Studies on older adults' civic engagement have been dominated by a win-win narrative, which assumes that the activity is beneficial both for the individuals involved and for communities. However, civic engagement may also be a source of negative experiences. The aim of this study was to understand these experiences in greater depth through an analysis of older Spanish activists' narratives of negative episodes of political participation. We also aimed to contribute to the methodological literature on narrative research by highlighting the strengths of analysing not just the content but also the structure of older people's stories. Life story interviews were carried out with 40 members of Spanish political organisations aged between 65 and 86 years old. As part of the interview, they were invited to narrate a negative event related to their stories of political participation. Answers were analysed both for their content (using thematic analysis) and for their structure (using Christopher Booker's plot typology). Participants recounted many negative experiences of political participation, which challenged the win-win master cultural narrative around civic engagement. These stories, which often reflected Booker's plots of ‘tragedy’, ‘overcoming the monster’, ‘the quest’, and ‘redemption’, recorded political defeats, conflicts with other members in the organisation, feelings of loneliness associated with engagement, and undesired consequences for relatives and friends. The results highlight the importance of providing a more nuanced understanding of what it means to be politically engaged in later life. This understanding would integrate the positive aspects assumed by the master win-win narrative with others that clearly challenge its assumptions.

关于老年人公民参与的研究一直以双赢的叙述为主，该叙述假设活动对所涉及的个人和社区都有益。然而，公民参与也可能是负面体验的来源。本研究的目的是通过分析年长的西班牙活动家对政治参与负面事件的叙述，更深入地了解这些经历。我们还旨在通过强调分析老年人故事的内容和结构的优势，为叙事研究的方法论文献做出贡献。对年龄在 65 至 86 岁之间的西班牙政治组织的 40 名成员进行了人生故事访谈。作为采访的一部分，他们受邀讲述与他们的政治参与故事有关的负面事件。对答案的内容（使用主题分析）和结构（使用克里斯托弗·布克的情节类型）进行了分析。参与者讲述了许多政治参与的负面经历，这对围绕公民参与的双赢大师文化叙事提出了挑战。这些故事经常反映布克的“悲剧”、“克服怪物”、“探索”和“救赎”的情节，记录了政治失败、与组织中其他成员的冲突、与参与相关的孤独感和不受欢迎的给亲戚朋友带来的后果。结果强调了对晚年政治参与意味着什么提供更细致入微的理解的重要性。