Table 3.

Summary of coding scheme used to score on the persistence explanation question of the self-persistence interview.

Level of sophistication	Description	Examples
Level 1	Response describes simple, surface elements of the self that have not changed, while ignoring aspects that have changed.	I just seem to do the same things. If people talk to me I talk to them, if people need help I help them. Always been the same.
Level 2	Response attempts to engage with the problem that people appear to change by suggesting that apparent changes are in fact aspects of the self that were present from the start but have never been seen until now.	When I was with my ex-husband, it really brought out my angry side. It's still there but now I don't have to be that way so much.
Level 3	Response acknowledges the effects of time as the agent of growth and development of pre-existing traits.	I am the same person, I have just grown. The experiences of my life have brought out a mature version of me.
Level 4	Response attempts to solve the problem of change/continuity by proposing a core, underlying essence of the self which remains unchanged despite change in surface attributes.	Spiritually—your body changes but spiritually you stay the same.
Level 5	Response provides a “meta answer” which indicates that whatever explanation the person may have to the problem of self-continuity is simply one theory among many.	There are many ways you could answer that. I have the same brain. Also, a lot of the attitudes you had when you were little….You remember what you were. This also gives you continuity…Your genes don't change….attitudes stay with you / born in you?

Coding scheme adapted and simplified from Chandler et al.'s (2003).