When does meaning making predict subjective well-being? Examining young and older adults in two cultures

Memory

Volumn 21, Issue 1, 2013, Pages 44-63

  Alea, Nicole ^a   Bluck, Susan ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES   (Trinidad and Tobago)

^b University of Florida ^*  (United States)

Author keywords

Adulthood; Culture; Directive function; Meaning making; Subjective well being

Indexed keywords

ADAPTIVE BEHAVIOR; ADOLESCENT; ADULT; AGE; AGED; ARTICLE; COGNITION; CULTURAL FACTOR; FACTORIAL ANALYSIS; FEMALE; HUMAN; MALE; MEMORY; MIDDLE AGED; SATISFACTION; SELF REPORT; TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO; UNITED STATES; VERY ELDERLY;

ADAPTATION, PSYCHOLOGICAL; ADOLESCENT; ADULT; AGE FACTORS; AGED; AGED, 80 AND OVER; COGNITION; CROSS-CULTURAL COMPARISON; FACTOR ANALYSIS, STATISTICAL; FEMALE; HUMANS; MALE; MEMORY; MIDDLE AGED; PERSONAL SATISFACTION; SELF REPORT; TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO; UNITED STATES;

EID: 84873649143     PISSN: 09658211     EISSN: 14640686     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/09658211.2012.704927     Document Type: Article

References (103)

1. Addis, D. R., Wong, A. T. and Schacter, D. L. 2007. Remembering the past and imagining the future: Common and distinct neural substrates during event construction and elaboration. Neuropsychologia, 45: 1363-1377. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2006.10.016
2. Aiken, L. S. and West, S. G. 1991. Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions, London, UK: Sage.
3. Alea, N., McLean, K. C. and Vick, S. C. 2010. "The story of us: Examining marital quality via positive and negative relationship narratives". In Marriage: Role, stability and conflict, Edited by: Pearlman, K. S. 1-29. New York, NY: Nova Science Publishers.
4. Anderson, J. C. and Gerbing, D. W. 1988. Structural equation modeling in practice: A review and recommended two-step approach. Psychological Bulletin, 103: 411-423. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.103.3.411
5. Arbuckle, J. L. 2003. AMOS 5.0 update to the AMOS user's guide, Chicago, IL: Small Waters.
6. Baddeley, A. 1988. "But what the hell is it for?". In Practical aspects of memory: Current research and issues, Edited by: Gruneberg, M. M., Morris, P. E. and Sykes, R. N. 3-18. Chichester, UK: Wiley.
7. Baltes, P. B. 1987. Theoretical propositions of life-span developmental psychology: On the dynamics between growth and decline. Developmental Psychology, 23: 611-626. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.23.5.611
8. Bauer, J. J., McAdams, D. P. and Sakaeda, A. R. 2005. Interpreting the good life: Growth memories in the lives of mature happy people. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88: 203-217. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.88.1.203
9. Blagov, P. S. and Singer, J. A. 2004. Four dimensions of self-defining memories (specificity, meaning, content, and affect) and their relationships to self-restraint, distress, and repressive defensiveness. Journal of Personality, 72: 481-511. doi:10.1111/j.0022-3506.2004.00270.x
10. Beike, D. R., Adams, L. P. and Naufel, K. Z. 2010. Closure of autobiographical memories moderates their directive effect on behaviour. Memory, 18: 40-48. doi:10.1080/09658210903405729
11. Bentler, R. P. and Bonett, D. G. 1980. Significance tests and goodness of fit in the analysis of covariance structures. Psychological Bulletin, 88: 588-606. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.88.3.588
12. Best, L. 2001. Race, class, and ethnicity: A Caribbean interpretation. Paper presented at the third annual Jagan lecture, Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean, York University York, UK.
13. Bluck, S. and Alea, N. 2002. "Exploring the functions of autobiographical memory: Why do I remember the autumn?". In Critical advances in reminiscence: From theory to application, Edited by: Webster, J. D. and Haight, B. K. 61-75. New York, NY: Springer.
14. Bluck, S. and Alea, N. 2009. Thinking and talking about the past: Why remember?. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 23: 1089-1104. doi:10.1002/acp.1612
15. Bluck, S. and Alea, N. 2011. Crafting the TALE: Construction of a measure to assess the functions of autobiographical remembering. Memory, 19: 470-486. doi:10.1080/09658211.2011.590500
16. Bluck, S., Alea, N. and Demiray, B. 2010. "You get what you need: The psychosocial functions of remembering". In The act of remembering: Toward an understanding of how we recall the past, Edited by: Mace, J. 284-307. Oxford, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.
17. Bluck, S., Alea, N., Habermas, T. and Rubin, D.C. 2005. A TALE of three functions: The self-reported uses of autobiographical memory. Social Cognition, 23: 91-117. doi:10.1521/soco.23.1.91.59198
18. Bluck, S., Dirk, J., Mackay, M. and Hux, A. 2008. Life experience with death: Relation to death attitudes and to the use of death-related memories. Death Studies, 32: 524-549. doi:10.1080/07481180802138860
19. Bluck, S. and Glück, J. 2004. Making things better and learning a lesson: Experiencing wisdom across the lifespan. Journal of Personality, 72: 541-572. doi:10.1111/j.0022-3506.2004.00272.x
20. Bluck, S. and Habermas, T. 2001. Extending the study of autobiographical memory: Thinking back about life across the life span. Review of General Psychology, 5: 135-147. doi:10.1037/1089-2680.5.2.135
21. Bollen, K. A. 1989. A new incremental fit index for general structural models. Sociological Methods and Research, 17: 303-316. doi:10.1177/0049124189017003004
22. Brathwaite, K. 2005. The development of Creole society in Jamaica 1770-1820, Jamaica: Ian Randle Publishers.
23. Brown, N. R. 1990. Organization of public events in long-term memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 119: 297-314. doi:10.1037/0096-3445.119.3.297
24. Brown, C. and Augusta-Scott, T. 2007. Narrative therapy: Making meaning, making lives, London, UK: Sage.
25. Bruce, D. 1989. "Functional explanations of memory". In Everyday cognition in adulthood and late life, Edited by: Poon, L. W., Rubin, D. C. and Wilson, B. A. 44-58. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
26. Butler, R. N. 1963. The life review: An interpretation of reminiscence in old age. Psychiatry Journal for the Study of Interpersonal Processes, 26: 65-76.
27. Byrne, B. M. 2001. Structural equation modeling with AMOS: Basic concepts, applications, and programming, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
28. Carstensen, L. L., & Lang, F. R. 1996. Future time perspective scale. Unpublished manuscript, Stanford University, CA.
29. Cohen, G. 1998. "The effects of aging on autobiographical memory". In Autobiographical memory: Theoretical and applied perspectives, Edited by: Thompson, C. P., Hermann, D. J., Bruce, D., Read, J. D., Payne, D. G. and Toglia, M. P. 105-123. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
30. Conway, M. A., Singer, J. A. and Tagini, A. 2004. The self and autobiographical memory: Correspondence and coherence. Social Cognition, 22: 491-529. doi:10.1521/soco.22.5.491.50768
31. Demiray, B., & Bluck, S. 2012. Time since birth and time left to live: Opposing forces in constructing psychological well-being. Manuscript submitted for publication.
32. Diener, E., Oishi, S. and Lucas, R. E. 2003. Personality, culture, and subjective well-being: Emotional and cognitive evaluations of life. Annual Review of Psychology, 54: 403-425. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.54.101601.145056
33. Drake, L., Duncan, E., Sutherland, F., Abernethy, C. and Henry, C. 2008. Time perspective and correlates of wellbeing. Time and Society, 17: 47-61. doi:10.1177/0961463X07086304
34. Ebner, N. C., Freund, A. M. and Baltes, P. B. 2006. Developmental changes in personal goal orientation from young to late adulthood: From striving for gains to maintenance and prevention of losses. Psychology and Aging, 21: 664-678. doi:10.1037/0882-7974.21.4.664
35. Erikson, E. H. 1968. Identity, youth, and crisis, New York, NY: Norton.
36. Fingerman, K. L. and Perlmutter, M. 1995. Future time perspective and life events across adulthood. Journal of General Psychology, 122: 95-111. doi:10.1080/00221309.1995.9921225
37. Fivush, R., Sales, J. M. and Bohannek, J. G. 2008. Meaning-making in mothers' and children's narratives of emotional events. Memory, 16: 579-594. doi:10.1080/09658210802150681
38. Freeman, M. 2010. Hindsight: The promise and peril of looking backward, New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
39. Habermas, T. and Bluck, S. 2000. Getting a life: The emergence of the life story in adolescence. Psychological Bulletin, 126: 748-769. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.126.5.748
40. International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook. 2010 April. World economic and financial surveys: Rebalancing growth. Washington, DC: Author.
41. Iwasaki, Y. 2008. Pathways to meaning-making through leisure-like pursuits in global contexts. Journal of Leisure Research, 40: 231-249.
42. Kline, R. B. 1998. Principles and practice of structural equation modeling, New York, NY: Guilford Press.
43. Kulkofsky, S., Wang, Q. and Hou, Y. 2010. Why I remember that: The influence of contextual factors on beliefs about everyday memory. Memory and Cognition, 38: 461-473. doi:10.3758/MC.38.4.461
44. Kulkofsky, S., Wang, Q. and Koh, J. B. K. 2009. Mother-child reminiscing behaviors: Individual and cultural variations. Journal of Cognition and Development, 10: 92-114. doi:10.1080/15248370903041231
45. Lang, F. R. and Carstensen, L. L. 2002. Time counts: Future time perspective, goals, and social relationships. Psychology and Aging, 17: 125-139. doi:10.1037/0882-7974.17.1.125
46. Lardi, C., D'Argembeau, A. D., Chanal, J., Ghisletta, P. and Van der Linden, M. 2010. Further characterisation of self-defining memories in young adults: A study of a Swiss sample. Memory, 18: 293-309. doi:10.1080/09658211003601522
47. Lilgendahl, J. P. and McAdams, D. P. 2011. Constructing stories of self-growth: How individual differences in patterns of autobiographical reasoning relate to well-being in midlife. Journal of Personality, 79: 391-428. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.2010.00688.x
48. Lodi-Smith, J., Geise, A. C., Roberts, B. W. and Robins, R. W. 2009. Narrating personality change. Personality Processes and Individual Differences, 96: 679-689.
49. Loehlin, J. C. 2004. Latent variable models: An introduction to factor, path, and structural analysis, 4th ed, Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
50. Mackay, M. M. and Bluck, S. 2010. Meaning-making in memories: A comparison of memories of death-related and low point life experiences. Death Studies, 34: 715-737. doi:10.1080/07481181003761708
51. Maddox, G. L. 1962. Some correlates of differences in self-assessment of health status among the elderly. Journal of Gerontology, 17: 180-185. doi:10.1093/geronj/17.2.180
52. Mansfield, C. D., McLean, K. C. and Lilgendahl, J. P. 2010. Narrating traumas and transgressions: Links between narrative processing, wisdom, and well-being. Narrative Inquiry, 20: 246-273. doi:10.1075/ni.20.2.02man
53. Maslow, A. H. 1943. A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50: 370-396. doi:10.1037/h0054346
54. McAdams, D. P. 2001. The psychology of life stories. Review of General Psychology, 5: 100-122. doi:10.1037/1089-2680.5.2.100
55. McAdams, D. P. 2006. The redemptive self: Stories Americans live by, New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
56. McAdams, D. P. 1988. Power, Intimacy, and the Life Story: Personological Inquiries Into Identity, New York, NY: The Guilford Press.
57. McAdams, D. P. and Pals, J. L. 2006. A new big five: Fundamental principles for an integrative science of personality. The American Psychologist, 61: 204-217. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.61.3.204
58. McLean, K. C. 2005. Late adolescent identity development: Narrative meaning-making and memory telling. Developmental Psychology, 41: 683-691. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.41.4.683
59. McLean, K. C. and Breen, A. V. 2009. Processes and content of narrative identity development in adolescence: Gender and well-being. Developmental Psychology, 45: 702-710.
60. McLean, K. C., Breen, A. V. and Fournier, M. A. 2010. Constructing the self in early, middle, and late adolescent boys: Narrative identity, individuation, and well-being. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 20: 166-187. doi:10.1111/j.1532-7795.2009.00633.x
61. McLean, K. C. and Lilgendhal, J. P. 2008. Why recall our highs and lows: Relations between memory functions, age, and well-being. Memory, 16: 751-762. doi:10.1080/09658210802215385
62. McLean, K. C. and Pratt, M. W. 2006. Life's little (and big) lessons: Identity statuses and meaning-making in the turning point narratives of emerging adults. Developmental Psychology, 42: 714-722. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.42.4.714
63. McLean, K. C. and Thorne, A. 2003. Late adolescents' self-defining memories about relationships. Developmental Psychology, 39: 635-645. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.39.4.635
64. National Census Report, Trinidad and Tobago. 2000. 2000 round of population and housing census data analysis sub-project. CARICOM Capacity Development Programme (CCDP), in collaboration with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and United Nations Population Fund.
65. Neisser, U. 1978. "Memory: What are the important questions?". In Practical aspects of memory, Edited by: Grueneberg, M. M., Morris, P. E. and Sykes, R. N. 3-19. London, UK: Academic Press.
66. Neisser, U. 1988. Five kinds of self-knowledge. Philosophical Psychology, 1: 35-39. doi:10.1080/09515088808572924
67. Nelson, K. 1993. Self and social functions: Individual autobiographical memory and collective narrative. Memory, 11: 125-136. doi:10.1080/741938203
68. Neugarten, B. L. 1996. "Time, age, and the life cycle". In The meanings of age, Edited by: Neugarten, D. A. 114-127. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
69. Newby-Clark, I. R. and Ross, M. 2004. Conceiving the past and future. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29: 807-818. doi:10.1177/0146167203029007001
70. Nolen-Hoeksema, A., McBride, A. and Larson, J. 1997. Rumination and psychological distress among bereaved partners. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72: 855-862. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.72.4.855
71. Olivares, O. J. 2010. Meaning making, uncertainty reduction, and the functions of autobiographical memory: A relational framework. Review of General Psychology, 14: 204-211. doi:10.1037/a0020469
72. Pals, J. L. 2006. Narrative identity processing of difficult life experiences: Pathways of personality development and positive self-transformation in adulthood. Journal of Personality, 74: 1079-1109. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.2006.00403.x
73. Park, C. L. 2010. Making sense of the meaning literature: An integrative review of meaning making and its effects on adjustment to stressful life events. Psychological Bulletin, 136: 257-301. doi:10.1037/a0018301
74. Pasupathi, M., Staudinger, U. M. and Baltes, P. B. 2001. Seeds of wisdom: Adolescents' knowledge and judgment about difficult life problems. Developmental Psychology, 37: 351-361. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.37.3.351
75. Pavot, W. and Diener, E. 2004. The subjective evaluation of well-being in adulthood: Findings and implications. Ageing International, 29: 113-135. doi:10.1007/s12126-004-1013-4
76. Pennebaker, J. W. and Francis, M. E. 1996. Cognitive, emotional, and language processes in disclosure. Cognition and Emotion, 10: 601-626. doi:10.1080/026999396380079
77. Pennebaker, J. W., Mehl, M. R. and Niederhoffer, K. G. 2003. Psychological aspects of natural language use: Our words, our selves. Annual Review of Psychology, 54: 547-577. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.54.101601.145041
78. Piaget, J. 1965. The moral judgment of the child, New York, NY: Free Press.
79. Pillemer, D. B. 1992. Remembering personal circumstances: A functional analysis. In E. Winograd & U. Neisser Affect and accuracy in recall: Studies of "flashbulb" memories (Emory symposia in cognition, 4th ed., 236-264. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
80. Pillemer, D. B. 2003. Directive functions of autobiographical memory: The guiding power of the specific episode. Memory, 11: 193-202. doi:10.1080/741938208
81. Pratt, M. W., Norris, J. E., Arnold, M. L. and Filyer, R. 1999. Generativity and moral development as predictors of value-socialization narratives for young persons across the adult life span: From lessons learned to stories shared. Psychology and Aging, 14: 414-426. doi:10.1037/0882-7974.14.3.414
82. Rasmussen, A. S. and Berntsen, D. 2009. The possible functions of involuntary autobiographical memories. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 23: 1137-1152. doi:10.1002/acp.1615
83. Rice, C. and Pasupathi, M. 2010. Reflecting on self-relevant experiences: Adult age differences. Developmental Psychology, 46: 479-490. doi:10.1037/a0018098
84. Roberts, K. J., Lepore, S. J. and Helgeson, V. S. 2006. Social-cognitive correlates of adjustment to prostate cancer. Psycho-Oncology, 15: 183-192. doi:10.1002/pon.934
85. Ryff, C. D. 1989. Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57: 1069-1081. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.57.6.1069
86. Schumacker, R. E. and Lomax, R. G. 2004. A beginner's guide to structural equation modeling, 2nd ed, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
87. Singer, J. A. 2004. Narrative identity and meaning making across the adult lifespan: An introduction. Journal of Personality, 72: 437-459. doi:10.1111/j.0022-3506.2004.00268.x
88. Singer, J. A. and Bluck, S. 2001. New perspectives on autobiographical memory: The integration of narrative processing and autobiographical reasoning. Review of General Psychology, 5: 91-99. doi:10.1037/1089-2680.5.2.91
89. Singer, J., Rexhaj, B. and Baddeley, J. 2007. Older, wiser, and happier? Comparing older adults' and college students' self-defining memories. Memory, 15: 886-898. doi:10.1080/09658210701754351
90. Staudinger, U. M., Bluck, S. and Herzberg, Y. 2003. Looking back and looking ahead: Diachronous correlates of subjective well-being across the adult life span. Psychology and Aging, 18: 13-24. doi:10.1037/0882-7974.18.1.13
91. Steger, M. F., Frazier, P., Oishi, S. and Kaler, M. 2006. The Meaning in Life Questionnaire: Assessing the presence of and search for meaning in life. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 53: 80-93. doi:10.1037/0022-0167.53.1.80
92. Steger, M. F., Kashdan, T. B., Sullivan, B. A. and Lorentz, D. 2008. Understanding the search for meaning in life: Personality, cognitive style, and the dynamic between seeking and experiencing meaning. Journal of Personality, 76: 199-228. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.2007.00484.x
93. Steger, M. F., Oishi, S. and Kashdan, T. B. 2009. Meaning in life across the life span: Levels and correlates of meaning in life from emerging adulthood to older adulthood. Journal of Positive Psychology, 4: 43-52. doi:10.1080/17439760802303127
94. United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization [UNESCO]. 2010. Last updated in UNdata, 14 May 2010. Retrieved from http://data.un.org/CountryProfile.aspx?crName=Trinidad and Tobago
95. Wang, Q. and Conway, M. A. 2004. The stories we keep: Autobiographical memory in American and Chinese middle-aged adults. Journal of Personality, 72: 911-938. doi:10.1111/j.0022-3506.2004.00285.x
96. Wang, Q., Hou, Y., Tang, H. and Wiprovnick, A. 2011. Travelling backwards and forwards in time: Culture and gender in the episodic specificity of past and future events. Memory, 19: 103-109. doi:10.1080/09658211.2010.537279
97. Watson, D., Clark, L. A. and Tellegen, A. 1988. Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scale. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54: 1063-1070. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.54.6.1063
98. Webster, J. D. 1995. "Adult age differences in reminiscence functions". In The art and science of reminiscing: Theory, research, methods, and applications, Edited by: Haight, B. K. and Webster, J. D. 89-102. Washington, DC: Taylor & Francis.
99. Webster, J. D. 1997. The reminiscence functions scale: A replication. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 44: 137-148. doi:10.2190/AD4D-813D-F5XN-W07G
100. Webster, J. D. and McCall, M. 1999. Reminiscence functions across adulthood: A replication and extension. Journal of Adult Development, 6: 73-85. doi:10.1023/A:1021628525902
101. Wong, P. T. P. and Watt, L. M. 1991. What types of reminiscence are associated with successful aging?. Psychology and Aging, 6: 272-279. doi:10.1037/0882-7974.6.2.272
102. World Health Statistics. 2011. World Health Library Catalogue-in-Publication Data. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization.
103. Yeung, D. Y., Fung, H. H. and Lang, F. R. 2007. Gender differences in social network characteristics and psychological well-being among Hong Kong Chinese: The role of future time perspective and adherence to Renqing. Aging and Mental Health, 11(1): 45-56. doi:10.1080/13607860600735820