The social utility of redemption: contextual demands and normative modelling in narratives of autobiographical memory

ABSTRACT The present study examined conditions under which negative autobiographical memories are narrated with redemptive themes, a normative narrative structure in the U.S., in which a negative or emotionally difficult life experience is described as having a positive conclusion. U.S. college student participants were asked to provide a written essay of a negative autobiographical experience. They were randomly assigned to experimental conditions that varied in memory-sharing context (highly evaluative versus less evaluative) and exposure to normative narrative modelling (redemptive sample essays versus nonredemptive sample essays). Results indicated that evaluative social context and redemptive narration exposure each increased participants’ use of redemptive narration when recalling negative autobiographical memories. Use of redemption, in turn, led to more positive evaluations of the essays by independent raters, highlighting the social efficacy of using culturally normative narrative structures in interpersonal contexts.