Department of Psychology, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA.
Memory. 2013;21(2):210-8. doi: 10.1080/09658211.2012.720263. Epub 2012 Sep 11.
Prior research has shown that memories of feeling good about the self often focus on achievement themes, whereas memories of feeling bad about the self often focus on interpersonal themes. This study examined whether a similar relationship would be evident for imagined future events. Young adults in the United States and Denmark provided memories and imagined future events that are associated with positive or negative self-regard. Across cultures, achievement themes were prominently represented in memories of positive self-regard and interpersonal themes were prominently represented in memories of negative self-regard. In contrast, relationships between the emotional valence and thematic content of imagined future events were weak and inconsistent. Our results raise new questions for the theory that imagined future episodes are constructed primarily from recombinations of past episodes.
先前的研究表明，自我感觉良好的记忆通常集中在成就主题上，而自我感觉不好的记忆通常集中在人际关系主题上。本研究考察了对于想象中的未来事件是否存在类似的关系。来自美国和丹麦的年轻人提供了与积极或消极的自我形象相关的记忆和想象中的未来事件。在不同的文化中，成就主题在积极的自我形象记忆中突出显示，而人际关系主题在消极的自我形象记忆中突出显示。相比之下，想象中的未来事件的情绪价值和主题内容之间的关系较弱且不一致。我们的研究结果为想象中的未来事件主要是由过去事件的重组构成的理论提出了新的问题。
