Neuroticism and selective encoding and recall of symptoms: evidence from a combined concurrent-retrospective study.
The association between Neuroticism (N) and elevated symptom reporting has been attributed to differences in the encoding but not in the recall of illness episodes. If high-N persons are selective only at the encoding of illness information, then retrospective reports should be no more exaggerated than concurrent reports. This study uses a concurrent-retrospective design to examine selectivity in concurrent and retrospective reports of symptoms. Concurrent daily reports gathered over 2 months were only moderately correlated with retrospective symptom reports covering the same time period. The direct path from N to recalled symptoms was larger than the indirect path from N through concurrent to recalled symptoms for 3 out of 4 symptoms. Discussion concerns implications of using recollection-based measures, suggestions for reducing selective memory effects, and explanations regarding how and why N relates to selective information processing about the self.
Larsen
R J
RJ
Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109-1346.
D000328:Adult; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D009497:Neurotic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012649:Self Concept; D012803:Sick Role; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*