Austin Adrienne, Costabile Kristi
a Department of Psychology , Iowa State University , Ames , IA , USA.
Memory. 2017 Nov;25(10):1358-1365. doi: 10.1080/09658211.2017.1305417. Epub 2017 Mar 30.
Autobiographical memories are particularly adaptive because they function not only to preserve the past, but also to direct our future thoughts and behaviours. Two studies were conducted to examine how communal and agentic themes of positive autobiographical memories differentially predicted the route from autobiographical memories to optimism for the future. Across two studies, results revealed that the degree to which participants focused on communal themes in their autobiographical memories predicted their experience of nostalgia. In turn, the experience of nostalgia increased participants' levels of self-esteem and in turn, optimism for the future. By contrast, the degree to which participants focused on agentic themes in their memories predicted self-esteem and optimism, operating outside the experience of nostalgia. These effects remained even after controlling for self-focused attention. Together, these studies provide greater understanding of the interrelations among autobiographical memory, self-concept, and time, and demonstrate how agency and communion operate to influence perceptions of one's future when thinking about the past.
自传体记忆具有特别的适应性，因为它们不仅起到保存过去的作用，还能引导我们未来的思想和行为。我们进行了两项研究，以考察积极自传体记忆中的社群主题和能动主题如何不同地预测从自传体记忆到对未来的乐观态度的路径。在两项研究中，结果显示参与者在自传体记忆中关注社群主题的程度预测了他们的怀旧体验。反过来，怀旧体验提高了参与者的自尊水平，进而增强了对未来的乐观态度。相比之下，参与者在记忆中关注能动主题的程度预测了自尊和乐观态度，且这种预测作用是在怀旧体验之外发挥的。即使在控制了自我关注之后，这些效应仍然存在。总之，这些研究让我们对自传体记忆、自我概念和时间之间的相互关系有了更深入的理解，并展示了在思考过去时，能动性和社群性如何影响对一个人未来的认知。
