Socially constructing memory and self

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The proposed studies are based on a model of autobiographical memory and related self-conceptions as shaped by listeners in conversation. The general model has two core assumptions. First, it posits that memory retelling in conversation is influenced by speakers and listeners. Second, memory retelling in conversation influences speakers' subsequent memory for the retold experiences. The proposed studies test the effect of listeners' engagement and affirmation on speakers' storytelling and self-conceptions, and examine whether the effects of listeners persist over time. This is done by manipulating the engagement and affirmation provided by listeners, assessing speakers' retellings and event-related self-conceptions, and by assessing memory and self-conceptions related to their retold events after a one-month delay. Engaged listeners, as compared to unengaged listeners, are expected to elicit more detailed memory for events both during retelling and over the long-term. Listeners who provide affirmation for speakers' self-conceptions (as expressed in storytelling) are expected to support stability in event-related self-conceptions over time. The results will extend research on listener influences to personal experiences and event-related self-conceptions. It will also help disentangle two components of attentive listening: the engagement exhibited by such listeners, and the affirmation they provide. Finally, the findings will confirm that listener effects persist over time. Conceptually, the findings will connect research on autobiographical memory with work on psycholinguistics, self-research, and research on social support. Elaborative memories are related directly to features of mental health like depression and attachment style and may indirectly influence mental health via their connection to self-conceptions. Ultimately, these studies and related findings reveal a potential mechanism by which the social world comes to influence the way individuals remember their lives and conceive of themselves - among the oldest questions in both social and developmental psychology.