Living in history and by the cultural life script: What events modulate autobiographical memory organization in a sample of older adults from Romania?

Abstract

In the current study, we investigated the organization of autobiographical memory in view of the Living-in-History effect, which is visible when personal memory and historical memory become intertwined. We investigated how often participants dated their own personal recollections with reference to important historical events (such as the Fall of Communism). Furthermore, we also examined whether cultural life script events served as a prominent strategy to date personal memories in our sample of 35 participants (M_age = 69.76 years, SD = 8.26). This study failed to document the Living-in-History effect, as participants mentioned only few historical events of interest to this study when dating their personal memories. In addition, supporting the Cultural Life Script theory, participants employed culturally transmitted knowledge to navigate through their autobiographical memories. We conclude that for our sample, historically defined autobiographical memories mainly develop when the specific public events affect in a dramatic manner the individuals’ lives.