The
Role of Possible Selves in Memory
K. Kato & H.R. Markus |
First,
what effects do possible-selves ("potential" aspects of
the self in the future) have on information processing, compared
with those of actual-selves? Second, what features of these possible-selves
produce these effects? To examine these questions, the Ropers, Kuiper, & Kirker
(1977)'s paradigm was adopted. 64 subjects were asked to make judgments
for each of 48 items in one of four ways of making a judgment: Semantic,
ability, actual-self-referent, and possible-self-referent judgments.
Items were adjectives or phrases with positive or negative valence.
Subjects took a surprise recall test and rated several aspects of
their possible-selves. (1) Possible-self judgment produced memory
comparable to actual-self judgment, and those judgments surpassed
ability and semantic judgments. (2) Subjects with higher self-ratings
for "necessity for change" or for "future fear" recalled
significantly more negative-content items and less positive-content
items. These findings were discussed in terms of Schutz (1964)'s "relevance" theory.
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