title: The chicken or the egg? Systematic investigation of the effect of order of administration of Memory Questionnaires and Well-being Scales.
abstract: Narrative research claims that episodic/autobiographical memory characteristics and themes represent stable individual differences that relate to well-being. However, the effects of the order of administration of memory descriptions and well-being scales have never been investigated. Of importance, social cognitive research has shown that trivial contextual factors, such as completing a self-report measure, can influence the type of memories recollected afterwards and that memory recollection can transiently affect subsequent self-report ratings--both of which underscore that transient contextual effects, rather than stable individual differences in memory could be responsible for the correlation between memory characteristics and well-being. The present study examined if the order in which (positive or negative) memory and well-being scales are completed affects the characteristics and themes of the memory described, the scores of well-being reported and the relationship between the two. The results revealed some effects of order of administration when memories were described before completing well-being scales, but only on a situational measure of well-being, not on a trait measure. In sum, we recommend assessing memory-related material at the end of questionnaires to avoid potential mood-priming effects.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , University of Quebec at Montreal , Montreal , QC , Canada.
authors.forename: Frederick L
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Philippe
authors.forename: Nabil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bouizegarene
authors.forename: Valérie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Guilbault
authors.forename: Guillaume
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rajotte
authors.forename: Iliane
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Houle
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D008297:Male; D061212:Memory, Episodic; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Contextual effect; Episodic memory; Narrative; Order of administration; Well-being