Life Story Chapters,Specific Memories,and Conceptions of the Self |
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| Authors: | Kristina L. Steiner Dorthe Kirkegaard Thomsen David B. Pillemer |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Psychology, Denison University, Granville, USA;2. Department of Psychology and Behavioural Sciences, Center on Autobiographical Memory, Research (CON AMORE), Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark;3. Department of Psychology, University of New Hampshire, Durham, USA |
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| Abstract: | Two studies investigated the effects of recalling either life story chapters or specific memories on measures of self‐continuity and self‐esteem. Participants were assigned to recall important chapters, important specific memories, or impersonal facts, and they provided ratings of emotional tone. Participants also completed trait and state measures of self‐continuity, self‐esteem, and mood. Although effects of recall condition on state and trait measures were not statistically significant, within‐group analyses identified strong and consistent relationships between the positivity of life story chapters and both trait and state self‐continuity and self‐esteem. In contrast, the positivity of specific memories was related only to state self‐esteem. Qualities of life story chapters appear to be more central to enduring conceptions of the self than do qualities of specific life story memories.Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
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