By Anna Husted Hjerrild Hansen and Susanne Clement Justesen, AAU Communication and Public Affairs.
Photo: Lars Horn, Baghuset. Graphic: Søren Emil Søe Degn, AAU  Communication and Public Affairs.

How do we become who we are? This question is central to Assistant Professor Majse Lind's research on narrative identity – the way we understand ourselves through our life story.

Majse Lind who is employed at the Department of Communication and Psychology was selected for the talent programme AAU Excellence 2025. Her research focuses on how our personality develops disrupted especially in young people with personality disorders.

"I’ve always been curious about people and their lived lives. What has shaped them, and especially how they talk about their lives. I want to use that knowledge to make a difference," she says.

Better at spotting and preventing

Majse Lind's research is particularly relevant at a time when more and more young people are experiencing mental health challenges. It is thus crucial that we understand the role of personality, including narrative identity, in this trend and that we are better at spotting and preventing problems early on.

"Narrative identity seems already to be distinct in adolescence. Therefore, with my research, I have fought for the diagnostic system to take more account of narrative identity in understanding personality disorders," she says.

A huge opportunity

For Majse, it means a great deal to be selected for AAU Excellence 2025.

"It is a recognition of my research, as well as a huge opportunity, and not least motivation, to continue to develop as a researcher," she says.

Majse Lind has a PhD from Aarhus University and held positions as Postdoc at Northeastern University and University of Florida, USA. Today she is employed as Assistant Professor at the Department of Communication and Psychology at Aalborg University.

Read more about the eight participants in AAU Excellence.

Translated by LeeAnn Iovanni, AAU Communication and Public Affairs