Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-4401, USA.
Memory. 2010 Nov;18(8):855-62. doi: 10.1080/09658211.2010.514272. Epub 2010 Sep 29.
Research on autobiographical remembering has shown the intertwined relationship between the self and memory. Very little is known about the role of the self in the anticipation of the future. To investigate the association, European American (N=61) and Chinese (N=60) college students each reported two past autobiographical events and anticipated two future events, and described themselves in the past, present, and future. The results from a content analysis found that, regardless of culture, the future self and events were more positive and socially oriented than the past self and events. In general, European Americans provided more positive events and self-descriptions than Chinese. Men showed more personal focus in both experiences and self-descriptions than women at all time epochs. Importantly, independent of culture and gender, the self rather than the past events predicted the valence and personal focus of future events. These findings offer new insights into the dynamic relations between the self and episodic thinking.
自传体记忆的研究表明，自我和记忆之间存在着相互交织的关系。关于自我在对未来的预期中的作用，人们知之甚少。为了研究这种关联，欧洲裔美国（N=61）和中国（N=60）大学生分别报告了两个过去的自传体事件和两个未来的预期事件，并在过去、现在和未来描述了自己。内容分析的结果发现，无论文化如何，未来的自我和事件都比过去的自我和事件更积极、更具有社会导向。总的来说，欧洲裔美国人比中国人提供了更多积极的事件和自我描述。在所有的时间点上，男性在经历和自我描述中比女性更注重个人。重要的是，独立于文化和性别，自我而非过去的事件预测了未来事件的积极性和个人焦点。这些发现为自我和情景思维之间的动态关系提供了新的见解。
