The relationship between autobiographical reasoning for memories of successes and failures and identity development and adaptation

Abstract

Autobiographical reasoning refers to the reflective thinking that creates relations between past experiences and self. In addition to constructing the Autobiographical Reasoning Scale (ARS), the present study asked 467 participants, between the ages of 19 to 57 years, to recall their experiences of successes and failures. The participants provided ratings for the ARS items, items related to the vividness and valence of each recalled experience, and ones related to autobiographical memory functions (Japanese version of the TALE Scale: Ochiai & Oguchi, 2013). Moreover, 250 participants provided ratings on scales for identity development, self-esteem, and life satisfaction. The results indicate that (1) the ARS consists of five factors (self, turning-point, importance, lesson, rehearsal) and that it has sufficient reliability and validity,(2) successes elicited more autobiographical reasoning than failures, and (3) autobiographical reasoning for successes has a positive relationship with identity development, self-esteem, and life satisfaction.