare, Dan McAdams, and L.A. Paul join Igor and Charles to explore the stories, proverbs, and exemplars we inherit, and what happens when they don't quite fit the situation in front of us. Cristine reveals why the ideas that stick with us aren't necessarily the ones that are true, Dan explores how the stories we tell about ourselves can help us navigate uncertainty (or trap us in the wrong story), and Laurie asks who (or what) is doing the choosing, if we can’t know in advance how a life-changing decision will transform us?