The organization of memory for autobiographical and public events across different social identities

Abstract

Previous research carried out in various countries showed that public events that have a dramatic impact on the daily lives of individuals may come to organize memories for autobiograohical events by acting as landmarks. The present study explored the association between memories for personal and public events in a majority and a minority sample living in the same country. More specifically, I explored if being a minority group member mediates the role public events play in the content and organization of autobiographical memories (ABM). Additionally, I investigated the content and and organization of memories in the two samples, for public events considered as important. In the first phase, Turkish and Armenian participants whose ages ranged from 20 to 84 were asked report personal memories in response to cue words and then to date these events by thinking out loud. In the second phase, the same participants were asked to report public events that took place during their lifetimes which they considered important and then to date these events as well, in the same manner. The references used in date estimations were thought to reveal how memories were organized in individuals’ minds. Results revealed that public events rarely served as landmarks organizing memory for autobiographical events, and the two samples did not seem to differ from each other in their frequency of using public event references. However, age-at-retrieval and level of group identification had a dramatic impact on the role public events play in the organization of ABMs. Additionally, it was observed that public events were commonly dated by references to personal events, and the types of personal references used in the datings of personal and public events were very similar. All together, these findings indicate that personal and public memories are associated in the mind and the level of association is mediated by age and identification with group identity.