The character arc of Kelly McGonigal
A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record
Born on 21 October 1977 and brought up in New Jersey by public school teacher parents who emphasised intellectual attainment, alongside her identical twin sister. Between then and now sit an upbringing she has described as both good and stressful and, at the time, like lockdown, a bachelor's degree in psychology and a bachelor of science in mass communication at Boston University, a doctorate at Stanford, a lectureship there, years of advocating self-compassion and mindfulness as ways of coping with stress, and a public change of position in 2013. The line below draws the story so far, in order.
Drag along the line to move, pinch or use the buttons to look closer. Tap the line to pluck it, or any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of her life; the sources are at the foot of the page.
Who is Kelly McGonigal?
She had been telling everybody the opposite. Then she said so.
She was brought up in New Jersey by two public school teachers who emphasised intellectual attainment, alongside her identical twin sister, who became a game designer. She is now grateful for her parents' protectiveness and has been honest that at the time it seemed like lockdown, describing the upbringing as both good and stressful. That phrase, both good and stressful, is the seed of her entire subject.
She took a bachelor's degree in psychology and a bachelor of science in mass communication at Boston University, which is a useful pairing for somebody whose life's work turned out to be explaining research to people who are not researchers, and then a doctorate at Stanford, where she lectures.
Her field is what she has called science help: translating insights from psychology and neuroscience into practical strategies that support health and wellbeing. Mainstream articles about the pressures of modern life quote her regularly. For a long time she was an advocate of self-compassion and mindfulness as ways of coping with stress, on the ordinary assumption that stress is the problem and the job is to reduce it.
Then she changed her mind, publicly, in a talk in 2013. She altered her focus on the problematic aspects of stress and emphasised instead the importance of a person's own belief in themselves as somebody able to cope, as a crucial factor in how they actually respond to it. That is a hard thing to do. She had a reputation built on the earlier position, and she got up and revised it in front of an audience rather than quietly in a journal.
The moments
Kelly McGonigal's timeline.
The 1980s
Two teachers, and a twin
Everyday, and it changed everything. Two teachers for parents, and an identical twin sister.
The 1990s
Good, and stressful
Setback, and it changed everything. Her own two words for the childhood: both good and stressful.
Psychology and communication
Milestone, and it changed her direction. The science and how to explain it, taken as two degrees at once.
The 2000s
A doctorate at Stanford
Milestone, and it changed her direction. A Stanford doctorate, and then she stayed.
Science help
Milestone, and it changed everything. A whole field defined as making the research usable.
Self-compassion and mindfulness
Milestone, and it changed her direction. Years of teaching that stress is the problem to be reduced.
The 2010s
Quoted everywhere
Everyday. The person journalists ring when the subject is modern pressure.
Say it, or let it go quiet
Crossroads, decided.
The paths laid out: change her mind in public, taken, or let it drift. The talk became the thing she is best known for, and the new position has held.
She revises it on stage
Milestone, and it changed everything. She had built a reputation on the old position, and revised it in public.
The new position
Milestone, and it changed everything. What you believe about your own coping turns out to change the outcome.
She still lectures at Stanford and the talks still go out. What she set moving is the least comfortable move a scientist can make, done in public: she had built a reputation on one account of stress, found she no longer believed it, and said so from a stage.
Your turn
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Hers involved standing up in public and revising what she had been saying for years. Yours is already further along than you think, and drawing it takes about five minutes.
Kelly McGonigal: frequently asked questions
What people ask about her line.
What is Kelly McGonigal's character arc?
What did Kelly McGonigal change her mind about?
What is Kelly McGonigal's science help?
Is Kelly McGonigal a twin?
What did Kelly McGonigal study?
What was Kelly McGonigal's upbringing like?
Where does this timeline of Kelly McGonigal's life come from?
More character arcs
Lives that rhyme with her.
Sources
- Kelly McGonigal, English Wikipedia biography, filed under living people.
- Boston University and Stanford University records for her degrees and lectureship.
- Her 2013 TEDGlobal talk, as summarised there.