Reading, Writing, Arithmetic…and Redemption: Relations among academic redemptive stories, authenticity, and life satisfaction

•We explored redemptive academic stories in relation to psychological adjustment.•In Study 1, redemption in academic high points correlated with academic-domain authenticity.•In Study 2, redemption in self-defining stories corresponded with the trajectory of life satisfaction in college.•Redemptive academic stories provide some, albeit limited, indication of college students’ psychological adjustment.