Self-Concept Clarity Lays the Foundation for Self-Continuity: The Restorative Function of Autobiographical Memory

The current research concerns the relations among self-concept clarity, autobiographic memory, and self-continuity. We hypothesized, and tested in 7 studies, that low self-concept clarity would disrupt self-continuity, but resorting to autobiographic memory would counter this disruption, thus restoring self-continuity. In Studies 1 and 2, low or threatened self-concept clarity was associated with decreased, or led to a decrease of, self-continuity. In Study 3, participants low (vs. high) in self-concept clarity manifested a stronger preference for an autobiographical memory task (but not for a control task). In Study 4, a suppressed mediational model of autobiographical memory received empirical backing: Threatened self-concept clarity decreased self-continuity, but also increased the propensity to evoke autobiographical memory, which fostered self-continuity. By manipulating autobiographical memory in different ways, Studies 5 through 7 provided additional direct evidence for the capacity of autobiographical memory to restore self-continuity. Taken together, the results converge in support of the hypothesis.