Functions of autobiographical memory in Taiwanese and American emerging adults.
The study addresses cultural and person-level factors contributing to emerging adult's use of memory to serve adaptive functions. The focus is on three functions: self-continuity, social-bonding and directing-behaviour. Taiwanese (N = 85, 52 women) and American (N = 95, 51 women) emerging adults completed the Thinking about Life Experiences scale, and measures of trait personality, self-concept clarity and future time perspective. Findings show that individuals from both cultures use memory to serve these three functions, but Taiwanese individuals use memory more frequently than Americans to maintain self-continuity. Culture also interacted with person-level factors: in Taiwan, but not America, memory is more frequently used to create self-continuity in individuals high in conscientiousness. Across cultures, having lower self-concept clarity was related to greater use of memory to create self-continuity. Findings are discussed in terms of how memory serves functions in context and specific aspects of the Taiwanese and American cultural context that may predict the functional use of memory in emerging adulthood.
a Department of Psychology , University of Florida , Gainesville , FL , USA.
Hsiao-Wen
HW
Liao
a Department of Psychology , University of Florida , Gainesville , FL , USA.
Susan
S
Bluck
b Psychology Unit, Department of Behavioural Sciences , University of the West Indies , St. Augustine , Trinidad & Tobago.
Nicole
N
Alea
c Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling , National Taiwan Normal University , Taipei , Taiwan.
Ching-Ling
CL
Cheng
D000293:Adolescent; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D061212:Memory, Episodic; D009769:Object Attachment; D012649:Self Concept; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013624:Taiwan; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult
Autobiographical memory; Culture; Function; Self-continuity