McFarland C, Ross M, DeCourville N
Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.
J Pers Soc Psychol. 1989 Sep;57(3):522-31. doi: 10.1037//0022-3514.57.3.522.
Previous research is consistent with the proposition that people use implicit theories of personal stability or change in remembering the attributes they possessed in the past. However, there has been little systematic investigation of the relation between these implicit theories and memory biases. In this study, the relation between women's theories of menstrual distress and their recollections of physical and affective symptoms was examined. Ss completed daily questionnaires in which they evaluated themselves on several physical and affective symptoms. Later, some Ss were asked to recall the ratings they had made on a day when they were menstruating; others recalled a day when they were not menstruating. At the time of recall, all Ss were in the intermenstrual phase. Finally, Ss completed a measure designed to assess their theories of how they are typically affected by menstruation. The recollections of Ss who recalled the menstrual state were biased so as to be consistent with their theories of menstrual distress: The more a woman believed in the phenomenon of menstrual distress, the more she exaggerated, in recall, the negativity of her symptoms during her last period. The recollections of women asked to recall the intermenstrual state were unrelated to their theories of menstruation. Furthermore, consistent with previous research, the daily questionnaire ratings revealed that physical symptoms varied with menstrual cycle phase, whereas affective symptoms did not. Finally, comparisons between subjects' theories and daily ratings revealed that, on average, women exaggerate the degree to which they experience changes during menstruation.
先前的研究与这样一种观点一致，即人们在回忆自己过去所拥有的特质时会运用关于个人稳定性或变化的内隐理论。然而，对于这些内隐理论与记忆偏差之间的关系，几乎没有进行过系统的研究。在本研究中，考察了女性关于经期困扰的理论与她们对身体和情感症状的回忆之间的关系。被试每天完成问卷，在问卷中对自己的几种身体和情感症状进行评价。之后，一些被试被要求回忆她们在月经期间某一天所做的评分；另一些被试回忆她们非经期的某一天。在回忆时，所有被试都处于月经间期。最后，被试完成一项测量，旨在评估她们关于自己通常如何受月经影响的理论。回忆经期状态的被试的回忆存在偏差，以使其与她们关于经期困扰的理论相一致：女性越相信经期困扰这一现象，在回忆中就越夸大自己上一经期症状的消极程度。被要求回忆月经间期状态的女性的回忆与她们的月经理论无关。此外，与先前的研究一致，每日问卷评分显示身体症状随月经周期阶段而变化，而情感症状则不然。最后，对被试的理论与每日评分的比较表明，平均而言，女性夸大了她们在月经期间所经历变化的程度。
