The self and other selves in autobiographical memories of important life events in Mexico, Greenland, China, Denmark and the United States

• Main Authors: Zaragoza Scherman, Alejandra, Salgado, Sinué, Shao, Zhifang, Berntsen, Dorthe
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: 2020
• Subjects: Greenland; Thomsen
• Online Access: https://pure.au.dk/portal/en/publications/589a07ff-f7b0-4183-9ae9-cb28751405d4

Autobiographical memory and personal life stories are generally about the self (e.g., Wilson & Ross, 2003). However, they also feature memories of someone else’s life, either as vicarious memories (Pil- lemer, Steiner, Kuwabara, Thomsen & Svob, 2015), reported events (Larsen & Plunkett, 1987), or as memories of events we witnessed oth- ers experience. Sometimes, those memories can become an impor- tant part of our own personal life stories, illuminating the role that other selves play in remembering our personal past. Culture might influence how individuals incorporate others into their personal life story. In this cross-cultural study, we examined the extent to which memories of important life story events refer to the individual self (e.g., I moved to Japan) and other selves (e.g., My child graduated from college).