Impact Trust • Working glossary

Self-signification

When people interpret and label their own experiences, instead of an outside expert doing it.

Details

Our Take
'People interpret their own stories' is what you actually say. The concept is important even if the label is forbidding. It encodes an epistemic justice principle: the person who lived the experience is the best interpreter of what it means. If people's own sense of significance matters most for collective resilience, then their self-interpretation is data, not anecdote.
Examples of Use
Cynefin Centre, SenseMaker methodology
Synonyms/Variants
Self-interpretation; Participant-led meaning-making; People interpret their own stories
Typical everyday wording
People interpret their own stories.