Self-narrative focus in autobiographical events: The effect of time, emotion, and individual differences

被引:0
作者
David C. Rubin
Dorthe Berntsen
Samantha A. Deffler
Kaitlyn Brodar
机构
[1] Duke University,Department of Psychology and Neuroscience
[2] Aarhus University,Center on Autobiographical Memory Research
[3] York College of Pennsylvania,Department of Behavioral Sciences
[4] University of Miami,Department of Psychology
来源
Memory & Cognition | 2019年 / 47卷
关键词
Autobiographical memory; Individual differences; Episodic future thinking; Centrality of Event Scale; Self-continuity;
D O I
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中图分类号
学科分类号
摘要
Individuals may take a self-narrative focus on the meaning of personal events in their life story, rather than viewing the events in isolation. Using the Centrality of Event Scale (CES; Berntsen & Rubin in Behaviour Research and Therapy, 44, 219–231, 2006) as our measure, we investigated self-narrative focus as an individual differences variable in addition to its established role as a measure of individual events. Three studies, with 169, 182, and 190 participants had 11, 10, and 11 different events varied across the dimensions of remembered past versus imagined future, distance from the present, and valence. Imagined future events, events more distant from the present, and positive events all had increased self-narrative focus, in agreement with published theories and findings. Nonetheless, CES ratings for individual events correlated positively with each other within individuals (r ~ .30) and supported a single factor solution. These results are consistent with a stable individual differences tendency toward self-narrative focus that transcends single events. Thus, self-narrative focus is both a response whereby people relate individual events to their life story and identity and an individual differences variable that is stable over a range of events. The findings are discussed in relation to narrative measures of autobiographical reasoning.
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页码:63 / 75
页数:12
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