How individual differences in autobiographical memory relate to morality

Autobiographical memory supports several functions essential to daily life such as decision-making, social bonding, and personal identity. Surprisingly, the role of autobiographical memory for moral identity and moral commitments has scarcely been examined, even though people tend to reflect on their past experiences to make moral judgments of themselves and others. Across four studies (Ns ≥ 239), we found that individual differences in the recollective experience of autobiographical memories as measured by the Autobiographical Recollection Test (Berntsen et al., 2019) consistently correlated with individual differences in moral dispositions, including centrality of moral identity, internalization of moral values, and moral commitments. In Studies 3 and 4, we introduced measures of the tendency to perceive moral value in one's personal past, which showed robust associations with moral identity and commitments. Overall, we demonstrated that people who generally remember their past well and who perceive their past as a carrier of central moral standards also report a stronger moral identity, higher internalization of moral values, and commitment to a wide range of moral principles. These findings suggest a critical interplay between autobiographical memory and morality at the level of individual differences.

Duke Scholars

Author David C. Rubin Psychology & Neuroscience

Author Rick Hoyle Psychology & Neuroscience