Mood and recall of autobiographical memory: the effect of focus of self-knowledge

Sakaki, M. (2007) Mood and recall of autobiographical memory: the effect of focus of self-knowledge. Journal of Personality, 75 (3). pp. 421-450. ISSN 0022-3506 doi: 10.1111/j.1467-6494.2007.00444.x

Abstract/Summary

Mood state facilitates recall of affectively congruent memories (i.e., mood-congruent recall). Mood state may also promote motivation to alleviate a negative affective state, leading to retrieval of affectively incongruent memories (i.e., mood incongruent recall). The present study demonstrates that the focus of self-knowledge influences the occurrence of both mood-congruent recall and mood-incongruent recall. Three experiments found that mood-congruent recall occurred when participants recalled their experiences from a self-aspect that was related to the elicitor of moods, whereas mood-incongruent recall occurred when they recalled their experiences from a self-aspect that was unrelated to the elicitor of moods. These results suggest that the nature of the self-aspect from which persons recall their experiences determines whether mood-congruent or mood-incongruent recall occurs.