Autobiographical remembering regulates emotions: a functional perspective

Abstract

Emotional deviation has been considered an essential factor in emotion regulation, in that, attempts to compensate for the deviation is reflected on cognitive processes. In the present study, we focused on autobiographical remembering and tested the functional role of memory on emotion regulation. We specifically examined the congruence effect in individuals' subsequent memory reports after recalling emotional events. Individuals were randomly assigned to three groups to report either sadness or anger evoking events or emotionally unspecified events that they experienced in the last five years. Results supported mood-incongruence, but only for the emotional memory groups. Despite highly negative memories reported in the initial recall, individuals in anger- and sad-memory groups revealed an up-regulation trend in subsequent recall. Furthermore, sadness and anger induction affected phenomenological features of the subsequently reported memory. Overall, our findings supported for the emotion regulation function of remembering that serves counter-regulation of the negative emotion. We discuss potential mechanisms in the light of explanations by a functional approach to autobiographical memory.

The role of autobiographical memory in competence need satisfaction

“…Taken together, the three experiments make an important contribution to the literature by providing a greater understanding of relationships among autobiographical memory, need regulation, and well-being. Previous research finds that autobiographical memory is used to regulate emotion (Bluck, 2003;Koole, 2009;Öner & Gülgöz, 2018;Wilson & Ross, 2003), however, the present experiments provide a comprehensive examination of whether autobiographical memory can be used to facilitate psychological need satisfaction and in turn well-being. Moreover, the present investigation is the first to examine whether certain autobiographical memory themes (i.e., competence themes) are more effective at restoring competence need satisfaction after it has been reduced than are other memorial themes (i.e., relatedness themes).…”

“…According to previous work on autobiographical memory, reflecting on significant life episodes functions to support a positive self-concept (Bluck, Alea, Habermas, & Rubin, 2005;Conway, 1996;Fivush, 1998;McAdams, 1985) and facilitates emotion regulation (Bluck, 2003;Koole, 2009;Öner & Gülgöz, 2018;Wilson & Ross, 2003). As autobiographical memories have been linked with basic the psychological need for competence Sheldon, Elliot, Kim, & Kasser, 2001), the present project conducted three experiments to examine whether autobiographical memory can function to regulate competence need satisfaction.…”

“…As such, the present investigation examined whether autobiographical memory might serve to regulate psychological need satisfaction. A considerable amount of research has examined how individuals use memory to repair mood (Bluck, 2003;Koole, 2009;Öner & Gülgöz, 2018;Wilson & Ross, 2003). For instance, individuals report retrieving positive memories for the purpose of repairing negative emotions (e.g., sadness; Josephson, Singer, & Salovey, 1996).…”

Losing the Life: A Review on Autobiographical Memory in Alzheimer’s Disease

“…As much as emotion is crucial for retrieval of AM, it also has a fundamental significance for emotions (Berntsen & Rubin, 2002;Conway & Pleydell-Pearce, 2000;Öner & Gülgöz, 2017). In this regard, it would be of interest to emphasize some theoretical assumptions about the effect of emotion on AM in people with AD.…”

The effect of dysphoria on the relationship between autobiographical memories and the self

“…These details allow us to mentally relive past events (Tulving, 1983) and can be used to guide behaviour. For example, the sensory detail of memories allows us to determine their source (e.g., real versus imagined events) (Johnson & Raye, 1981) while the emotionality of memories helps maintain emotional equilibrium (Öner & Gülgöz, 2018).…”