Chronic illness and possible selves in the identity development process of midlife graduate students

This dissertation is a narrative study of the role of possible selves in the identity development process of midlife graduate students diagnosed with chronic illness during their graduate education. Possible selves theory and self-determination theory form the theoretical foundation of this study. My participants were one male and seven females between the ages of 36-51 who were either in graduate school or had finished graduate school within the past year. Participants came from five different educational institutions, three of which were traditional, while the other two were blended programs which included both face-to-face and online components. I used semi-structured interviews in order to ask my participants about their experiences with midlife, graduate school, and chronic illness. I analyzed each interview and identified themes, using the thematic analysis approach (TA) espoused by Braun and Clarke (2012). Interviews were coded and analyzed for possible selves and components of SDT. I then looked at themes across the data set and identified the common themes that were important to the research questions. Participants' narratives made clear the struggle they encountered as they attempted to manage numerous aspects of their identities. My analysis revealed meaningful experiences related to the interaction of possible selves; a finding of particular relevance is that professional identity appeared often to serve as a protective factor, perhaps preventing the ill self from becoming the most central and salient facet of identity. Participants' cognitive styles of integration and separation of the ill self appeared to reflect the way the person not only perceived and managed the possible self of illness but also preserved the degree to which the possible professional self was readily attainable.