Poster #13 - Autobiographical Memory and Identity in US and Turkish College Students

• In Event: 1-061 - Poster Session 02
  In Poster Session: PS 02 Section - Attention, Learning, Memory

Integrative Statement

Following from the theoretical work of Fivush, Habermas, Waters, & Zaman (2011) and the empirical work of Berntsen and her colleagues (e.g., Scherman, Salgado, Schao, & Berntsen, 2015), we explored the relation between aspects of autobiographical memories and identity (as defined by Berzonsky’s (1992) identity styles inventory [ISI]) in US and Turkish college students. A total of 560 students participated, 324 US (64% female, average age 19.25) and 236 Turkish (88% female, average age 21). The Turkish students were significantly older than those from the US. Questionnaires were administered in groups and, in addition to the ISI, asked about 4 (significant, important academic, positive and negative) personal experiences. They completed the 7-item Centrality of Events Scale (Berntsen & Rubin, 2006) for each experience and indicated the age at which each occurred, ease of recalling it, emotionality of each, how much each is thought about and whether a lesson was learned from the experience.
Three out of 4 factors described by Berzonsky could be scored from the ISI: the committed, normative and diffuse styles (alphas .70-.75). Participants were divided into three groups based on their highest z score from the three scales. There were 199 committed (81 US), 149 normative (110 US) and 209 diffuse (130 US). The difference between the US and Turkish students in this classification was significant. Country x Identity group ANOVAs were performed on volume of each of the 4 reports, age at time of experience, emotionality, ease of recall, frequency of thinking about the experience, whether a lesson was learned and centrality.
Significant country main effects were found in most of the variables. US students’ accounts of their experiences contained more words, they were more emotional, were easier to recall, were thought about more, were more likely to produce a lesson and were rated as more central. Identity style differences were found in a few variables. Committed participants’ used more words in their narratives than did either of the other groups. Highest academic centrality scores were in the normative group, lowest in the diffuse group.
Significant country x identity style interactions were found in age at which experience occurred: among the US participants, those in the committed group reported the oldest ages and those in the diffused group, the lowest ages. The opposite pattern was present in the Turkish subjects. Diffused US students though about their experiences less than did committed or normative students. Normative Turkish students thought about their experiences less than did committed or diffused. Lowest emotion ratings were given by diffused US students and by committed Turkish students. Centrality was rated highest by US committed students and by Turkish diffused students. Preliminary analyses suggest country and identity differences in narrative contents.
The primary focus of the discussion will be on the country differences and on the interactions of country and identity.

Authors

• Carolyn J Mebert, University of New Hampshire
  Presenting Author

• Basak Sahin-Acar, Middle East Technical University
  Non-Presenting Author