Memory Lane and Morality

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Conclusion
References

Introduction

There is little knowledge on the effect of autobiographical memory on moral behavior. This research focuses on childhood memory as a type of autobiographic memory.

Conclusions drawn from research on moral psychology and memory propose that moral purity is elicited by childhood memories. It is a state where people feel they have clean morals and that they are innocent. As a result, when moral purity is heightened, pro-social behavior becomes great.

In the first experiment where participants were expected to remember their childhood experience, those memories aided the experimenter more than they let the participants take control. Moral purity mediated in this event. In another experiment, manipulation increased money donation (Aarts, and Dijksterhuis, 2003).

This effect came as a result of clear and inherent measures of moral purity. Experiment three further links moderation of childhood memories and pro-social behaviors with the fourth experiment. It indicates that child hood memories compromise others’ ethics. Finally both positive and negative valences increased aid as compared to control action (Edwards, and Lambert, 2007).

The participants in the first experiment were one hundred and thirteen. They were graduates from a university. There were instructions to read on computer screens after which they were to write about a particular occasion that took place at a certain time in the past. The provided time was 5-10 minutes and they were to start by describing their morning routine which was to enforce the true purpose of the study.

The reports on how the participants felt ten positive and negative emotions were given on a scale of seven. In the second experiment, eighty seven undergraduates with a mean age of 20.89 years old were selected for the experiment. First they were given a fifteen minute bogus task after which they received a compensation of $5. Thereafter, they did a different question from the one in experiment one.

The third group of participants comprised of one hundred and one people; both students and staff members. There were forty two male students with a mean age of 23.82 years and their purpose was to first do the task in experiment two after which they were to choose from a list of forty words containing their favorite words (Aarts, and Dijksterhuis, 2003).

The fourth experiment had one hundred and twenty adults with forty two females with a mean age of 44.20 years. They first did the activities in experiment two and three for ten minutes after which they had a different question to test on the negative and positive effects; including a question testing on nostalgia.

Findings of the first experiment showed that participants could write a lot about their favorite music and their first time experiences like bicycle riding from childhood memories. The manipulation was effective because the participants admitted that such actions like writing made it easy for them to draw back to their childhood memories.

Conditioned report proved a higher mean moral purity level than controlled participants. It also came out clear that the participants could do more when subjected to questions than when they were alone and not under conditions. From the second experiment, there were no guesses made on the hypothesis. Therefore, no participant was excluded from the analyses.

As in the case of first experiment, the second also showed that participants who wrote about their task easily remembered their childhood life. In terms of amount donated, more money was donated by participants who wrote about their childhood life. There was a significant manipulation in the third experiment where no participant was excluded.

Amount donated and moderated mediation were significantly and positively correlated. The two last experiments were characterized by same results except for the fact that having children for moderation in experiment five did not have any effect at all (Aarts, and Dijksterhuis, 2003).

There are various limitations to this research. Although nostalgia, moral purity and mediums through which pro-social behavior are promoted by childhood memories, there are other areas that were not covered in this research. Future research may widen our knowledge on additional mechanisms. Secondly, only a single manipulation for childhood memories was used in the experiments (Cialdini, 2001).

Each participant was expected to write about his own childhood memories. This type of memory ignited the concept of childhood. In future, it is important to test general findings like in a case of an office setup where participants can be asked about their preferred color or choice of furniture. The third limitation is failure to investigate the role of moderators.

For instance, they could have been asked about the effects and impacts of having their own children. Many important factors, both trial based and institutional based, may also moderate the investigated relationships in this research.

For example, importance of one’s moral identity can lower the chances of one remembering their childhood. Finally the research had little or no interest on the benefits of having childhood memories on potential costs. It only dwelled on the benefits of having the memories.

Conclusion

Moral identity is, therefore, important in moral motivation. It is also important to conduct a detailed examination on the two moderators considered in the last two experiments (4 and 5). One could perhaps consider comparing two participants with complicated childhood experiences.

References

Aarts, H., & Dijksterhuis, A. (2003). The silence of the library: Environmental control over social behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 18–28. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.84.1.18

Cialdini, R. B. (2001). Influence: Science and practice (4th ED). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Edwards, J. R., & Lambert, L. S. (2007). Methods for integrating moderation and mediation: A general analytical framework using moderated path analysis. Psychological Methods, 12, 1–22. Doi:10.1037/1082- 989X.12.1.1

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Memory Lane and Morality

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