Published Research

Functions of Autobiographical Memory
Social Function of Autobiographical Stories
Remembering in Environmental Context
Functions of Memory: Old and Young in Trinidad and the USA
Taiwanese Women’s Road to Adulthood
Forging Self-Continuity: I Was Therefore I Am
The Empathy Function of Autobiographical Memory
The TALE Scale
The Functional Approach to Autobiographical Memory
Remembering Being Me: The Self-Continuity Function
Using Autobiographical Memory for Intimacy
Older People’s Potential for Strength During the Pandemic
Functions of Recent and Distant Memories
TALE Scale – Korean
Well-being in the Second Half of Life
Self-Continuity in Older and Younger Adults

Death and Dying
The Loss of a Loved One: Remembering the Life and the Dying Days
Palliative Care Needs Assessment
In Memory: Predicting Preferences for Memorializing Lost Loved Ones
Memories as Directives
Evaluating the Comfort Shawl Project: Experiential Immersion in Palliative Care
Younger and Older Adults’ Memories of Loss and Illness
Brush With Death
Death Over Dinner
Functional Remembering After Loss
Emerging Adults’ Outlook on the Future in the Midst of COVID-19
Death as Part of the Life Story
Striving to Live Well Before I Die
Reflecting on death: Priorities for living well
Meaning-Making in Dignity Therapy
Empathic Communication in Dignity Therapy
Dignity Therapy Intervention Fidelity
Training Protocol for Dignity Therapy
Facing Off-Time Mortality: Leaving a Legacy
Narrating Communion During Dignity Therapy

Autobiographical Memory and the Self
Self-Defining Memories and Self-Esteem: Mediating Meaning-Making and Memory
Should we remember or forget?
Age, Future Perspective & Healthy Choices
Meaning Making and Subjective Wellbeing in Two Cultures
Development of the Story Quality Index
Reflections of the Self in Earliest Memories
Meaning in Memories
A Life Story Account of the Reminiscence Bump
Life Challenges and Resilience
Stories of our Youth: The Reminiscence Bump
Virtues in Self-Defining Memories
Storying Life’s Challenges with Purpose
Digital Life Story Books: Intervention to maintain sense of self
Three Critical Parameters for a Theory of Vicarious Memory
Adaptive Grief Narratives

Characteristics of Autobiographical Stories
Story Asides Project
Story Accuracy in Younger and Older Adults
Age Differences in Phenomenology
Emotion in Memory: Narratives vs. Self-reports
Empathy in Student Nurses

Wisdom in the Life Story
Development of Wisdom
The Wisdom of Experience
Creativity & Wisdom in the Life Story

Looking Back: Nostalgia
Future Time Perspective Moderates Consumer Responses
Creating Nostalgic Advertising

The Social Function of Autobiographical Stories in the Personal and Virtual World

Receiving another’s autobiographical story may serve to elicit feelings of liking and empathy for the story sharer. Research has mostly examined social functions of autobiographical stories for in‐person communications. The current experiment (N = 60) examined whether levels of liking, closeness, and empathy felt for a stranger (female confederate) after receiving her story depended on if (a) the story was received in‐person or through instant message (IM), and (b) the story was positive or negative. Liking and having empathy for the stranger was higher in the in‐person conditions compared to IM conditions. This effect was mediated by how engaged participants were with the story. Participants liked the stranger more after receiving the positive autobiographical story, but they felt more empathy toward her after the negative autobiographical story. The discussion considers parameters of the communication platform and people’s perceptions of stories as explanations for the results. Limitations are considered.

Alea, N., Bluck, S., Mroz, E.L., Edwards, Z. The social function of autobiographical stories in the personal and virtual world. Topics in Cognitive Science, 0, 1-17.

Remembering in Environmental Context: Functions of Autobiographical Memory in Taiwanese and American Men and Women

The study addresses environment-level (i.e., culture, gender) and person-level factors influencing men and women’s use of memory to serve adaptive functions. The focus is on self-continuity and social-bonding functions though the directive function is also explored. Taiwanese (N = 86, 53 women) and American (N = 95, 51 women) men and women in emerging adulthood completed the Thinking about Life Experiences scale, as well as measures of trait personality, self-concept clarity, and future time perspective. Findings show that individuals from both cultures use memory to serve these three functions, but Taiwanese individuals use memory more frequently than Americans to maintain self-continuity. Environment-level findings were moderated by person-level factors: in Taiwan, but not America, the memory is more frequently used to create self-continuity in individuals high in trait conscientiousness. Across cultures, having lower self-concept clarity was related to greater use of memory to create self-continuity. In terms of gender, women more frequently talk about their personal past than men but this does not result in greater functional use of their memories. Findings are discussed in terms of how memory serves functions in ecological context, and the specific aspects of Taiwanese and American culture that may relate to functional use of memory.

Hsiao-Wen Liao, Susan Bluck, Nicole Alea & Ching-Ling Cheng (2015). Functions of autobiographical memory in Taiwanese and American emerging adults, Memory.

Functions of Memory: Old and Young in Trinidad and the USA

Multiple and interacting contextual (culture, life phase) and person-specific predictors (i.e., personality, tendency to think-talk about the past) of the functions of autobiographical memory were examined using the Thinking about Life Experiences scale. American (N = 174) and Trinidadian (N = 182) young and older adults self-reported how frequently they remembered the personal past to serve self, social, and directive functions, how often they thought and talked about their past overall, and completed a measure of trait personality. Contextual and person-specific predictors were found for using memory to serve a social-bonding function: Americans, young adults, those higher in extraversion, lower in conscientiousness, and individuals who frequently think and talk about the past more frequently use autobiographical memory to create and maintain social bonds. Across cultures, younger adults report more frequently using memory to serve all three functions. Findings are discussed in terms of the individual’s embeddedness in culture and life phase when remembering. Extending the study of the functions of autobiographical memory to new cultures provides insight into why human beings remember their personal past.

Alea, Bluck, & Ali (2014) Function in context: Why American and Trinidadian young and older adults remember the personal past, Memory.

Taiwanese Women’s Road to Adulthood

Two studies examined identity development in emerging adulthood. The objectives of Study 1 were to demonstrate that Taiwanese college students frequently experience emerging adulthood (already demonstrated in Western culture), and to test for expected gender differences in attaining adulthood. Study 2 delineated how women’s current identity status and their narrative identity predict psychological well-being. In Study 1, 361 Taiwanese participants (216 females; M age = 20.64, SD = 1.82) completed the Markers of Adulthood Questionnaire. In Study 2 (99 females; M age = 20.66, SD = 2.38) Taiwanese women reported Ego Identity Status and, to assess narrative identity, provided a self-defining memory of a turning point in their life. Narrative interpretation sequences (redemption-contamination) were reliably coded from the memories. A Psychological Well-Being scale was also administered. As predicted, the majority of Taiwanese men and women report being in emerging adulthood. Women are less likely to see themselves as adults, or as having attained adult markers (i.e., family capacity and social independence). Women’s psychological well-being was predicted by identity status as well as redemptive interpretation sequences in their self-defining memories. The factors affecting Taiwanese women’s ability to forge an adult identity, and consequences for well-being, are discussed

Liao,H., Bluck, S., Cheng, C. (2015). Young Women in Today’s Taiwan: Relation of Identity Status and Redemptive Narration to Psychological Well-Being. Sex Roles, 73, 258-272.

I Was Therefore I Am: Creating Self-Continuity Through Remembering Our Personal Past

Beginning at least in adolescence, humans are unique from other animals in the combination of having a conscious, reflective self and being aware of their movement through chronological time. Together, these create the need to maintain a sense of self-continuity across the lifespan. We review theory and research from the autobiographical memory and reminiscence literatures, arguing that maintaining self- continuity is a central function of remembering the personal past. A two-level conceptual model of self-continuity is proposed that acknowledges both the passage of chronological time in human lives and the malleability of retrospective views of one’s past. In presenting this model, we aim to ignite further research on the central roles played by reminiscence and autobiographical memory processes in maintaining and re-forging self-continuity over time. Such research is significant given the essential place of self-continuity in human adaptation and thriving.

Bluck, S., & Liao, H.W. (2013). I Was Therefore I Am: Creating Self-Continuity Through Remembering Our Personal Past. The International Journal of Reminiscence and Life Review, 1(1), 7-12.

The Empathy Function of Autobiographical Memory

Previous research has suggested there are three distinct categorical functions of autobiographical memory (AM): social bonding (communicative), directive (preparation for current and future behaviors) and self-continuity. (Bluck & Alea, 2002). One theorized social function of AM is eliciting empathy. The current study investigates the role of AM sharing in increasing empathy towards individuals perceived as in chronic pain. Participants empathy levels were assessed after reading a journal entry narrative written by a person of varying age (25 or 85) in chronic pain (pre-test) and again after assignment to one of two conditions (post-test). Conditions were set as either sharing one’s own AM of having been in pain, or as a comparison, thinking aloud about the author by recalling the pain narrative. Personality, memory characteristics, and memory functions were also assessed. Findings indicate that empathy levels (i.e., Perspective-taking) increased after sharing an autobiographical memory but not in the comparison condition. Participants did not show age biases but reported equal empathy for the young and old narrator. Regression analyses identified frequency of functional use of memory and the personal significance of the shared memory as predictors of post-test empathy. Findings are discussed in the context of the functional uses of autobiographical memory and in relation to formal and informal care-giving for younger and older adults in chronic pain.

Bluck, S., Baron, J., Ainsworth, S., Gesselman, A., & Gold, K. (2013). Eliciting Empathy for Adults in Chronic Pain through Autobiographical Memory Sharing. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 21, 81-90.

The TALE Scale

Theory suggests that autobiographical remembering serves several functions. This research is built on previous empirical efforts (Bluck, Alea, Habermas, & Rubin, 2005) and introduces a brief, valid measure of three functions of autobiographical memory. Participants (N = 306) completed 28 theoretically derived items concerning the frequency with which they use autobiographical memory to serve a variety of functions. To examine convergent and discriminant validity, participants rated their tendency to think about and talk about the past, and measures of future time orientation, self-concept clarity, and trait personality. Confirmatory factor analysis of the function items resulted in are specified model with 15 items in three factors. The newly developed Thinking about Life Experiences scale (TALE) shows good internal consistency as well as convergent validity for three sub-scales: Self-Continuity, Social-Bonding, and Directing-Behavior. Analyses show factorial equivalence across age and gender groups. Potential use and limitations of the TALE are discussed. The pdf below (2011) contains a copy of the scale and scoring instructions.

The Functional Approach to Autobiographical Memory

Our program of research relies on a functional approach to investigate autobiographical memory (AM) in everyday life. This approach relies on studying cognition, in this case AM, taking into account the psychological, social, or cultural-historic context in which it occurs. Areas of interest include understanding to what ends AM is used by individuals and in social relationships, how it is related to other cognitive abilities and emotional states, and how memory represents our inner and outer world. One insight gained by taking this approach is that levels and types of accuracy need not always be regarded as memory ‘failures’ but are often integral to a self-memory system that serves a variety of meaningful ends of human activity. Previously hypothesized functions of AM fall into three broad domains: self, social, and directive. The following articles further describe the functional approach to autobiographical memory.

Remembering Being Me: The Self-Continuity Function

What is the function of remembering one’s personal past? Literatures converge to identify three fundamental functions of autobiographical memory: self, social, and directive. This project focuses on the role of autobiographical memory in maintaining self-continuity. Self-continuity refers to the knowledge and experiential sense of being the same person over time regardless of changes in one’s environment, in social relationships, and across ontological development. People need to maintain self-continuity: memory for one’s self in the past is an important form of self-knowledge (Neisser, 1988) that is necessary for achieving current goals (Conway, Singer, & Tagini, 2004) and is related to well-being. Do individuals consciously use autobiographical memory to promote self-continuity? In this study, using the Thinking About Life Experiences Questionnaire, younger and older adults self-reported the frequency with which they use autobiographical memory to develop and maintain self-continuity. Individuals who reported low levels of self-concept clarity reported more frequently recalling their personal past to try to create self-continuity. Mediation analyses show that it is younger adults, who have lower levels of self-concept clarity, who most frequently draw on their personal past to create continuity. The extent to which individuals use autobiographical memory in the service of self-continuity may depend on the psychosocial tasks faced in their specific life phase.

Bluck, S., & Alea, N. (2008). Remembering being me: the self continuity function of autobiographical memory in younger and older adults. In F. Sani (Ed.), Self continuity: Individual and collective perspectives (pp.55-70). New York, NY: Psychology Press.

Using Autobiographical Memory for Intimacy

Maintaining intimate relationships is important for well being across adulthood. How is intimacy fostered over a lifetime? One theoretical claim is that we use autobiographical memories of others to keep them close. Person characteristics (age and gender) and memory characteristics (e.g., vividness) were examined as predictors of increases in intimacy after autobiographical remembering. Sixty-five young and older men and women in long-term relationships remembered and shared two events about their partner. Intimacy (both closeness and warmth) was assessed before and after remembering. Participants made several ratings of the memories’ characteristics, representing three indices: emotional re-experiencing, vividness, and rehearsal. A series of hierarchical regression analyses indicate that person and memory characteristics matter.

Older adults and younger adults both benefit from the intimacy function of autobiographical remembering. Women, however, show greater benefits than men. Characteristics of the memories seem to matter more than age and gender. Memories that have been often rehearsed lead to greater feelings of closeness, regardless of whether the person remembering is young or old, male or female. Similarly, vivid memories are more predictive (than personal characteristics) of individuals’ reports of the level of warmth in their relationship after remembering. It appears that the intimacy function of autobiographical memory is served across adulthood, as long as memory quality is preserved.

Alea, N., & Bluck, S. (2003).Why are you telling me that? A conceptual model of the social function of autobiographical memory. Memory, 11, 165-178.

More Vulnerable? The Life Story Approach Highlights Older People’s Potential for Strength During the Pandemic

Older adults have repeatedly been referred to as more physically vulnerable during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic, however, is not only about becoming physically ill. It has many psychosocial aspects: people are exposed to myriad life challenges. The life story approach does not ignore physical status but also emphasizes psychosocial strengths. It highlights that older people are likely to have developed resilience through experiencing life challenges and living across history. We used the narrative method to review research on three strengths: a tendency toward life reflection, adaptive use of personal memory, and temporal focus encouraging generativity. For each, we (a) present evidence that this strength manifests in the second half of life, and (b) identify how it may specifically be applied in dealing with the challenges of the pandemic. In considering their life stories, the picture that emerges is one of older adults as having the potential to show considerable psychosocial strength despite the adversities of the pandemic. We conclude that during this period of sweeping change in the lives of individuals of all ages, our older citizens may act as valuable societal anchors.

Lind, M., Bluck, B., & McAdams, P. (2020). More vulnerable? The life story approach highlights older people’s potential for strength during the pandemic. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B.

Functions of Recent and Distant Memories

Grounded in the ecological approach, research has charted several adaptive functions of autobiographical remembering. Each represents a rather different psychosocial domain (i.e., self, social, directive). The goal of this research was to determine the contributions of each of a set of variables, controlling for all others, in predicting use of autobiographical memory to serve each specific function. In two studies, participants (N = 100; N =195) rated the frequency of functional use of specific event memories and completed a brief battery of memory-related measures. Most Study One results were replicated in Study Two. Self-relevance of memories was related to their functional use regardless of domain. Each function was also, however, predicted by a unique set of variables consistent with its use in a given psychosocial domain. Findings emphasize how a combination of factors come into play to allow humans to use autobiographical memory to serve various different functions in navigating daily life.

Lind, M., Demiray, B., & Bluck, S. (2019). Identifying distinct sets of predictors of specific functions of autobiographical memory. Memory, 27(9), 1313–1318. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2019.1639759

TALE Scale – Korean

The Thinking about Life Experiences (TALE) Scale is well-used in the autobiographical memory literature. Through rigorous examination of its psychometric properties, this study aimed to validate a Korean version of the Thinking About Life Experiences Scale (TALE-K) with Korean adults. Data were collected through an online survey. The TALE-K, and for convergent validity purposes the Korean-Reminiscence Functions Scale for the Elderly (K-RFS-E), were administered to participants aged 19 years to 77. Data from 440 community participants were analyzed. Structural validity and convergent validity were confirmed. Measurement invariance was confirmed across
gender but it was partially confirmed across age group. Overall, Cronbach’s αs for the three subscales and intra-class correlation coefficients were good to excellent. The TALE-K seems to be a reliable, valid self-report instrument for measuring three autobiographical memory functions (i.e., self-continuity, social-bonding, and directing-behavior functions) in Korean adults. Further studies to better understand autobiographical memory functions in different age groups are recommended.

Park, S., Park, J.H., Hong, I., Kim, T. H., Alea, N., & Bluck, S. (2024). Validating the Korean version of the Thinking About Life Experiences Scale. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 38(1), e4168. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.4168

Well-being in the Second Half of Life

This study examines whether looking back in autobiographical time and one’s place in chronological time affect current well-being. Participants (N = 470) in the second half of life (age 50 – 90 years) completed a life story matrix, rating positive life events for perceived control, and influence on who they have become. They also reported negative and positive well-being. Findings show that recalling one’s self in the reminiscence bump years, not non-bump years, is related to well-being. While perceived control links to greater life satisfaction, viewing bump events as highly influential on the current self relates to lower self-esteem. Chronological age is associated with lower well-being but only very late in life. Findings are discussed in relation to the functional approach to autobiographical memory and lifespan developmental theory.

Liao, H.-W., Bluck, S., & Glück, J. (2021). Recalling youth: Control over reminiscence bump events predicts life satisfaction in midlife. Psychology and Aging, 36(2), 232–240. https://doi.org/10.1037/pag0000592

Self-Continuity in Older and Younger Adults

Older adults exhibit a stronger sense of self-continuity than the young. How do they accomplish that? The present study examines that issue using a life story lens. We investigated (a) whether older adults differ from the young when narrating self-disruptive (i.e., compared to nondisruptive) personal life events in the extent to which they focus on stability, change, and event–event connections and (b) if these ways of narrating self-disruptive events mediate relations between a person’s age and sense of self-continuity. Participants (N = 185; 53% women) completed a sense of self-continuity measure and orally shared two nondisruptive and two self-disruptive life events. Event narratives were transcribed, and best practices were used for reliable content analysis. Mixed analysis of variances showed that, regardless of age, individuals narrated greater stability when recalling self-disruptive than nondisruptive life events. Older adults described less change and made more event–event connections than younger adults when recalling self-disruptive events. In mediation analyses, older adults’ stronger sense of self-continuity (i.e., compared to younger adults) was partially explained by their narrating more event–event connections in recalling self-disruptive life events. Narrating more stability was not a mediator but was directly related to having a greater sense of self-continuity, regardless of age. Post hoc analyses indicated that greater narration of change was related to a lower sense of self-continuity for older, not younger, adults. We draw on lifespan and life story theories to suggest that older adults’ narratives may situate self-disruptive events in larger biographical context, fostering a greater experience of self-continuity.

Liao, Hs-W., & Bluck, S. (in press). Recalling self-disruptive events and maintaining self-continuity in adulthood. Psychology and Aging, DOI: 10.1037/pag0000719

The Loss of a Loved One: Remembering the Life and the Dying Days

This work focuses on reminiscence about a particular topic: recalling the life and the dying days of a lost loved one. Research has explored how individuals who have lost a loved one remember the experiences shared together over their lifetime. We propose that remembering is central to two positive aspects of the initial grief experience: meaning-making and personal growth. When the initial period of responding to a significant loss has concluded, however, memory still has a role to play. Individuals continue to recall days and moments of the life they shared with their loved one, often holding these memories dear for the rest of their lives. As part of that, they may recall a particularly intimate period: their loved one’s dying days. This includes memories of final conversations with, or the last time they saw, the deceased. What function might memories from the dying days serve? We argue that these memories can be used to maintain self-continuity and encourage social bonding. If so, this has implications for shaping the environments in which individuals die: place of death may affect the content and quality of the final memories formed.

Mroz, E. L. & Bluck, S. (2018). The loss of a loved one: Remembering the life and the dying days. In: Faith Gibson (Ed.), Reminiscence, Life Review, and Life Story Work: International Perspectives. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Pallitative Care Needs Assessment

This study identiﬁes healthcare providers’ perspectives on palliative care at end of life (EOL) in a neuro medicine-intensive care unit (Neuro-ICU) and barriers to providing palliative care. Provider’s EOL expertise is crucial in making timely referrals to palliative care as expectation of patient death can be high. Barriers to referral need to be clearly identiﬁed so as to engage quality initiatives that improve EOL care delivery. The study is a survey design using a mixed-methods approach. Providers at a large academic medical center, including doctors, nurses, and social workers, completed a quality improvement survey. Forty-one providers responded to Likert-type scales assessing their perspectives on palliative care. Their EOL expertise was independently assessed. In addition, barriers to palliative care referral were collected using a checklist and open-ended responses. The latter were reliably content analyzed through a card sort technique. Three palliative care perspectives were identiﬁed: foundational perspective, comfort-care perspective, and holistic perspective. Regression analysis shows that providers’ perspectives are differentially related to their EOL expertise. Frequencies of provider-reported barriers to referring patients to palliative care (e.g., lack of care coordination) were determined. Healthcare providers hold multiple perspectives on what they consider palliative care. Their perspectives are related systematically to different aspects of their EOL expertise. In-house training and quality initiatives could focus on unifying providers’ perspectives to create a common language for understanding palliative care. Eliminating individual, intergroup, and organizational barriers is necessary for creating an optimal environment for patients and their families who ﬁnd themselves, often suddenly, in a Neuro-ICU.

Bluck,S., Mroz, E.L., Baron-Lee, J. (2018). Providers’ perspectives on palliative care in neuromedicine- intensive care unit. J Palliative Medicine.

In Memory: Predicting Preferences for Memorializing Lost Loved Ones

People’s preferences for memorializing loved ones vary and may depend on their personal attitudes and experiences with death. Participants (N = 145) completed the memorializing preferences checklist and measures of personal attitudes and life experiences with death. Factor analysis identified four memorializing preferences. In terms of predicting preferences, greater acknowledgment of death, and having experienced more losses, predicted preference for memorializing through societal tradition, community legacy, and continuing intimacy. Greater death resistance and less closeness to the deceased predicted a preference for memorializing through confronting loss. Findings are discussed in terms of the range of preferences for and motivations behind memorializing.

Mroz, E. & Bluck S. (2018).In memory: Predicting preferences for memorializing lost loved ones. Death Studies, 1-10.

Memories as Directives

The study examines the relation between experience with death-to-death attitudes and to how autobiographical memories are used by comparing people who had just signed up to work with Hospice ( Novice ) with people who already had several years of experience as Hospice volunteers ( Experienced ). Participants (N = 52) completed standard death attitude measures and wrote narratives about a death-related autobiographical memory and (for comparison) a memory of a low point in their lives. Self-ratings of the memory narratives were used to assess their functional use. Results show that higher levels of experience with death were related to lower levels of death anxiety and avoidance. Participants with higher levels of death experience also more frequently used their death-related memories to serve adaptive functions. For example, experienced volunteers reported using their death-related memories to serve social purposes: they reported sharing their death experiences to get to know other people better, to develop greater intimacy in relationships, and to teach or advise others.

Evaluating the Comfort Shawl Project: Experiential Immersion in Palliative Care

The Comfort Shawl Project bridges psychological research from the Life Story Lab with application among undergraduate nursing students. Although providing compassionate care at the end of life is an essential role in nursing, many nurses report a lack of confidence in providing such care. Therefore, the American Colleges of Nursing established the CARES Competencies (Competencies And Recommendations for Educating undergraduate nursing Students) that all students must achieve upon graduation. The UF Comfort Shawl Project is an experiential learning project that aims to evaluate the extent to which these CARES competencies can be developed through non-medical interactions. The student nurses attended interdisciplinary team meetings of the palliative care consult service and gifted handcrafted shawls (crafted by volunteers including alumni, other nursing students, and Gainesville locals) to patients of all ages who were receiving palliative care. In Study 1, after gifting, students wrote three words that best described the feeling in the room. Responses were content-analyzed to assess the frequency of specific concepts produced in the Three Words task. Gifting Reflection narratives were used to characterize the content–analysis categories. Nursing students’ most common responses were reflected in the categories Comfort and Kindness, and Thankfulness and Appreciation. Students also reported Sorrow and Need, but positive themes of Happiness and Delight, and Calm and Reflective were equally as prevalent. Experiential learning that focuses on psychosocial learning can result in nurses having positive, meaningful experiences in caring for seriously ill patients.

For Study 2, we performed a reliable content analysis of their narrative reflections of gifting the shawls, which evaluated whether reflections on their interactions with patients/families were consistent with CARES competencies. Nine female students wrote reflections after gifting each of the 234 comfort shawls to patients. Four CARES-related categories were analyzed: Individual Values and Diversity, Compassionate Communication, Fostering Quality of Life, and Self-Insight and Emotion. Reflections were highly representative (41%) of recognizing Individual Values and Diversity, representing sensitivity for patients’ unique differences in values, an integral component of palliative care. Although, all four categories were seen in the reflections. The Comfort Shawl Project shows promise as an experiential immersion for introducing nursing students to CARES competencies.

Glover, T.L., Narvel, N.R., Schneider, L.A., Horgas, A.L., Bluck, S. (2018). Nursing students’ reactions to an educational experiential immersion in palliative care. J Nurs Educ., 57(11), 675-679.

Glover, T., Åkerlund, H., Horgas, A., & Bluck, S. (2019). Experiential Palliative Care Immersion: Student Nurse’s Narratives Reflect Care Competencies. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 1-16.

Younger and Older Adults’ Memories of Loss and Illness

Loss of a loved one is challenging when it occurs (Holmes & Rahe, 1967). Long after, individuals remember such events but may also ruminate (e.g., Eisma et al., 2012). Recalling loss and illness may, however, also have positive aspects. Participants (N = 99 younger adults, 87 older adults) narrated their life’s two most challenging events and a neutral event. Older adults were more likely than young to share death-illness events. To examine this further, participants who shared a death-illness memory were selected to share the death-illness event to both another non-death challenging event and a neutral event. Rumination about, and Personal Growth from each event were rated and themes of Communion (e.g., love and friendship; McAdams, 2001) were reliably content-coded (kappa = .79) from the memories. ANOVAs indicate personal growth and communion occur more for death-illness events than for other challenging events or neutral events. Rumination was more likely following a death/illness or challenging event compared to a neutral event. In terms of age, young adults were more likely to ruminate following any type of event than older adults. This refutes the stereotype that older adults ruminate more, in general, than younger adults. Overall, the study findings identify death-illness events as ones that individuals may suffer from ruminating about but that are not uniformly difficult: they also result in greater feelings of personal growth and stronger expressions of feelings of communion with others.

Mroz, E. L., Bluck, S., Sharma, S., & Liao, H. (2020). Loss in the Life Story: Remembering Death and Illness Across Adulthood. Psychological Reports, 123(1), 97-123.

The “Brush with Death” Study

Classic lifespan theory suggests that individuals’ time perspective shifts as they move across adulthood (Neugarten, 1979), changing the extent to which the experienced past and anticipated future may act as resources. Emerging adults’ past is short with a sense of optimistic anticipation concerning the future (Arnett, 2000). They have, however, already faced everyday stressors and may even have experienced a ‘brush with death. This study examines: (i) the extent to which recalling stressful autobiographical events results in anxiety, and (ii) whether orientation toward the future acts as a buffer when recalling past mortality-related events. Emerging adults’ (N = 120) future time perspective (Carstensen & Lang, 1996) and anticipated future intimacy (Sharabany, 1994) were assessed. They were then assigned to one of three conditions, recalling: a brush with death, an everyday stressor, or past neutral activities. Following narration of the event, state anxiety was assessed (Marteau & Bekker, 1992). As predicted, recalling stressful events resulted in current feelings of anxiety, and recalling mortality-related events specifically resulted in death anxiety. Also as expected, mortality-related anxiety was buffered by future orientation. Anticipation of a close intimate relationship in the future, and having a realistic sense of future time were related to lower anxiety levels after recalling a brush with death (but not in the everyday anxiety or control groups). Findings are discussed in terms of shifting relations of past to future orientations across the lifespan.

Bluck, S. & Liao, H. (2020). Anxiety after remembering stressful academic versus brush with death events: The moderating roles of future time perspective and personal intimacy. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 34, 228-240.

Death Over Dinner

We investigated how death attitudes and experience relate to perspectives on advance care planning (ACP) in young adulthood, and whether attending a Death over Dinner event
affects perspectives on ACP. Participants (N ¼ 109) were assigned to a Death over Dinner or
waitlist control condition, completing pretest and post-test measures. Higher Death
Rejection and having more Experience with Death predicted Reservations about ACP.
Participation in a Death over Dinner decreased Reservations toward ACP compared to the
control group. Death over Dinner appears to be useful in ameliorating reservations toward
ACP without shortening individuals’ sense of their time left to live.

Mroz, E. L., Bluck, S., Smith, K. (2020). Young adults’ perspectives on advance care planning: Evaluating the Death over Dinner initiative. Death Studies, 1-10.

Functional Remembering After Loss

Remembering one’s personal past serves psychosocial functions. Adaptive use of autobiographical memory is related to well-being but little research has focused on grief. We address this in two studies theoretically grounded in the model of reminiscence and health. Participants were adults who were actively grieving, and in both studies, completed the Reminiscence Functions Scale and grief-related measures (i.e. feelings of grief, positive changes in life perspective). Study 1 focused on uses for generally recalling one’s past and Study 2 on uses of memories of the deceased. Across studies, self-negative ways of remembering were associated with stronger feelings of grief and also mediated relations between social ways of remembering and grief. Self-positive ways of remembering the deceased (Study 2) were associated with having experienced positive changes in life perspective since the loss. The discussion focuses on how memories of one’s personal past are linked to the experience of loss, even years into bereavement.

Tabea Wolf, Veronika Strack & Susan Bluck (2021): Adaptive and harmful autobiographical remembering after the loss of a loved one, Aging & Mental Health, DOI: 10.1080/13607863.2021.2003299

Emerging Adults’ Outlook on the Future in the Midst of COVID-19

Classic lifespan developmental theory describes emerging adulthood and the transition to adulthood as important periods for thinking about one’s future life trajectory. Today, youth are facing far-reaching changes to daily life due to COVID-19. This may have negative effects on their future outlook, and the extent of such effects may be related to personality. This study examined emerging adults’ multidimensional personality profiles in relation to the extent that they hold a positive outlook on their future at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Quantitative and brief narrative measures of future outlook were collected. Hierarchical cluster analysis and Latent Profile Analysis revealed two clear personality profiles, labeled Reflectors and Forgers. Forgers demonstrated robust personality characteristics indicative of psychologically ‘pushing forward’ through pandemic-related challenges. Reflectors demonstrated more pandemic reactivity including higher stress but also more psychological integration of the pandemic experience into their sense of self. In terms of future outlook, Forgers reported a positive and expansive outlook on the future across multiple measures. In contrast, Reflectors held more negative, restricted views of what future life might hold. Results are discussed in terms of the role of multi-level personality in dictating emerging adults’ future perspectives in the wake of life challenges. Ideas are presented about how to best support young people as they transition into the future, into adulthood, while grappling with the challenges of the pandemic.

Lind, M., Mroz, E., Sharma, S., Li, D., & Bluck, S. (2022). Emerging adults’ outlook on the future in the midst of Covid-19: the role of personality profiles. Journal of Adult Development, online.

Death as Part of the Life Story

This article is a tribute to James Birren (1918-2016), a pioneer in Gerontology. Among his many contributions was the development of Guided Autobiography. This structured reminiscence technique includes various themes, but innovatively, explores life experience with death as a key component of individuals’ lives. Inspired by his recognition of death as part of life, we provide a conceptualization for further consideration of death as part of the life story. We suggest two central ways in which this occurs: (i) while individuals are alive, others’ endings become part of their continuing life story, and (ii) part of being human is that we all die. The fact that humans know that their story will one day end may affect what they do and the stories they tell about their lives well before-hand. Empirical research from our own lab is woven with extant literature to support our conceptualization of death as part of the life story.

Bluck, S., & Mroz, E. (2018). The End: Death as Part of the Life Story. International Journal of Reminiscence and Life Review, 5. 6-14.

Striving to Live Well Before I Die

How the good life manifests in one’s narrative identity may be shaped by their consideration that their life story will have an ending. This study takes a eudaimonic approach, investigating human virtues (Peterson & Seligman, 2004) as central to the good life. Since reflection on life’s finitude may depend on age, three adult life phases were sampled (young, middle-aged, and older adults). Narrative identity was tapped through a self-defining memory (SDM) as well as descriptors of the SDM provided in line with one of two conditions: (i) Current-SDM, according to classic SDM instructions, or (ii) Memorialize-SDM, according to instructions prompting them to consider death, and how they want to be remembered. SDMs were content-analyzed for total virtues present, and type of virtue present. Two-way ANOVA showed more virtues, in total, were narrated in Memorialize-SDMs than Current-SDMs, regardless of participant age. Humanity and Courage & Justice occurred more frequently than other virtues in the SDMs. Narrative examples of virtue are presented and discussed. Findings suggest that, compared to those considering only their current life circumstance, individuals considering their death more frequently refer to having a virtuous, good life.

Bluck, S., Mroz, E., Cogdill-Richardson, K., McDarby, M., Carpenter, B. (2022). Even the good life has an ending: Virtue in the face of finitude. Journal of Personality, online, doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2022.104238

Longitudinal Relations Between Self-Defining Memories and Self-Esteem: Mediating Roles of Meaning-Making and Memory Functions

The present study examines the role of self-defining memories in predicting self-esteem using a 1-year longitudinal design with an adult lifespan sample (N=1,216; age range 18–92; M(age)=49.52; SD(age)=17.25). The interplay between narrators’ personality at the life story level and two social-cognitive processes, meaning-making and functional memory use, is investigated. Participants provided three self-defining memories, and their personality positivity was assessed in terms of the ratio of positive-to-all memories. Memory narratives were reliably coded for meaning-making, and participants reported the extent to which they use each remembered event to serve adaptive functions. One year later, participants completed a measure of self-esteem. Personality positivity at Time 1 predicts greater self-esteem at Time 2. The effect of personality positivity occurs, however, completely through creating positive meaning and using memories functionally. The findings contribute to the literature on narrative identity and autobiographical memory by delineating how memory processes relate to self-regulation over time. The relative roles of personality and social-cognitive processes in autobiographical narratives in linking to self-esteem are discussed.

Liao, H.W., Bluck, S., & Westerhof, G.J. (2017). Longitudinal Relations Between Self-Defining Memories and Self-Esteem: Mediating Roles of Meaning-Making and Memory Function. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 0(0), 1-24.

Reflecting on death: Priorities for living well

The positive death movement has popularized considering one’s mortality. Stemming from this, Before I Die Walls erected globally prompt individual reflection on life goals, considering life’s finitude. The aims of the study: (i) examined relative extent of three categories of responses to a Before I Die task, moderated by age, and (ii) tested whether purpose in life is associated with categories of Before I Die responses, moderated by age. Young, middle aged and older adults (N = 195) completed a Before I Die task (BID) and several measures including a purpose in life scale. BID task responses were reliably card-sorted into theoretically derived categories. Findings show responses most frequently represent living an Accomplished and Productive Life. Having higher purpose was related to focus on an Accomplished and Productive Life for younger adults. Before I Die walls may be a useful activity allowing adults to generate goals aligned with living well.

Cogdill-Richardson, K., Bluck, S., & Mroz, E. L. (2024). Reflecting on death: Priorities for living well. Death studies, 1–8. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2023.2300008

Remember and Review or Forget and Let Go? Views from a Functional Approach to Autobiographical Memory

As humans, we show a certain contrariness in our view of remembering, particularly in relation to remembering our own personal past: we love to remember and we love to forget. This article explores this tension, providing a view from the functional approach to autobiographical memory. The benefits of remembering versus forgetting are discussed through exploration of three central questions: (i) What is the goal, the desired outcome, of remembering-forgetting (ii) does one principle, to remember or to forget, apply for both good and bad memories, and (iii) is it ethical to internally or externally manipulate others’ memories to induce forgetting? Using the functional approach, memory is presented not simply as helpful in creating and maintaining well-being. Instead, both positive and negative memories are presented as resources that help us to orient more broadly, as social animals, in time and space.

Bluck, S. (2017). Remember and Review or Forget and Let Go? Views from a Functional Approach to Autobiographical Memory. The International Journal of Reminiscence and Life Review, 4(1), 3-7.

Age, Future Perspective & Healthy Choices

Regardless of age, making healthy lifestyle choices is prudent. Despite that, individuals of all ages sometimes have difficulty choosing the healthy option. We argue that individuals’ view of the future and position in the life span affects their current lifestyle choices. We capture the multidimensionality of future thinking by assessing 3 types of future perspective. Younger and older men and women (N = 127) reported global future time perspective, future health perspective, and perceived importance of future health-related events. They also rated their likelihood of making healthy lifestyle choices. As predicted, older participants indicated greater intention to make healthy choices in their current life than did younger participants. Compared to younger participants, older participants reported shorter global future time perspective and anticipated worse future health but perceived future health-related events as more important. Having a positive view of one’s future health and seeing future health-related events as important were related to greater intention to make healthy lifestyle choices, but greater global future time perspective was not directly related to healthy choices. However, follow-up analyses suggested that greater global future time perspective indirectly affected healthy choices via a more positive view of future health. None of these relations were moderated by age. Individuals’ perspective on the future is shown to be an important multidimensional construct affecting everyday healthy lifestyle choices for both younger and older adults. Implications for encouraging healthy choices across the adult life span are discussed.

Tasdemir-Ozdes, A., Strickland-Hughes, C. M., Bluck, S., & Ebner, N. C. (2016). Future perspective and healthy lifestyle choices in adulthood. Psychology and Aging, 31(6), 618-630.

Meaning Making and Subjective Wellbeing in Two Cultures

Two studies in different cultures (Study 1: USA, N 174, Study 2: Trinidad, N 167) examined whether meaning making, (i.e., both searching for meaning, and directing behaviour) is positively related to subjective well-being (SWB) by age (younger, older adults). In both studies, participants self-reported engagement in meaning making, and SWB (e.g., affect, future time perspective, psychological wellbeing). In Study 1, young Americans (compared to older) more frequently used their past to direct behaviour but doing so was unrelated to SWB. In older Americans, both types of meaning making were positively associated with SWB. In Study 2, Trinidadian younger adults were again more likely than older adults to engage in meaning making. Unlike in the American sample, however, directing behaviour was positively related to SWB for both young and older adults. The studies demonstrate that whether meaning making shows benefits for SWB may depend on type of meaning, age and culture. Note that although meaning making was sometimes unrelated to SWB, no detrimental relations to meaning making were found. The discussion focuses on the role of moderators in understanding when meaning making should lead to benefits versus costs to SWB.

Alea, N., & Bluck, S. (2013). When does meaning making predict subjective well-being? Examining young and older adults in two cultures. Memory, 21(1), 44-63.

Development of the Story Quality Index

Nearly all humans tell stories, but whether a person recalls a good story can have outcomes for both the storyteller and listener. Previous research on story quality has not employed a standard tool for measuring quality, and has not reported whether men and women raters of different ages judge story quality similarly. The current study addresses whether dimensions of story quality represent a unitary index that is consistent across men and women of different ages. The first specific aim is to determine whether lay-raters of different ages and genders use a newly developed rating tool reliably (i.e., consistently) to evaluate story quality. The second specific aim is to assess whether the identified dimensions form a general factor of global story quality such that the ratings can be combined into a story quality index. Dimensions of story quality were drawn from the existing literature as well as through use of a structured focus group (age & gender balanced). The materials were autobiographical and fictional stories provided by 129 older and younger men and women about a date with a partner. Findings showed that young and old men and women lay-raters did indeed judge the quality of the memory stories consistently. Results also showed that multidimensional story ratings hang together to form an index of story quality that holds for both types of stories, and is maintained in groups of men and women, and older and younger adults. The Story Quality Index is a useful new tool for the standard assessment of story quality across different types of stories and individuals.

Baron, J., & Bluck, S. (2011). That was a good story! Preliminary construction of the perceived story quality index. Discourse Processes, 48(2), 93-118.

Reflections of the Self in Earliest Memories

Based on the self-memory system model (SMS; Conway, Singer, & Tagini, 2004) of autobiographical memory, this study uses a large sample of young and middle-aged adults to investigate the relation between individuals’ current self-characteristics and the content of both their earliest childhood memory and a recent memory. In the first session, participants’ current self-characteristics were assessed. In the second session, individuals provided a written narrative of their earliest childhood memory and a more recent memory (within-participants design) and rated the self themes present in each memory. In keeping with the SMS model, findings show that current self-characteristics were reflected in individuals’ memories. As predicted, however, recent memories were more frequently linked to current self characteristics than were earliest memories. All six current self-characteristics predicted the inclusion of these themes in recent memories, but only four self-characteristics were associated with memory themes in earliest memories. The relation between current self-characteristics and memory themes did not differ across young and middle-aged adults, suggesting developmental stability in these relations. Findings provide general support for the SMS model but also suggest possibilities for its extension and refinement.

Demiray, B., & Bluck, S. (2011). The relation of the conceptual self to recent and distant autobiographical memories. Memory, 19(8), 975-992.

Meaning in Memories

Previous research has suggested that the death of a loved one challenges assumptions about life, making it necessary to develop coping skills, or meaning-making strategies, to make sense of the event. Instances of such strategies were expected to be preserved in individuals’ autobiographical memories of death-related events years after they had occurred. Participants ( N= 52 ) provided memory narratives of death and low point events ( i.e., as a comparison ), life lessons learned from each event, and ratings of the characteristics of their memories ( e.g., emotion, rehearsal ). Results show that death memory narratives exhibit more meaning-making strategies, are rated as more emotionally positive, and are more frequently rehearsed than memories of low-points. Both death and low point events lead to the learning of life lessons. Results are discussed in terms of how meaning is preserved in memory over time.

Mackay, M., & Bluck, S. (2009). Meaning-making in memories: a comparison of memories of death-related and low point life experiences. Death Studies, 34(8), 715-737.

A Life Story Account of the Reminiscence Bump

The reminiscence bump is one of the most robust findings in the autobiographical memory literature: adults recall a larger number of events from the second and third decade of life than from other periods. Berntsen and Rubin (2002, 2004; Rubin & Berntsen, 2003) proposed a life-script account of the reminiscence bump that explains why the bump is found for positive but not for negative life events. The current project extends the life-script account by taking a life-span developmental approach, proposing a life-story account for the bump. This new account argues that events in the reminiscence bump are characterized not only by positive valence but by high perceived control over the event, and high perceived influence of the event on one’s later development.

Predictions from this account were tested and confirmed in analyses of 3541 life events collected from 659 participants aged 50 to 90 years. Only high-control positive events showed a reminiscence bump, and these events were rated as more influential on later development than events showing any other combination of valence and control. Findings are discussed in terms of an extension of the life-script account to embrace both the principles of lifespan development and the personal creation of a life story by which autobiographical memory is organized.

Glück, J., & Bluck, S. (2008). Looking back across the life span: A life story account of the reminiscence bump. Memory & Cognition, 35, 1928-1939.

Life Challenges and Resilience: the Role of Perceived Personality Continuity

Self-functioning, one aspect of mental health, is positive in later life. Although experiencing challenges may disrupt mental health, internal resources can foster resilience. This study examines how the frequency of recent challenges relates to current self-functioning. Perceived personality continuity, one’s sense of maintaining their trait personality, is investigated as an internal resource. Participants (N= 99 young adults, 88 older adults) reported all challenging events experienced in the last six years. Perceived personality continuity over the same time was assessed. Multi-measurement of current self-functioning included self-concept clarity, self-esteem, and self-acceptance. Older adults reported higher self-concept clarity and self-esteem; young adults reported higher self-acceptance. Experiencing more challenges related to lower self-concept clarity and self- esteem across age groups, with a stronger negative link to self-esteem for young adults. Perceived personality continuity partially mediated relations between: (i) challenges and self-concept clarity, and (ii) challenges and self-esteem. Perceived personality continuity mediated positive self-functioning for older adults only. A late life strength, older adults report higher self-functioning overall. Challenges negatively relate to self-functioning across age groups, but younger adults’ self-esteem is more vulnerable. When having faced challenges, older adults’ perceived personality continuity is critical to positive current self-functioning.

Sharma, S., Åkerlund, H., Liao, H. W., & Bluck, S. (2020). Life Challenges and Resilience: the Role of Perceived Personality Continuity. Aging and Mental Health.

Stories of our Youth: The Reminiscence Bump

The reminiscence bump phenomenon is well established: adults in the second half of life remember more events from their youth than from other periods. Almost no research has focused, however, on the adaptive value of the reminiscence bump for adult well-being. Grounded in a life story approach, this research examined whether perceiving that one had control over events from the bump period (compared with other
past periods and also one’s present life) was related to current life satisfaction. We also investigated whether chronological age moderated these associations. Participants (N = 470; 49–90 years; 59% women) were part of the European Study on Adult Well-being. They briefly reported up to 15 personally significant events from across their entire life. They indicated age at occurrence and rated their perceived control for each reported event. Well-being was assessed with a standard measure of current life satisfaction. Perceived control over the present and covariates including memory valence and current circumstances (i.e., financial security, social living arrangement, number of medications, and mental health) were also measured. Findings indicate that greater perceived control over reminiscence bump
events, but not other past events, predicted current life satisfaction in adults in late midlife (i.e., ages 49–60). In contrast, greater present-focused perceived control was associated with life satisfaction in those 62 years and older. The findings are discussed in the context of the life story account of the reminiscence bump. Understanding the adaptive value of recalling one’s personal past may require attention to individuals’ current life phase.

Liao, H.-W., Bluck, S., & Glück, J. (2021). Recalling youth: control over reminiscence bump events predicts life satisfaction in midlife. Psychology and Aging. Advance online publication. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pag0000592

Virtues in Self-Defining Memories

Self-defining memories help one describe the self to others. Identifying virtue (Peterson & Seligman, 2004) in self-defining memories connotes reflection on the self as embodying valued human characteristics. Virtues may be differentially identified in self-defining memories about the current self and memorialized self in young (18–28 years), middle (40–50 years), and older (60–72 years) adulthood. In this study, younger and older participants (N = 202) were randomly assigned to recall a self-defining memory in a current-self or a memorialized-self condition. They rated their self-defining memory for demonstration of five specific virtues. Unlike middle-aged and older adults, young adults reported more virtue in the memorialized-self condition than the current-self condition at the overall virtue level and across most individual virtues. Prioritization of normative developmental tasks and awareness of time left in life for self-development may motivate current-self or memorialized-self condition differences in identification of virtue in young adults compared to middle-aged and older adults.

McDarby, M., Mroz, E., Carpenter, B., & Bluck (2021). Remember me: Virtues in self-defining memories across adulthood. International Journal of Reminiscence and Life Review, 8, online.

Storying Life’s Challenges with Purpose

Late life is still often characterized as a time of loss and decline. The current study moved beyond this view, using both the resilience framework and the life story approach to highlight the rich life experiences of older adults. Doing so created an opportunity to explore perspectives on sense of purpose in life, from the vantage point of old age. The study had two central questions. That is, how have older adults drawn on their sense of purpose across their lives, and what factors led to the development of a sense of purpose? Following guidelines for the consensual qualitative research method (CQR; Hill et al., The Counseling Psychologist, 25(4), 517–572, 1997; Hill & Knox, 2021), in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 older women and men (aged 60 – 100 years) and transcribed for analysis. The CQR method revealed seven domains in the interviews. Three domains were relevant to the frst research question, including: overcoming life challenges to pursue purpose, perspective-taking to maintain purpose, and purpose as part of one’s religion. Four domains provided insights on the second research question: life background infuencing purpose, shifts in purpose across life, fulflling purpose across life, and obstacles to pursuing purpose in life. Findings highlighted how older people use sense of purpose as a guide in the face of life’s inevitable challenges. They also revealed the unique life story paths that lead to the development of purpose across individuals’ lifetimes. The implications of maintaining a sense of purpose in life, across the later years, are discussed.

Sharma, S., & Bluck, S. (2023). Older adults recall life challenges: Sense of purpose as part of the life story. Current Psychology. Doi: 10.1007/s12144-022-03439-7

Digital Life Story Books: Intervention to maintain sense of self

The sharp increase in dementia and age-related memory impairments worldwide has made reminiscence-based interventions attractive. Past research is mixed with little focus on self-functioning. The aims of this study were (i) to develop and assess the implementation of a reminiscence-based intervention, Digital Life Story Books, grounded in evidence-based principles of autobiographical memory, and (ii) to evaluate its effectiveness in improving sense of self in older adults with memory difficulties. A remote reminiscence intervention, using multisensory Digital Life Story Books (DLSB), was developed. Using a short-term experimental, longitudinal design, 25 participants with memory difficulties were assigned to the DLSB condition (16 females; M = 73.96, SD = 8.8) and 23 to a Wait-List Control (16 females; M = 78.57, SD = 9.38). Informal caregivers (N = 34; M = 63.44, SD = 13.8) provided proxy reports on the effects of the DLSB. The DLSB was successfully developed and positively evaluated by participants. In the DLSB condition, a strengthened sense of self, reflected directly in the memories selected for the DLSB was detected. No overall condition difference was detected pre- to post-therapy. The findings highlight the appeal of reminiscence activities but also the challenge of adequate measurement sensitivity to demonstrate effects.

Lind, M., Bluck, S., & Barbour, E. (2024). Digital Life Story Books: Intervention to maintain sense of self in older adults with memory difficulties. Educational Gerontology, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/03601277.2024.2383830

Making You My Own: Three Critical Parameters for a Theory
of Vicarious Memory

Reflecting on Pillemer et al.’s (2024) comprehensive and authoritative article, our commentary flags three critical issues we believe could benefit from further conceptual specification to refine vicarious memory theory. First, we take the stand that vicarious memory is distinct from autobiographical memory and needs to be more precisely defined in its own right. In service of a definition, we explore how the two systems are separate but may intersect through what we term vicarious reasoning. Second, the allowable sources of
vicarious memories need to be determined. We suggest vicarious memories can only be gleaned from close others, those with whom we identify. Third, several adaptive outcomes of vicarious remembering were presented in the target article. We suggest that once vicarious memories are defined in a more constrained manner, including delineating allowable sources, a tight conceptual rationale can be made for a small set of particular outcomes.

Bluck, S., & Lind, M. (2024). Making you my own: Three critical parameters for a theory of vicarious memory.Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 13(2), 172–175. https://doi.org/10.1037/mac0000176

Story Asides Project

Older adults sometimes exhibit higher levels of off-target verbosity during story recall than do young adults. This appears as the inclusion of extraneous information not directly relevant to the topic. Some production of such material has been clearly related to cognitive decline, particularly older adults’ inability to inhibit production of irrelevant information. In tandem, however, research also suggests that some extraneous information is indirectly related to the topic and may reflect age differences in communicative styles. To further elucidate the social– cognitive aspect of this issue, the question of import is: What is the content of the additional information provided by participants during story recall? The present study answers this question. Grounded in the autobiographical memory and life story literatures, we introduce the construct, story asides, and a reliable content-analytic scheme for its assessment. Young and older adults (N 129) recalled 1 of 2 types of stories: a personal autobiographical memory or an experimenter-generated fictional story. Narratives were reliably coded for story asides. As expected, older adults produced more story asides than young adults only for autobiographical stories. The discussion focuses on the role of story asides in everyday communication including the possibility that they may be a sign of communicative expertise.

Bluck, S., Alea, N., Baron-Lee, J. M., & Davis, D. K. (2016). Story Asides as a Useful Construct in Examining Adults’ Story Recall. Psychology and Aging.

Story Accuracy in Younger and Older Adults

Sharing stories is an important social activity in everyday life. This study used fine-grained content analysis to investigate the accuracy of recall of two central story elements: the gist and detail of socially-relevant stories. Younger (M age = 28.06) and older (M age = 75.03) American men and women (N = 63) recalled fictional stories that were coded for (i) accuracy of overall gist and specific gist categories and (ii) accuracy of overall detail and specific detail categories. Findings showed no age group differences in accuracy of overall gist or detail, but differences emerged for specific categories. Older adults more accurately recalled the gist of when the event occurred whereas younger adults more accurately recalled the gist of why the event occurred. These differences were related to episodic memory ability and education. For accuracy in recalling details, there were some age differences, but gender differences were more robust. Overall, women remembered details of these social stories more accurately than men, particularly time and perceptual details. Women were also more likely to accurately remember the gist of when the event occurred. The discussion focuses on how accurate recall of socially-relevant stories is not clearly age-dependent but is related to person characteristics such as gender and episodic memory ability/education.

Davis, D.K., Alea, N., & Bluck, S. (2015). The Difference Between Right and Wrong: Accuracy of Older and Younger Adults’ Story Recall. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 12, 10861-10885.

Age Differences in Phenomenology

The phenomenology of younger and older adults’ positive memories provide insight into how they recreate and narrate the stories of their lives. How emotional and how well structured our memories are may influence the extent to which we are able to find listeners for the stories we tell. The characteristics of positive autobiographical memory narratives were examined in younger and older adults. Narratives were content-coded for the extent to which they contained indicators of affect, sensory imagery, and cognition. Affect was additionally assessed through self-report. Young adults expressed more positive affect and less sensory imagery in their memory narratives than did older adults. Age differences in cognitive characteristics also appeared: younger adults showed greater causation-insight, and greater tentativeness in retelling their autobiographical memories. Controlling for episodic memory ability eliminated age differences in positive affect but did not affect age differences on other memory characteristics. Results are discussed in terms of the role that positive autobiographical memories play in daily emotional life across adulthood.

Bluck, S., & Alea, N. (2009). Characteristics of positive autobiographical memories in adulthood. The International Journal of Aging & Human Development, 69(4), 247-265.

Emotion in Memory: Narratives vs. Self-reports

Though autobiographical remembering is a common means of emotional expression in everyday life, rarely have autobiographical narratives been used to assess emotion. In the present study, young and older adults’ self-reports and narratives of the salience, frequency and intensity of emotional reactions to a “real-world” emotional event were compared. Self-reports and autobiographical narratives tell different stories about certain aspects of emotion. For example, self-report measures and narratives both indicate greater salience of emotion late in life. In contrast, older adults more frequently expressed negative affect, particularly sadness, in their narratives, but not in self-reports.

Alea, N., Bluck, S., & Semegon, A. (2004). Young and older adult’s expression of emotional experience: Do autobiographical narratives tell a different story? Adult Development, 11(4), 235-250.

Alea, N., Diehl, M., & Bluck, S. (2004). Personality and emotion in late life. Encyclopedia of Applied Psychology, 1-10. San Diego, CA: Elsevier.

Levine, L.J., & Bluck, S. (2004). Painting with broad strokes: happiness and the malleability of event memory. Cognition and Emotion, 18, 559-574.

Empathy in Student Nurse

Objective: A substantial body of research supports what many nurses know from experience: empathy is at the heart of providing quality care. The major objective of this study was to identify unique mechanisms through which higher empathy translates into greater intentions to treat patients in pain employing novel methodology. Methods: Using an ecologically-valid scenario methodology, student nurses (N = 156) reviewed the narrative of a patient in chronic pain. They completed standard, valid measures of empathy toward the patient, perception of the patient’s pain, and intention to provide pain-relieving treatment. Nursing student’s personality traits were assessed and perception of patients’ age and sex were experimentally manipulated. Results: Empathy was associated with higher intention to treat the patient in chronic pain irrespective of patients’ age or sex. A moderated-mediation analysis confirmed that nursing students with higher empathy perceived the patient in the scenario as being in greater pain. This was correspondingly associated with higher intention to provide treatment. Nursing students’ trait Extraversion was a moderator. Conclusion: Empathy not only improves rapport between patients and providers but is related to intentions to provide pain-relieving treatment.

Lind, M., Koch, M.K. & Bluck, S. (2024). Student nurses’ empathy, perception of pain and intention to treat. Patient Education and Counseling.

Development of Wisdom

There are many human virtues- for example, honesty, intelligence, and bravery. Wisdom is a unique virtue revered across all cultures. What is wisdom and how does one develop it? This study, in collaboration with Dr. Judith Gluck, University of Vienna, Austria, examines these questions through use of a survey appearing in the German-language magazine GEO. The study involves 2,276 participants ranging in age from 13 to 93 years old who responded to a questionnaire in the magazine. To examine how people conceptualize wisdom (i.e. implicit theories of wisdom) rated various concepts, such as empathy, intelligence, and self-reflection on a 5-point Likert-type scale, indicating the extent to which each is considered an essential aspect to wisdom. To assess how people believe that one becomes wise, that is, how wisdom develops, participants also judged the effectiveness of possible methods of becoming wise using similar scales. Items include such “roads to wisdom” as studying philosophy, having faced uncertainty and learning from wise people.The final question asked participants to evaluate their own perceived level of wisdom. The data are currently being analyzed to examine what people believe wisdom is and, perhaps more importantly, how one can gain this revered virtue. Differences in conception of wisdom and how it develops will be examined across age and gender groups, and in relation to self-rated wisdom.

Glück, J., & Bluck, S. (2011). Laypeople’s conceptions of wisdom and its development: Cognitive and integrative views. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 66(3), 321-324.

The Wisdom of Experience

The project examines the types of life situations to which wisdom is applied, the types of behaviors that are engaged in that individuals consider wise, and the outcomes of events in which wisdom has been used in everyday life. Adolescents, young adults, and older adults recalled a time from their own life when they “said, thought, or did something wise.” Interviews were coded for the type of events that elicit wisdom, what was done that was wise and the outcome. For all participants the elicitor was usually a negative event but the outcome was positive. The types of wise behaviors remembered differed by age: adolescents reported empathy and perspective-taking, young adults reported self-determination and assertion, and older adults reported having balance and flexibility. It appears that personal conceptions of one’s own wisdom differ with age and may have a developmental trajectory.

In a second study, we examined how wisdom-related events differ from stories that people tell of times when they were foolish and times when they had a ‘peak experience’ in life. Comparison of these autobiographical narratives show that wisdom (but not foolishness) occurs in response to major, significant life events, particularly those involving life decisions and reactions to negative events. Wisdom narratives show unique thoughts, feelings and behaviors (e.g. empathy) that occur neither in peak experiences nor foolish narratives.

Bluck, S., & Glück, J. (2004). Making things better and learning a lesson: experiencing wisdom across the lifespan. Journal of Personality, 72(3), 543-573.

Glück, J., & Bluck, S., Baron, J., & McAdams, D.P. (2005). The wisdom of experience: autobiographical reports across adulthood. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 29(3), 197-208.

Creativity & Wisdom in the Life Story

This handbook unites the constructs of creativity and wisdom, introducing the term transformational creativity. The goal is to understand how creativity can best be used to serve the common good. That is, as humans race to address the major issues of our time, what matters most is not simply creativity but whether creativity is used wisely. In line with classic lifespan developmental theory, we argue that reflecting on one’s personal past in relation to considering future time left to live may spur manifestation of transformational creativity. Taking a life story approach, we view individuals’ evolving life story as the nexus of their lived experience of creativity and wisdom. Doing so results in three major considerations: (i) the extent to which wisdom and creativity should be combined in the construct of transformational creativity, (ii) how individuals in the second half of life reflect on life when having lived a life of transactional or transformational creativity, and (iii) how young adults shaping their future life trajectory may manifest transformational creativity in the face of normative developmental pressures.

Bluck, S. & Cogdill-Richardson, K. (in press). A life story perspective on the nexus of creativity and wisdom. In R.J. Sternberg and S. Karami (Eds.), Handbook of Transformational Creativity. London, UK: Palgrave-Macmillan.

Future Time Perspective Moderates Consumer Responses to Nostalgic Advertising

Humans remember their past and consider their future. Nostalgic advertising, focused on the personal past, increases positive consumer response to products. This research examines how future time perspective (FTP) moderates that effect. Based on socioemotional selectivity theory, the products studied represent goals individuals have when time feels limited (i.e., camera: familiar, socially focused, emotionally meaningful) or open-ended (i.e., VR-One: novel, information-focused, entertaining). As expected, ad-evoked nostalgia heightens positive consumer response to the camera, increasingly so when FTP feels limited (Study 1; N = 288). For the VR-One, ad-evoked nostalgia again increases positive response but less so when time feels limited (Study 2; N = 283). Thinking about how the past and the future interact to influence consumer preferences in adulthood is discussed.

Ju, I., Bluck, S., & Liao, H. (2018). Future time perspective moderates consumer responses to nostalgic advertising. GeroPsych, 31, 137-150.

Creating Nostalgic Advertising: Reminiscence Bump Memories Influence Positive Psychological Reaction and Purchase Intent

This study examined the influence of the reminiscence bump within nostalgic content in advertisements. A 3 (time-frame: bump advertisements, non-bump past advertisements, the present-focused advertisements) x 2 (age group: Gen X, late-stage Boomers) between-subject design was used to examine the effect of positive psychological reactions and marketing variables (i.e., ad attitude, brand attitude, purchase intent). The results showed that nostalgic advertisements with the bump year elicited higher psychological reactions compared to both those with the non-bump past year and the present year. In addition, compared to the advertisements with the present year, the advertisements with the bump year elicited more positive attitudes toward advertisements and a higher purchase intent. The effect of time-frame on purchase intent was mediated by psychological reactions. Lastly, overall, late-stage Boomers elicited higher positive psychological reactions, higher positive attitudes toward advertisements, and a higher purchase intent when compared to Gen X.

Ju, I., Choi, Y., Morris, J., Liao, H., & Bluck, S. (2016). Creating Nostalgic Advertising Based on the Reminiscence Bump: Diachronic Relevance and Purchase Intent. Applied Cognitive Psychology.

Meaning-Making in Dignity Therapy

Nearly 500,000 older Americans die a cancer-related death annually. Best practices for seriously ill patients include palliative care that aids in promoting personal dignity. Dignity Therapy is an internationally recognized therapeutic intervention designed to enhance dignity for the seriously ill. Theoretically, Dignity Therapy provides an opportunity for patients to make meaning by contextualizing their illness within their larger life story. The extent to which Dignity Therapy actually elicits meaning-making from patients, however, has not been tested. Aim: The current study examines (i) the extent of patient meaning-making during Dignity Therapy, and (ii) whether baseline psychospiritual distress relates to subsequent meaning-making during Dignity Therapy. Design: Participants completed baseline self-report measures of psychospiritual distress (i.e., dignity-related distress, spiritual distress, quality of life), before participating in Dignity Therapy. Narrative analysis identified the extent of meaning-making during Dignity Therapy sessions. Participants: Twenty-five outpatients (M age = 63, SD = 5.72) with late-stage cancer and moderate cancer-related symptoms were recruited. Results: Narrative analysis revealed all patients made meaning during Dignity Therapy but there was wide variation (i.e., 1—12 occurrences). Patients who made greater meaning were those who, at baseline, reported significantly higher psychospiritual distress, including greater dignity-related distress (r = .46), greater spiritual distress (r = .44), and lower quality of life (r = -.56). Conclusion: Meaning-making was found to be a central component of Dignity Therapy. Particularly, patients experiencing greater distress in facing their illness use the Dignity Therapy session to express how they have made meaning in their lives.

Bluck, S. & Mroz, E. (2021). Quality of Life for Older Cancer Patients: Relation of Psychospiritual Distress to Meaning-Making During Dignity Therapy. American Journal of Hospice & Palliative. 1-8 Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1177/10499091211011712

Empathic Communication in Dignity Therapy

Dignity therapy (DT) is a guided process conducted by a health professional for reviewing one’s life to promote dignity through the illness process. Empathic communication has been shown to be important in clinical interactions but has yet to be examined in the DT interview session. The Empathic Communication Coding System (ECCS) is a validated, reliable coding system used in clinical interactions. The aims of this study were (1) to assess the feasibility of the ECCS in DT sessions and (2) to describe the process of empathic communication during DT sessions. We conducted a secondary analysis of 25 transcripts of DT sessions with older cancer patients. Participants were individuals with cancer between the ages of 55 and 75. We found that of the 235 idea units, 198 had at least one of the four empathic responses present. Of the total 25 DT sessions, 17 had at least one empathic response present in all idea units. This feasibility study is an essential first step in our larger program of research to understand how empathic communication may play a role in DT outcomes. We aim to replicate findings in a larger sample and also investigate the linkage empathic communication may have in the DT session to positive patient outcomes. These findings, in turn, may lead to further refinement of training for dignity therapists, development of research into empathy as a mediator of outcomes, and generation of new interventions.

Bylund CL, Taylor G, Mroz E, Wilkie, DJ, Yao Y, Emanuel L, Fitchett G, Handzo G, Chochinov HM, Bluck S. (2022). Empathic communication in Dignity Therapy: Feasibility of measurement and descriptive findings. Palliative and Supportive Care, 20, 321-327.

Dignity Therapy Intervention Fidelity

Intervention fidelity is imperative to ensure confidence in study results and intervention replication in research and clinical settings. Like many brief protocol psychotherapies, Dignity Therapy lacks sufficient evidence of intervention fidelity. To overcome this gap, our study’s purpose was to examine intervention fidelity among therapists trained with a systematized training protocol. We analyzed 46 early transcripts of interviews from 10 therapists. Preliminary findings indicate that fidelity to Dignity Therapy delivery was acceptable for most transcripts and provide insights for improving consistency of intervention delivery. The systematized training protocol and ongoing monitoring with the fidelity audit tool will facilitate consistent intervention delivery and add to the literature about fidelity monitoring for brief protocol psychotherapeutic interventions.

Schoppee, T. M., Scarton, L., Bluck, S., Yao, Y., Keenan, G., Samuels, V., Fitchett, G., Handzo, G., Chochinov, H. M., Emanuel, L. L., & Wilkie, D. J., (2022). Dignity Therapy Intervention Fidelity: A Cross-Sectional Descriptive Study with Older Adult Outpatients with Cancer. BMC Palliative Care, 21:8.

Training Protocol for Dignity Therapy

Dignity Therapy (DT) has been implemented over the past 20 years, but a detailed training protocol is not available to facilitate consistency of its implementation. Consistent training positively impacts intervention reproducibility. The objective of this article is to describe a detailed method for DT therapist training. Chochinov’s DT training seminars included preparatory reading of the DT textbook, in-person training, and practice interview sessions. Building on this training plan, we added feedback on practice and actual interview sessions, a tracking form to guide the process, a written training manual with an annotated model DT transcript, and quarterly support sessions. Using this training method, 18 DT therapists were trained across 6 sites. The DT training protocol is a process to enable consistency in the training process, across waves of trainees, toward the goal of maintaining DT implementation consistency. This training protocol will enable future DT researchers and clinicians to consistently train therapists across various disciplines and locales. Furthermore, we anticipate that this training protocol could be generalizable as a roadmap for implementers of other life review and palliative care interview-based interventions.

Schoppee, T. M., Scarton, L., Bluck, S., Yao, Y., Keenan, G., Fitchett, G., Handzo, G., Chochinov, H. M., Emanuel, L. L., & Wilkie, D. J., (2021). Description of a training protocol to improve research reproducibility for Dignity Therapy, an interview-based intervention. Palliative and Supportive Care, May 26:1-11. doi: 10.1017/S1478951521000614.

Facing Off-Time Mortality: Leaving a Legacy

Considering one’s legacy is usual in later life but may be accentuated after receiving a serious and terminal cancer diagnosis. This may be particularly true when timing of the diagnosis is nonnormatively early, evoking the sense of losing future years of life. Acknowledging the severity of one’s illness may also promote focus on legacy. We investigated the extent to which older individuals diagnosed with cancer narrated communion (i.e., loving, caring themes) when telling their legacy, including narration of aftermath concerns (i.e., concern for how others will fare after one’s death). Communion was assessed in relation to individuals’ potential years of life to lose and illness acknowledgment. Participants were a national sample of adults (N = 203; M = 65.80 years; 66% women; 77.94% White; 48.53% college-educated) with serious and terminal cancer receiving outpatient palliative care. They narrated legacies in semistructured interviews and completed measures of illness acknowledgment. We developed a novel construct, potential years of life to lose, calculated as the difference between chronological age and national life expectancy at birth. Coders, trained to high reliability, content-analyzed legacy narratives for communion with follow-up coding for aftermath concerns. Hierarchical regression indicated that for those with more potential years of life to lose, acknowledging the severity of their illness was critical to narrating communion-rich legacies. Similarly, aftermath concerns were common in those with the most years of life to lose who were able to acknowledge the severity of their illness. Findings affirm the psychological richness of individuals’ legacies in the second half of life and highlight one way they adaptively respond to the nonnormative timing of serious and terminal cancer.

Koch, M. K., Bluck, S., Maggiore, S., Chochinov, H. M., Cogdill-Richardson, K., & Bylund, C. L. (2024). Facing off-time mortality: Leaving a legacy. Psychology and Aging, 39(4), 400–412. https://doi.org/10.1037/pag0000815

Communion supports dignity for older adults with serious cancer: Quantitative findings from dignity therapy intervention

Patient dignity is a key concern during end-of-life care. Dignity Therapy is a person-centered intervention that has been found to support patient dignity interviews focused on narrating patients’ life stories and legacies. However, mechanisms that may affect utility of the Dignity Therapy have been little studied. In this study, we evaluate whether the extent to which patients are more communal in their interviews acts as a mechanism for increased patient dignity. We analyzed the written transcripts from Dignity Therapy interviews with 203 patients with cancer over the age of 55 receiving outpatient palliative care (M = 65.80 years; SD = 7.45 years, Range = 55–88 years; 66% women). Interviews followed core questions asking patients about their life story and legacy. We used content-coding to evaluate the level of communion narrated in each interview, and mediation analyses to determine whether communion affected dignity impact. Mediation analyses indicated that the extent to which patients narrated communion in their interview had a significant direct effect on post-test Dignity Impact. Communion partially mediated the effect of pre-test on post-test Dignity Impact. For both the life story and legacy segments of the session, narrating communion had a direct effect on post-test Dignity Impact. Narrating communion serves as a mechanism for enhancing patient dignity during Dignity Therapy. Providers may consider explicitly guiding patients to engage in, elaborate on, communal narration to enhance therapeutic utility. In addition, encouraging patients with advanced illness to positively reflect on relationships in life may improve patient dignity outcomes in palliative and end-of-life care.

Koch MK, Maggiore S, Bylund CL, Chochinov HM, Kittlelson S, Wilkie D, Bluck S (2024). Communion supports dignity for older adults with serious cancer: Quantitative findings from dignity therapy intervention. Palliative and Supportive Care, 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1017/ S1478951524001329

“I Changed After the Death”: Symptoms of Psychopathology Predict Lower Agency and Communion Themes in Loss Narratives Over 16
Months

Some individuals struggle to adjust after the death of a close other. Constructing an adaptive narrative about the
loss is important to adjustment but symptoms of psychopathology may interfere with this process. We examined whether
psychopathology symptoms measured 2 months after the loss of a spouse or parent predicted loss narratives with lower
agency and communion themes as well as more negative emotional tone and self-event connections.Participants included 507 adults from the Aarhus Bereavement Study who completed psychopathology symptom measures at 2, 6, 11, and 18 months after the death of their spouse or parent. Symptom measures included prolonged grief disorder (PGD), PTSD, depression, and anxiety. Eighteen months after the death, participants wrote a narrative about the loss and answered questions about its emotional qualities (i.e., tone, self-event connections). The narratives were content
coded for agency and communion themes. Multiple regressions showed that higher PGD symptoms at 2 months predicted less adaptive loss narratives at 18 months, even after controlling for neuroticism and age.Individuals who experience high symptom levels are struggling to construct adaptive loss narratives. This may hinder identity changes needed to accommodate their altered life circumstances.

Thomsen, D.K., Bluck, S., Lundorff, M. et al. “I Changed After the Death”: Symptoms of Psychopathology Predict Lower Agency and Communion Themes in Loss Narratives Over 16 Months. Cogn Ther Res (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-024-10541-6