Positive and negative vicarious memories in college students and adults

Three studies investigated how memory valence (positive vs. negative) and memory type (personal vs. vicarious) influenced ratings of phenomenological quality and self, directive, and social functions in samples of college students (Study 1) and adults (Studies 2 and 3). Study 1 found partial evidenc...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of applied research in memory and cognition 2023-09
Main Author: Steiner, Kristina L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Autobiographical Memory
Cognitive Bias
College Students
Female
Human
Male
Memory
Phenomenology
Positivism
Social Processes
Vicarious Experiences
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Three studies investigated how memory valence (positive vs. negative) and memory type (personal vs. vicarious) influenced ratings of phenomenological quality and self, directive, and social functions in samples of college students (Study 1) and adults (Studies 2 and 3). Study 1 found partial evidence of a positivity bias for ratings of personal but not vicarious memories. Additionally, personal memories were rated higher than vicarious for all functions and phenomenological ratings. Studies 2 and 3 confirmed that while personal memories showed a positivity bias, that positivity bias disappeared for vicarious memories. Study 2 also demonstrated that negative vicarious memories were rated equally to negative personal memories for the directive and social functions, and Study 3 found for the first time that negative vicarious memories were rated higher than negative personal memories for the social function. Negative vicarious memories serve important social and directive functions for late midlife adults. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)
ISSN:2211-3681
2211-369X
DOI:10.1037/mac0000135