title: The time travelling self: comparing self and other in narratives of past and future events.
abstract: Mental time travel research emphasizes the connection between past and future thinking, whereas autobiographical memory research emphasizes the interrelationship of self and memory. This study explored the relationship between self and memory when thinking about both past and future events. Participants reported events from the near and distant past and future, for themselves, a close friend, or an acquaintance. Past events were rated higher in phenomenological quality than future events, and near self events were rated higher in quality than those about friends. Although future events were more positive than past events, only valence ratings for self and close friend showed a linear increase in positivity from distant past to future. Content analysis showed that this increase in positivity could not be ascribed to choosing events from the cultural life script. These findings provide evidence for the role of personal goals in imagining the future.
authors.affiliation: Rutgers University - New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA. Electronic address: agrysman@rci.rutgers.edu.
authors.forename: Azriel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Grysman
authors.forename: Janani
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Prabhakar
authors.forename: Stephanie M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Anglin
authors.forename: Judith A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Hudson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003469:Culture; D005260:Female; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination / Q000502:physiology*; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D061212:Memory, Episodic; D033262:Narration; D012649:Self Concept; D013995:Time; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Autobiographical memory; Cultural life script; Episodic foresight; Mental time travel; Self-enhancement