Major life events can impact people’s well-being or personality traits. Traditionally, life events have been examined by considering if they have occurred or not. However, this assumes that the effect of a life event is similar for all participants. Therefore, it has been suggested to consider the subjective perception of life events. Yet, as with many self-reports in psychological research, self-reports on the subjective experience of life events can be biased. To gain a better understanding of life event perception, we therefore examined the convergence of self- and informant-reports of major life events and potential moderators of this convergence. In a dyadic study design, N = 562 participants provided self- and informant-reports of major life event perception. Results from multilevel regression analyses showed that self- and informant-perception profiles converge ( B = 0.599, p < .001), even after controlling for normativeness (distinctive convergence: B = 0.442, p < .001). Moreover, talking about the event—but not informant’s presence at the event—was linked to higher overall and distinctive convergence. Additionally, informant’s experience with the event and perceived closeness between participants was associated with higher overall convergence. Results indicate that informant-reports could provide new insights into the nature of major life event perception.
