Two routes toward optimism: how agentic and communal themes in autobiographical memories guide optimism for the future

ABSTRACT

Autobiographical memories are particularly adaptive because they function not only to preserve the past, but also to direct our future thoughts and behaviours. Two studies were conducted to examine how communal and agentic themes of positive autobiographical memories differentially predicted the route from autobiographical memories to optimism for the future. Across two studies, results revealed that the degree to which participants focused on communal themes in their autobiographical memories predicted their experience of nostalgia. In turn, the experience of nostalgia increased participants’ levels of self-esteem and in turn, optimism for the future. By contrast, the degree to which participants focused on agentic themes in their memories predicted self-esteem and optimism, operating outside the experience of nostalgia. These effects remained even after controlling for self-focused attention. Together, these studies provide greater understanding of the interrelations among autobiographical memory, self-concept, and time, and demonstrate how agency and communion operate to influence perceptions of one’s future when thinking about the past.

KEYWORDS:

• Autobiographical memory
• nostalgia
• prospective memory
• self-esteem
• optimism

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Max Guyll and an anonymous reviewer for helpful suggestions on a previous version of the manuscript, as well as Samara Clingan, Molly Collins, Erin Doran, Ana Goeser, Abbie Lattrell, Calsey Schwamman, Catherine Hennings, and Alexandria Lemke for help with data collection and coding.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Because some categories had low base rates, we used the G-index (Holley & Guildford, 1964) to assess inter-rater agreement because G is less sensitive to base rates than is Cohen’s κ (see Gwet, 2008; Xu & Lorber, 2014).

2. Gender and ethnicity often correlate with agency and communion (Johnson, Freeman, & Pauker, 2012; McAdams et al., 2004). In our sample, gender was not correlated with dependent measures (rs < .14, ps > .10). Due to homogeneity of the sample, statistical analyses used a dichotomous measure of ethnicity coded as majority = 1, minority = 0. This measure predicted only optimism F(1, 124) = 8.02, p = .005, , 90% CI [.01, .14]. To situate our findings in the literature and ensure that the results described effects beyond those that might be explained by demographic variables, we controlled for gender and ethnicity. Model fit was slightly better when control variables were omitted, Δχ²(1) = 4.85, p < .05, suggesting that estimates provided are conservative.

3. To ensure that some participants selected events that elicited nostalgia, randomly selected participants (28% of the sample) were asked to write about a positive, personally significant life event that made them feel nostalgic. A MANOVA on agentic themes, communal themes, self-esteem, optimism, and nostalgia did not reveal an effect of this memory prompt, Wilk’s λ = .96, F(3, 216) = 1.97, p = .09, , 90% CI [.00, .04]. Thus, results were collapsed across conditions.

4. In Study 2, gender correlated with communal themes, nostalgia, and optimism (rs > −.14, ps < .05), but ethnicity was not associated with dependent variables (Fs < 2.55, ps > .10, ***). Model fit and estimates controlled for gender, ethnicity, agentic traits, and communal traits. Fit was not reliably changed when control variables were omitted, Δχ² (3) = 2.73, p > .25.