School of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology.
Department of Psychology, University of Florid.
Psychol Aging. 2021 Mar;36(2):232-240. doi: 10.1037/pag0000592. Epub 2021 Jan 14.
The reminiscence bump phenomenon is well established: adults in the second half of life remember more events from their youth than from other periods. Almost no research has focused, however, on the adaptive value of the reminiscence bump for adult well-being. Grounded in a life story approach, this research examined whether perceiving that one had control over events from the bump period (compared with other past periods and also one's present life) was related to current life satisfaction. We also investigated whether chronological age moderated these associations. Participants (N = 470; 49-90 years; 59% women) were part of the European Study on Adult Well-being. They briefly reported up to 15 personally significant events from across their entire life. They indicated age at occurrence and rated their perceived control for each reported event. Well-being was assessed with a standard measure of current life satisfaction. Perceived control over the present and covariates including memory valence and current circumstances (i.e., financial security, social living arrangement, number of medications, and mental health) were also measured. Findings indicate that greater perceived control over reminiscence bump events, but not other past events, predicted current life satisfaction in adults in late midlife (i.e., ages 49-60). In contrast, greater present-focused perceived control was associated with life satisfaction in those 62 years and older. The findings are discussed in the context of the life story account of the reminiscence bump. Understanding the adaptive value of recalling one's personal past may require attention to individuals' current life phase. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
人生后半段的成年人比其他时期更能记住自己年轻时的事件。然而，几乎没有研究关注怀旧高峰对成年人幸福感的适应价值。本研究基于生活故事的方法，考察了感知自己对高峰时期（与其他过去时期和现在的生活相比）事件的控制是否与当前的生活满意度有关。我们还调查了年龄是否调节了这些关联。参与者（N=470；49-90 岁；59%女性）是欧洲成人幸福感研究的一部分。他们简要地报告了一生中多达 15 件具有个人意义的事件。他们指出了发生的年龄，并对报告的每一个事件的感知控制进行了评级。幸福感通过当前生活满意度的标准测量来评估。还测量了对现在的感知控制和其他因素，包括记忆效价和当前情况（即财务安全、社交生活安排、药物数量和心理健康）。研究结果表明，对怀旧高峰事件的感知控制程度越大，而不是其他过去事件，与中年后期（即 49-60 岁）成年人的当前生活满意度相关。相比之下，对现在的感知控制程度越大，与 62 岁及以上的人的生活满意度相关。这些发现是在怀旧高峰的生活故事叙述的背景下讨论的。理解回忆个人过去的适应价值可能需要关注个体当前的生活阶段。（心理学信息数据库记录（c）2021 APA，保留所有权利）。
