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Conceptualising discourse as an everyday practice which positions people in localised hierarchies of power, while simultaneously embedded in broader discursive landscapes, underscores encounter as an important site in which social structures produce and reproduce inequality. However, the interdependent role of discourse and encounter remains under-theorised within the field of intersectionality. Drawing on semi-structured interviews from a place-based case study, this paper examines the life-stories of three diversely positioned women to show how they construct, perform, and narrate their identities through encounter. Building on the emerging literature of intersectional geographies of encounter, this paper considers how, at the scale of encounter, dominant discourses become entangled with women's life-story narratives to shape how they perceive themselves and others, and how they feel perceived by others which informs their situated and contingent relational positioning in hierarchies of power. This highlights the centrality of everyday encounters and discourses to the negotiation of hierarchal social structures and intersectional relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consideration of how interrelated social structures relate with personality has been limited. In this paper, we discuss how researchers might apply an intersectional framework–which uses a social justice lens to examine how social structures are interconnected and impact individuals—at three distinct levels of personality including traits, characteristic adaptations, and integrative life narratives. We begin by providing conceptualizations of personality and intersectionality and describe considerations for their integration, including the need to widen the methodological and epistemological scope of personality science. Key areas of research that demonstrate the promise of an intersectional framework for unpacking structures of power and oppression in relation to the person are then described for each level of personality. Specifically, recommendations for how an intersectional framework may be used to examine structural identity domains in relation to trait levels, values and goals, as well as the content and process of narrated lives are offered. We conclude with discussion of how application of an intersectional framework is crucial for promoting inclusion and generalizability in personality science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]