Does a person selectively recall the good or the bad from their personal past? It depends on the recall target and the person's favourability of self-views. Issue 8 (14th September 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ritchie, Timothy D.; Sedikides, Constantine; Skowronski, John J.
• Is Part Of: Memory. Volume 25:Issue 8(2017)
• Page Start: 934
• Page End: 944
• Publication Date: 2017-09-14
• Subjects: Autobiographical memory -- self -- self-positivity -- recall positivity bias; Memory -- Periodicals; 153.1205
• DOI: 10.1080/09658211.2016.1233984
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0965-8211

Abstract

ABSTRACT: In three studies, participants remembered real-life behaviours at Time 1 and attempted to recall them at Time 2. When the recall target was the self, a positivity bias emerged: self-positivity. In Study 3, self-positivity extended to an individual (target) who was liked by the participant, but did it not extend to a disliked target. For this latter target, a negativity bias emerged. For recall targets that were participants' acquaintances, self-positivity in recall was also eliminated in Studies 1 and 3, and a negativity bias in recall emerged in Study 2. Finally, in Study 2 (but not Study 3), the favourability of participants' self-view predicted the magnitude of the self-positivity in self-recall, but it did not predict valence effects in other-recall. Taken together, the results indicate that the link between behaviour valence and recall is moderated by the recall target and the favourability of one's self-view.