Journal of Experimental Psychology. General 146 (6):884-895 (2017)
Authors |
|
Abstract |
People maintain a positive identity in at least two ways: They evaluate themselves more favorably than other people, and they judge themselves to be better now than they were in the past. Both strategies rely on autobiographical memories. The authors investigate the role of autobiographical memories of lying and emotional harm in maintaining a positive identity. For memories of lying to or emotionally harming others, participants judge their own actions as less morally wrong and less negative than those in which other people lied to or emotionally harmed them. Furthermore, people judge those actions that happened further in the past to be more morally wrong than those that happened more recently. Finally, for periods of the past when they believed that they were very different people than they are now, participants judge their actions to be more morally wrong and more negative than those actions from periods of their pasts when they believed that they were very similar to who they are now. The authors discuss these findings in relation to theories about the function of autobiographical memory and moral cognition in constructing and perceiving the self over time.
|
Keywords | Autobiographical Memory Morality Self Moral Psychology Memory |
Categories | (categorize this paper) |
DOI | 10.1037/xge0000317 |
Options |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Download options
References found in this work BETA
The True Self: A Psychological Concept Distinct From the Self.Nina Strohminger, Joshua Knobe & George Newman - forthcoming - Perspectives on Psychological Science.
Blame, Not Ability, Impacts Moral “Ought” Judgments for Impossible Actions: Toward an Empirical Refutation of “Ought” Implies “Can”.Vladimir Chituc, Paul Henne, Walter Sinnott-Armstrong & Felipe De Brigard - 2016 - Cognition 150:20-25.
Neurodegeneration and Identity.Nina Strohminger & Shaun Nichols - 2015 - Psychological Science 26 (9):1469– 1479.
Memory Distortion: An Adaptive Perspective.Daniel L. Schacter, Scott A. Guerin & Peggy L. St Jacques - 2011 - Trends in Cognitive Sciences 15 (10):467-474.
View all 8 references / Add more references
Citations of this work BETA
On the Ambiguity of ‘the Same Person’.Vilius Dranseika - 2017 - American Journal of Bioethics Neuroscience 8 (3):184-186.
Memory and Counterfactual Simulations for Past Wrongdoings Foster Moral Learning and Improvement.Matthew L. Stanley, Roberto Cabeza, Rachel Smallman & Felipe De Brigard - 2021 - Cognitive Science 45 (6):e13007.
Remembering Moral and Immoral Actions in Constructing the Self.Matthew L. Stanley, Paul Henne & Felipe De Brigard - forthcoming - Memory and Cognition.
Similar books and articles
The Influence of Cognitive and Emotional Suppression on Overgeneral Autobiographical Memory Retrieval.Sang Quang Phung & Richard A. Bryant - 2013 - Consciousness and Cognition 22 (3):965-974.
Autobiographical Remembering: Creating Personal Culture.Craig R. Barclay & Thomas S. Smith - 1992 - In Martin A. Conway, David C. Rubin, H. Spinnler & W. Wagenaar (eds.), Theoretical Perspectives on Autobiographical Memory. Kluwer Academic Publishers. pp. 75--97.
When the “I” Looks at the “Me”: Autobiographical Memory, Visual Perspective, and the Self.Angelina R. Sutin & Richard W. Robins - 2008 - Consciousness and Cognition 17 (4):1386-1397.
Autobiographical Knowledge and Autobiographical Memories.R. Fivush, C. Haden & E. Reese - 1996 - In David C. Rubin (ed.), Remembering Our Past: Studies in Autobiographical Memory. Cambridge University Press. pp. 341--359.
Clinical Perspectives on Autobiographical Memory.Lynn A. Watson & Dorthe Berntsen (eds.) - 2015 - Cambridge University Press.
Specificity Deficit in the Recollection of Emotional Memories in Schizophrenia☆☆☆.Aurore Neumann, Sylvie Blairy, Damien Lecompte & Pierre Philippot - 2007 - Consciousness and Cognition 16 (2):469-484.
The Structure of Time in Autobiographical Memory.John Campbell - 1997 - European Journal of Philosophy 5 (2):105-17.
Personal Context in Autobiographical and Narrative Memories.Steen F. Larsen - 1992 - In Martin A. Conway, David C. Rubin, H. Spinnler & W. Wagenaar (eds.), Theoretical Perspectives on Autobiographical Memory. Kluwer Academic Publishers. pp. 53--74.
Categoric and Extended Autobiographical Memories.J. Mark, G. Williams & Barbara H. Dritschel - 1992 - In Martin A. Conway, David C. Rubin, H. Spinnler & W. Wagenaar (eds.), Theoretical Perspectives on Autobiographical Memory. Kluwer Academic Publishers. pp. 391--410.
Autobiographical Memory for Stressful Events: The Role of Autobiographical Memory in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.David C. Rubin, Michelle F. Dennis & Jean C. Beckham - 2011 - Consciousness and Cognition 20 (3):840-856.
SPECYFIKA POSTRZEGANIA HISTORII WŁASNEGO ŻYCIA. ROZWAŻANIA NAD TEKSTAMI AUTOBIOGRAFICZNYMI J.-J. ROUSSEAU.Marta Winkler - 2015 - Hybris, Revista de FilosofíA (30):175-192.
Cue Generation and Memory Construction in Direct and Generative Autobiographical Memory Retrieval.Celia B. Harris, Akira R. O’Connor & John Sutton - 2015 - Consciousness and Cognition 33:204-216.
Immunity to Error Through Misidentification and Past-Tense Memory Judgements.J. L. Bermudez - 2013 - Analysis 73 (2):211-220.
Self-Images and Related Autobiographical Memories in Schizophrenia.Mehdi Bennouna-Greene, Fabrice Berna, Martin A. Conway, Clare J. Rathbone, Pierre Vidailhet & Jean-Marie Danion - 2012 - Consciousness and Cognition 21 (1):247-257.
The Narrative Self, Distributed Memory, and Evocative Objects.Richard Heersmink - 2018 - Philosophical Studies 175 (8):1829-1849.
Analytics
Added to PP index
2018-08-30
Total views
725 ( #10,106 of 2,499,665 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
98 ( #7,319 of 2,499,665 )
2018-08-30
Total views
725 ( #10,106 of 2,499,665 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
98 ( #7,319 of 2,499,665 )
How can I increase my downloads?
Downloads