Thematic coherence is a term that can be used both in linguistics as a literary technique or in developmental psychology; in the last case, it's said to be an organization of a set of meanings in and through an event.[1] In education, for example, the thematic coherence happens when a child during a classroom session understands what all the talking is about.[1]
This expression was termed by Habermas and Bluck (2000)[2] alongside with other terms such as temporal coherence, biographical coherence, and causal coherence to examining the coherence that people — during their all process of life: since they were a child until adolescence and adulthood, but especially in childhood and adolescence — have to narrate their own personal experiences (or many different episodes in their life) and that needs to be structured within a context.[3]
In conversation — although this technique also can be found in literature — the thematic coherence is when a person (or character) "is able to derive a general theme or principle about the self based on a narrated sequence of events."[4] Dan P. McAdams in his books gives a long example writing that:
"...a businessman may explain the origins of his politically conservative values by appealing to a series of events and realizations that transpired in his earlys 20s, after he graduated with liberal views and a humanities major but could not find a job - and then his liberal girlfriend dumped him, and then he enrolled in business school and was impressed with a politically conservative economics professor, and then he started up a small business but he really had to struggle because of oppressive tax laws and regulations, and then he married a woman who was pretty conservative herself and helped to reinforce his views, and then he became disillusioned with the [Bill] Clinton administration and the impeachment scandal and decided he would never vote for a Democrat again, and then his business grew and he became pretty successful, and now he and his wife have two young children and worry a great deal about safety in their suburban community, and on the story goes."[4]
McAdams also cites Habermas and Bluck, for whom the thematic coherence are rare before adolescence but increase in prominence as a person moves toward emerging adulthood.[4]
Some authors also considers effective associate this term with some social processes such as individualism.[5]