How the good life manifests in one’s narrative identity may be shaped by their consideration that their life story will have an ending. This study takes a eudaimonic approach, investigating human virtues (Peterson & Seligman, 2004) as central to the good life. Since reflection on life’s finitude may depend on age, three adult life phases were sampled (young, middle-aged, and older adults). Narrative identity was tapped through a self-defining memory (SDM) as well as descriptors of the SDM provided in line with one of two conditions: (i) Current-SDM, according to classic SDM instructions, or (ii) Memorialize-SDM, according to instructions prompting them to consider death, and how they want to be remembered. SDMs were content-analyzed for total virtues present, and type of virtue present. Two-way ANOVA showed more virtues, in total, were narrated in Memorialize-SDMs than Current-SDMs, regardless of participant age. Humanity and Courage & Justice occurred more frequently than other virtues in the SDMs. Narrative examples of virtue are presented and discussed. Findings suggest that, compared to those considering only their current life circumstance, individuals considering their death more frequently refer to having a virtuous, good life.

美好生活如何体现在一个人的叙事身份中，可能取决于他们认为自己的人生故事会有结局的想法。这项研究采用了一种幸福的方法，将人类美德（Peterson & Seligman, 2004）作为美好生活的核心进行调查。由于对生命有限性的反思可能取决于年龄，因此对三个成年生活阶段（青年、中年和老年人）进行了抽样。叙事身份是通过自我定义的记忆来挖掘的(SDM) 以及根据以下两个条件之一提供的 SDM 描述符：(i) Current-SDM，根据经典 SDM 说明，或 (ii) Memorialize-SDM，根据提示他们考虑死亡的说明，以及他们希望如何被记住。对 SDM 进行内容分析，以了解存在的总美德和存在的美德类型。无论参与者的年龄如何，双向 ANOVA 显示，在 Memorialize-SDM 中叙述的总美德比 Current-SDM 更多。在 SDM 中，人道、勇气与正义比其他美德更频繁地出现。介绍和讨论了美德的叙述例子。研究结果表明，与那些只考虑他们当前生活环境的人相比，考虑他们死亡的人更频繁地提到过着有道德、美好的生活。