Abstract
The objective of this paper is to detail the process of psychological adaptation for a woman navigating the world after a diagnosis of age-related infertility. Infertility is a medical condition, but it occurs within a social and cultural context, thereby creating social and psychological dimensions. Discrepancies between a woman’s fertility ideals and her reality may be related to both personal preferences and contributing social factors. The discussion will be based on longitudinally collected interview data. Drawing on the Dialogical Self Theory, the paper will focus on intra-psychological dynamics (dialogues) and will analyze the adaptation process in terms of I-positions. Based on idiographic analyses the conclusion is that adaptation takes place by taking subjective personal control over the uncertainty of infertility. By integrating new I-position into intra-personal phenomena, the core “I” will be united with new qualities and is seen as an authentic elaboration resulting from the formation of personal, subjective meaning in a uniquely personal developmental trajectory.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bastos, A. C. (2017). Shadow trajectories: the poetic motion of motherhood meanings through the lens of lived temporality. Culture & Psychology, 23(3), 408–422.
Beltz, A. M., Wright, A. G. C., Spraque, B. N., & Molenaar, P. C. M. (2016). Bridging the Nomothetic and Idiographic Approaches to the Analysis of Clinical Data. Assessment, 23(4), 447–458.
Brinkmann, S. (2018). General Psychological Implications of the Human Capacity for Grief. Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, 52(2), 177–190.
Cabell, K. R., & Valsiner, J. (2011). Catalysis: Cultural constructions and the conditions for change. Journal of Integrated Social Sciences, 2(1), 1–12.
De Luca Picione, R., & Freda, M. (2014). Catalysis and Morphogenesis: The Contextual Semiotic Configuration of Form, Function, and Fields of Experience. In K. Cabell & J. Valsiner (Eds.), The Catalyzing Mind. Annals of Theoretical Psychology (Vol. 11, pp. 149–163). New York: Springer.
Dimaggio, G. (2011). Impoverished self-narrative and impaired self-reflection as targets for the psychotherapy of personality disorders. Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy, 41(3), 165–174.
Eijkemans, M. J., van Poppel, F., Habbema, D. F., Smith, K. R., Leriodn, H., & Velde, E. R. (2014). Too old to have children? Lessons from natural fertility populations. Human Reproduction, 29(6), 1304–1312.
Hermans, H. J. M. (2001). The dialogical self: Toward a theory of personal and cultural positioning. Culture & Psychology, 7, 244–281.
Hermans, H. J. M., & Hermans-Konopka, A. (2010). Dialogical self theory: Positioning and counter positioning in a globalizing society. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Hermans, H. J. M., Konopka, A., Oosterwegel, A., & Zomer, P. (2017). Fields of tension in a boundary-crossing world: Towards a democratic organization of the self. Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, 51(4), 505–535.
Josephs, I. E., & Valsiner, J. (1998). How does autodialogue work? Miracles of meaning maintenance and circumvention strategies. Social Psychology Quarterly, 61(1), 68–83.
Josephs, I. E., Valsiner, J., & Surgan, S. E. (1999). The process of meaning construction. In J. Brandtstätder & R. M. Lerner (Eds.), Action & Self development (pp. 257–282). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Lawrence, J. A., & Valsiner, J. (2003). Making personal sense: An account of basic internalization and externalization processes. Theory and Psychology, 13(6), 723–752.
Lutz, W., O’Neill, B. C., & Scherbov, S. (2003). Demographics. Europe’s population at a turning point. Science, 28(299(5615)), 1991–1992.
Marsico, G., & Tateo, L. (2017). Borders, tensegrity and development in dialogue. Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, 51(4), 536–556.
Mascarenhas, M. N., Flaxman, S. R., Boerma, T., Vanderpoel, S., & Stevens, G. A. (2012). National, Regional, and Global Trends in Infertility Prevalence Since 1990: A Systematic Analysis of 277 Health Surveys. PLoS Med, 9, e1001356.
Meijers, F., & Hermans, H. (2018). Dialogical Self Theory in Education: An Introduction. In Meijers, Hermans (eds), The Dialogical Self Theory in Education: A Multicultrual Perspective (1–19). Berlin: Springer.
Pontes, V. V. (2019). Disquieting Experiences of Ruptures in the Life Trajectory: Challenges to Dynamic Self-Repair. Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, 53, 450–462. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12124-019-09492-5.
Salgado, J., & Hermans, H. (2005). The return of subjectivity: From a multiplicity of selves to the dialogical self. E-Journal of Applied Psychology. Clinical Section, 1(1), 3–13.
Salvatore, S. (2019). Beyond the meaning given. The meaning as explanandum. Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, 53, 632–643.
Salvatore, S., & Valsiner, J. (2008). Idiographic science on its way: Towards making sense of psychology. In S. Salvatore, J. Valsiner, S. Strout-Yagodzynski & J. Clegg (Eds.), Yearbook of idiographic science (Vol. 1, pp. 9–19). Rome: Firera.
Smith, J., & Dunworth, F. (2003). Qualitative methodology. In J. Valsiner & K. Connolly (Eds.), Handbook of developmental psychology (pp. 603–621). London: Sage.
Uriko, K. (2018). Semiotic regulation in the construction of maternal bond: From body experience to the semiotic field. Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, 52(4), 672–685.
Valsiner, J. (2001). Comparative study of human cultural development. Culture & Conciousness. Fund Infancia Y Aprendizaje.
Valsiner, J. (2006). The semiotic construction of solitude: Processes of internalization and externalization. Sign Systems Studies, 34(1), 9–34.
Valsiner, J. (2014). An invitation to cultural psychology. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, Inc.
Valsiner, J. (2017). Between self and societies: Creating psychology in a new key. Tallinn: Tallinn University Press.
Vander Borght, M., & Wyns, C. (2018). Fertility and infertility: Definition and epidemiology. Clinical Biochemistry, 62, 2–10.
Yeo, M. (1993). Toward an ethic of empowerment for health promotion. Health Promotion International, 8(3), 225–234.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The author declares no conflict of interest.
Ethical Approval
All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in.
Informed Consent
Informed consent was obtained from individual participant included in the accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards study.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Uriko, K. Dialogues in Infertility: Exploring the Potential for Psychological Adaptation. Integr. psych. behav. 54, 850–860 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12124-020-09556-x
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12124-020-09556-x