The present study aimed to theoretically explain the phenomena of aestheticization of autobiographical memory. The phenomena were classified according to valence: the aestheticization of positive autobiographical memories and the aestheticization of autobiographical memories consisting of positive and negative aspects. The aestheticization of events or scenes of past eras was also examined. Each aestheticization type were considered to have two aspects: (1) pleasure and liking and (2) an aesthetic evaluation. The following theories were examined: theory of new experimental aesthetics, applied fluency theory, applied appraisal theories of emotion, and applied regulatory focus theory. The results showed that, although the first and the third types of aestheticization were able to be explained by the theory of new experimental aesthetics, the second type could not be explained by it. Among the other three theories, only applied appraisal theories of emotion, which include the concept of the self, were considered to explain pleasure and liking in all three types. However, they did not explain aesthetic evaluation. Incorporating the concept of the self into explanations of aesthetic evaluation is needed for further studies.
