Table 1.

Ratings of types of global life narrative coherence.

Type of global coherence	Definitions
Temporal coherence	simple 1 - One can never tell when and in what order something occurred. simple 2 - One can almost never tell when and in what order something occurred. simple 3 - One can often not tell when and in what order something occurred. simple 4 - One can partly tell when and in what order something occurred, but partly one cannot. simple 5 - One can mostly tell when and in what order something occurred. simple 6 - One can almost always tell when and in what order something occurred. simple 7 - It is always crystal clear when and in what order something occurred.
Causal-motivational coherence	simple 1 - No development of the personality at all becomes clear, merely superficial changes. simple 2 - No development of the personality becomes clear, merely changes in preferences, specific attitudes or habits. simple 3 - A development of the personality is claimed but not substantiated or a development of personality is described but not designated as such. simple 4 - A development of the personality is basically substantiated by the events described, but it is not elaborated upon. simple 5 - The development of the personality becomes clear on the whole through some of the events described, however, not to a full extent. simple 6 - The development of the personality becomes clear through some of the events described, but is not always comprehensible down to the smallest detail. simple 7 - The development of the personality becomes clear in its turning-points and its motives.
Thematic coherence	simple 1 - Between the individual episodes narrated no connection is discernible. simple 2 - Only one theme is addressed, which is why the connection between the episodes is not abstract but concrete. simple 3 - With some episodes differing in content it is possible to recognize a common motive, theme or a thematic category. simple 4 - Through episodes heterogeneous in content, thematic or motivational similarities can be clearly discerned, which are not, however, explicitly named. simple 5 - There is a basic attempt to establish a connection between heterogeneous episodes, between most episodes, however, the connection remains unclear or is exclusively implicit. simple 6 - Between many heterogeneous episodes a connection is established, but in part the connection remains unclear or is exclusively implicit. simple 7 - Between the various heterogeneous episodes there is established a connection in a logical and comprehensible fashion.