The present research examined the effects of sharing different types of memories on perceived relationship closeness and how that is related to psychological well-being in a cross-cultural context. In two studies, European American and Asian participants (total N = 714) reported their feelings of closeness to a conversation partner in hypothetical situations that involved five types of information sharing: specific and general autobiographical memories, specific and general vicarious memories, and non-person information. Sharing memories led to greater feelings of closeness than sharing non-person information in both groups. Asians felt closer to the conversation partner than European Americans across all types of information sharing. Sharing autobiographical and specific memories led to greater closeness than sharing vicarious and general memories in both groups, although sharing specific autobiographical memories appeared most effective for relationship closeness for European Americans. Perceived relationship closeness following conversational exchanges was positively associated with psychological well-being across cultures.
AleaN.BluckS. (2003). Why are you telling me that? A conceptual model of the social function of autobiographical memory. Memory, 11, 165–178.
2.
AleaN.BluckS. (2007). I'll keep you in mind: The intimacy function of autobiographical memory. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 21, 1091–1111. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.1316
AronA.AronE. N.SmollanD. (1992). Inclusion of other in the self scale and the structure of interpersonal closeness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63(4), 596–612.
5.
BaronJ. M.BluckS. (2009). Autobiographical memory sharing in everyday life: Characteristics of a good story. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 33(2), 105–117.
6.
BaumeisterR. F.LearyM. R. (1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117(3), 497–529.
7.
BeikeD. R.BrandonN. R.ColeH. E. (2016). Is sharing specific autobiographical memories a distinct form of self-disclosure?Journal of Experimental Psychology General, 145(4), 434–450.
8.
BeikeD. R.ColeH. E.MerrickC. R. (2017). Sharing specific “we” autobiographical memories in close relationships: The role of contact frequency. Memory, 25(10), 1425–1434.
9.
BluckS. (2003). Autobiographical memory: Exploring its functions in everyday life. Memory, 11(2), 113–123.
10.
BluckS.AleaN.HabermasT.RubinD. C. (2005). A tale of three functions: The Self–reported uses of autobiographical memory. Social Cognition, 23(1), 91–117.
11.
BrewerW. F. (1986). What is autobiographical memory? In RubinD. C. (Ed.), Autobiographical memory (pp. 25–49). Cambridge University Press.
12.
BrintS. (2001). Gemeinschaft revisited: A critique and reconstruction of the community concept. Sociological Theory, 19(1), 1–23.
13.
BruceD. (1989). Functional explanations of memory. In PoonL. W.RubinD. C.WilsonB. A. (Eds.), Everyday cognition in adulthood and late life (pp. 44–58). Cambridge University Press.
14.
ChenG. M. (1995). Differences in self-disclosure patterns among Americans versus Chinese: A comparative study. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 26(1), 84–91.
15.
CialdiniR. B.BrownS. L.LewisB. P.LuceC.NeubergS. L. (1997). Reinterpreting the empathy-altruism relationship: When one into one equals oneness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73(3), 481–494.
16.
CohenG. (1998). The effects of aging on autobiographical memory. In ThompsonC. P.HerrmannD. J.BruceD.ReadJ. D.PayneD. G.TogliaM. P. (Eds.), Autobiographical memory: Theoretical and applied perspectives (pp. 105–123). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
17.
ConwayM. A.Pleydell-PearceC. W. (2000). The construction of autobiographical memories in the self-memory system. Psychological Review, 107(2), 261–288. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.107.2.261
18.
CrossS. E.MorrisM. L. (2003). Getting to know you: The relational self-construal, relational cognition, and well-being. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29(4), 512–523.
19.
DemirayB.MischlerM.MartinM. (2019). Reminiscence in everyday conversations: A naturalistic observation study of older adults. The Journals of Gerontology Series B, 74(5), 745–755.
20.
DienerE.WirtzD.TovW.Kim-PrietoC.ChoiD. W.OishiS.Biswas-DienerR. (2010). New well-being measures: Short scales to assess flourishing and positive and negative feelings. Social Indicators Research, 97, 143–156.
21.
FaulF.ErdfelderE.LangA.-G.BuchnerA. (2007). G*Power 3: A flexible statistical power analysis program for the social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences. Behavior Research Methods, 39(2), 175–191.
22.
GächterS.StarmerC.TufanoF. (2015). Measuring the closeness of relationships: a comprehensive evaluation of the 'Inclusion of the Other in the Self' Scale. PLoS One, 10(6), e0129478.
23.
GoyalN.AdamsM.CyrT. G.MaassA.MillerJ. G. (2020). Norm-based spontaneous categorization: Cultural norms shape meaning and memory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 118(3), 436–456. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000188
24.
HollandR. W.RoederU. R.Rick B.vanB.BrandtA. C.HannoverB. (2004). Don't stand so close to me: The effects of self-construal on interpersonal closeness. Psychological Science, 15(4), 237–242.
25.
KitoM. (2005). Self-disclosure in romantic relationships and friendships among American and Japanese college students. The Journal of Social Psychology, 145, 127–140.
26.
KitoM.YukiM.ThomsonR. (2017). Relational mobility and close relationships: A socioecological approach to explain cross-cultural differences. Personal Relationships, 24(1), 114–130.
27.
KulkofskyS.WangQ.HouY. (2010). Why I remember that: The influence of contextual factors on beliefs about everyday memory. Memory & Cognition, 38(4), 461–473.
28.
KulkofskyS.WangQ.KohJ. B. K. (2009). Functions of memory sharing and mother-child reminiscing behaviors: Individual and cultural variations. Journal of Cognition and Development, 10, 92–114. https://doi.org/10.1080/15248370903041231
29.
LiJ.WangQ. (2004). Perceptions of achievement and achieving peers in U.S. and Chinese kindergartners. Social Development, 13, 413–436.
30.
MakiY.KawasakiY.DemirayB.JanssenS. M. (2015). Autobiographical memory functions in young Japanese men and women. Memory, 23(1), 11–24.
31.
MarkusH. R.KitayamaS. (1991). Culture and the self: Implications for cognition, emotion, and motivation. Psychological Review, 98(2), 224–253.
32.
MillerP. J. (2009). Stories have histories: Reflections on the personal in personal storytelling. Taiwan Journal of Anthropology, 7, 67–84.
33.
NeffK. D.PisitsungkagarnK.HsiehY. P. (2008). Self-compassion and self-construal in the United States, Thailand, and Taiwan. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 39(3), 267–285.
34.
NelsonK.FivushR. (2004). The emergence of autobiographical memory: a social cultural developmental theory. Psychological Review, 111(2), 486–511.
35.
OppenheimD. (2006). Child, parent, and parent-child emotion narratives: Implications for developmental psychopathology. Development and Psychopathology, 18, 771–790. https://doi.org/10.1017/S095457940606038X
36.
PasupathiM.CarstensenL. L. (2003). Age and emotional experience during mutual reminiscing. Psychology and Aging, 18(3), 430–442.
37.
PillemerD. B. (2001). Momentous events and the life story. Review of General Psychology, 5(2), 123–134.
RasmussenA. S.HabermasT. (2011). Factor structure of overall autobiographical memory usage: The directive, self and social functions revisited. Memory, 19(6), 597–605.
RepettiR. L.TaylorS. E.SeemanT. E. (2002). Risky families: family social environments and the mental and physical health of offspring. Psychological Bulletin, 128(2), 330–366.
42.
RubinD. C. (2005). A basic-systems approach to autobiographical memory. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 14(2), 79–83.
43.
RyanR. M.DeciE. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55, 68–78.
44.
SchugJ.YukiM.MadduxW. (2010). Relational mobility explains between- and within-culture differences in self-disclosure to close friends. Psychological Science, 21(10), 1471–1478. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797610382786
45.
SetlockL. D.FussellS. R.NeuwirthC. (2004). Taking it out of context: collaborating within and across cultures in face-to-face settings and via instant messaging. Proceedings of CSCW 2004 (pp. 604–613), New York: ACM Press.
46.
SingelisT. M. (1994). The measurement of independent and interdependent self-construals. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 20(5), 580–591.
47.
SongQ.KohJ. B. K.WangQ. (2018). Children’s narrative representations of peer experiences in cultural contexts: The relations to psychological adjustment. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 27(6), 2037–2048. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-018-1033-4
48.
SongQ.LentM. C.SuoT.Murray-CloseD.WangQ. (2021). Relational victimization and depressive symptoms: The interactive role of physiological reactivity and narrative processing. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 166, 92–102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2021.05.009
ThomsenD. K.PillemerD. B. (2017). I know my story and I know your story: Developing a conceptual framework for vicarious life stories. Journal of Personality, 85(4), 464–480.
52.
TownsendM. A. R.McCrackenH. E.WiltonK. M. (1988). Popularity and intimacy as determinants of psychological well-being in adolescent friendships. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 8(4), 421–436.
53.
TulvingE. (2002). Episodic memory: From mind to brain. Annual Review of Psychology, 53, 1–25.
54.
UmbersonD.CrosnoeR.ReczekC. (2010). Social relationships and health behavior across life course. Annual Review of Sociology, 36, 139–157.
55.
WangH.-C.FussellS. R.SetlockL. D. (2009). Cultural difference and adaptation of communication styles in computer-mediated group brainstorming. Proceedings of CHI 2009 (pp. 669–678). New York: ACM.
56.
WangQ. (2001). Culture effects on adults’ earliest childhood recollection and self-description: Implications for the relation between memory and the self. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 220–233.
57.
WangQ. (2004). The cultural context of parent-child reminiscing: A functional analysis. In PrattM. W.FieseB. (Eds.), Family stories and the life course: Across time and generations (pp. 279–301). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
58.
WangQ. (2006). Earliest recollections of self and others in European American and Taiwanese young adults. Psychological Science, 17, 708–714.
59.
WangQ. (2013). The autobiographical self in time and culture. Oxford University Press.
60.
WangQ. (2018). Culture in collaborative remembering. In MeadeM. L.HarrisC. B.Van BergenP.SuttonJ.BarnierA. J. (Eds.), Collaborative Remembering: Theories, Research, and Applications (pp. 297–314). Oxford University Press.
61.
WangQ.ConwayM. A. (2004). The stories we keep: Autobiographical memory in American and Chinese middle-aged adults. Journal of Personality, 72(5), 911–938.
62.
WangQ.LeichtmanM. D. (2000). Same beginnings, different stories: A comparison of American and Chinese children’s narratives. Child Development, 71, 1329–1346.
63.
WangQ.RossM. (2005). What we remember and what we tell: The effects of culture and self-priming on memory representations and narratives. Memory, 13(6), 594–606.
64.
WangQ.RossM. (2007). Culture and memory. In KitayamaS.CohenD. (Eds.), Handbook of cultural psychology (pp. 645–667). Guilford Press.
65.
WarrenS. L.EmdeR. N.SroufeL. A. (2000). Internal representations: Predicting anxiety from children’s play narratives. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 39, 100–107. https://doi.org/10.1097/00004583-200001000-00022
66.
WatersT. E. A.BauerP. J.FivushR. (2014). Autobiographical memory functions served by multiple event types. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 28(2), 185–195.
67.
WilliamsJ. M.BroadbentK. (1986). Autobiographical memory in suicide attempters. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 95(2), 144–149. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.95.2.144
68.
YoonC.HasherL.FeinbergF.RahhalT. A.WinocurG. (2000). Cross-cultural differences in memory: The role of culture-based stereotypes about aging. Psychology and Aging, 15(4), 694–704.
69.
YukiM.SchugJ. (2012). Relational mobility: A socioecological approach to personal relationships. In GillathO.AdamsG. E.KunkelA. D. (Eds.), Relationship science: Integrating evolutionary, neuroscience, and sociocultural approaches (pp. 137–151). American Psychological Association.
70.
YukiM.SchugJ.HorikawaH.TakemuraK.SatoK.YokotaK.KamayaK. (2007). Development of a scale to measure perceptions of relational mobility in society (CERSS Working Paper 75). Center for Experimental Research in Social Sciences, Hokkaido University.
71.
Zahn-WaxlerC.ParkJ. H.UsherB.BelouadF.ColeP.GruberR. (2008). Young children’s representations of conflict and distress: A longitudinal study of boys and girls with disruptive behavior problems. Development and Psychopathology, 20, 99–119. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579408000059
72.
ZhaoX.KushnirT. (2019). How U.S. and Chinese children talk about personal, moral and conventional choices. Cognitive Development, 52, 100804. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogdev.2019.100804
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
