What Are Our Personal Memories for? Effects of Gender and Country in Perceived Functions of Everyday Memories in Danish and Spanish College Students

Abstract

Theorists in autobiographical memory (AM) studies generally agree that AMs serve three kinds of broad functions: self-related, social, and directive functions. Although these kinds of functions are probably universal, gender and country variations are expected. The study investigates perceived use of AMs in everyday life. Male and female Danish and Spanish college students were asked to carry a diary and report a sample of naturally occurring instances of AMs. Participants were asked to assess their memories in terms of perceived functions. Results showed some country differences that were consistent with the characterization of Danish and Spanish samples in terms of individualism-collectivism. Some gender differences were also found. These differences, in contrast to our expectations, were limited to the Danes. To interpret it, two main lines of reasoning were proposed. The first was concerned with changes in gender ideology in Spain in the last

Functions of Autobiographical Memory in Younger and Older Adults

“…Using the Reminiscence Function Scale (RFS; Webster, 1993 ), he identified that women's narratives contained greater number of specific memories than did men's narratives, and women scored higher on problem-solving RFS factor. This RFS factor could be considered as a doppelganger of the directive function of AM (Webster, 1993 ; Webster and McCall, 1999 ; Santamaría et al, 2017 ). It seems that women are less confident about their decisions and express more doubts about their behavior (Bengtsson et al, 2005 ; Robinson and Stubberud, 2011 ).…”

Cultural patterns in autobiographical memory of childhood: Comparison of Chinese, Russian, and Uzbek samples

“…Taking the point that autobiographical memory has been posited to serve three fundamental functions: self, social, and directive (Bluck, Alea, Habermas, & Rubin, 2005), some researchers have claimed that the “Western” highly elaborative maternal style assists the manifestation of self‐function of autobiographical memories whereas the “Eastern” low elaborative maternal style supports social and directive functions (Alea & Wang, 2015; Santamaría, de la Mata, Cubero, & Hansen, 2017; Wang, 2013). As the repertoire of autobiographical memory function was recently enhanced by a function of emotion regulation (Kulkofsky, Wang, & Koh, 2009), there is no consensus on whether it is more suitable for the “Western” or “Eastern” type of personality.…”

Cultural-historical perspective in Spain and Portugal: developing theoretical and methodological approaches

“…The first subline can be referred to as self-construction in cultural settings. It includes studies about autobiographical memory, self, and culture (de la Mata, Santamaría, & Ruiz, 2016;Santamaría, de la Mata, Cubero, & Hansen, 2017;Santamaría, de la Mata, Hansen, & Ruiz, 2010), and about self-(re)construction in individuals and groups at risk of social exclusion (de la Mata, Cubero, Santamaría, & Saavedra, 2015;Saavedra, Cubero, & Crawford, 2012;Sala & de la Mata, 2017). These studies show an integration of concepts from cultural psychology to crosscultural research and eco-cultural approaches.…”