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Article
A positive Living-in-History effect: the case of the fall of the Berlin Wall
Memory
  • Christin Camia, Zayed University
  • Christina Menzel, Technische Universität Dresden
  • Annette Bohn, Aarhus Universitet
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-26-2019
Abstract

© 2019, © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Research has shown that individuals use a combination of cultural life script events and historical events when dating personal memories, providing evidence for a cultural life script effect and Living-in-History (LiH) effect on the temporal organisation of autobiographical memory. Yet, in contrast to life script events, the LiH effect has only been found for negative events such as war or natural disasters. Therefore, this study tested whether a positive historical event, here the fall of the Berlin Fall, also elicits a LiH effect and whether this effect would differ due to the subsequent changes in life. Comparing West and East Germans, we found a moderate LiH effect for the fall of the Berlin Wall in East Germans but not in West Germans. Yet, the LiH effect in East Germans did not relate to the perceived change in life or the valence of the historical event. Additionally, this study replicated the finding that life script events serve as temporal landmarks when navigating through one’s autobiographical timeline.

Publisher
Routledge
Keywords
  • cultural life script,
  • Living-in-History effect,
  • memory dating,
  • reminiscence bump,
  • transition theory
Scopus ID
85071732590
Indexed in Scopus
Yes
Open Access
Yes
Open Access Type
Green: A manuscript of this publication is openly available in a repository
https://pure.au.dk/ws/files/169261054/A_positive_Living_in_History_effect_Accepted_manuscript_2019.pdf
Citation Information
Christin Camia, Christina Menzel and Annette Bohn. "A positive Living-in-History effect: the case of the fall of the Berlin Wall" Memory Vol. 27 Iss. 10 (2019) p. 1381 - 1389 ISSN: <a href="https://v2.sherpa.ac.uk/id/publication/issn/0965-8211" target="_blank">0965-8211</a>
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/christin-camia/1/