Phenomenology of autobiographical and vicarious memories of friends and family members across the lifespan.
(2024) Belgium Association for Psychological Sciences (BAPS) meeting — Location: Brussels, Belgium (30.May.2024)
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- Abstract
- Most people can recount personal memories of events they did not directly experience but were relayed to them by friends or family members. These narratives, termed vicarious memories, show phenomenological similarities to autobiographical memories. However, it is not clear whether all vicarious memories are similar. In our study, we investigated the phenomenological aspects of autobiographical memories in contrast with those of vicarious memories associated with partners, parents, and grandparents across both younger and older participants. Through an online questionnaire, participants were prompted to describe one event for each memory type and provide ratings on Likert scales measuring vividness, intensity of positive and negative emotions, belief in accuracy, importance, and thought frequency. For vicarious memories, participants also indicated the perceived closeness with the memory owner. Our results show that vicarious memories resemble autobiographical memories but to a lesser phenomenological level. Furthermore, when comparing different categories of vicarious memories, those involving family members were deemed more significant than those involving friends. Additionally, we found a positivity bias in memories involving grandparents. Interestingly, our results suggest that the closeness of the relationship impacts the phenomenology differently depending on the type of relationship. Finally, we did not observe significant differences associated with age. We conclude with a reflection on the conceptual relationship between self-related memories and those involving others, suggesting that exclusive focus on self-memories in research may not be necessary or beneficial.
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Cordonnier, A. (2024). Phenomenology of autobiographical and vicarious memories of friends and family members across the lifespan. Belgium Association for Psychological Sciences (BAPS) meeting, Brussels, Belgium. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/215957