Celebrating fifty years of research and applications in reminiscence and life review: State of the art and new directions

24 important questions on Celebrating fifty years of research and applications in reminiscence and life review: State of the art and new directions

What is the difference between reminiscence and life review?

Reminiscence is the process of recollecting personal memories, while life review also involves the evaluation of positive/negative past experiences and conflict. The latter plays an adaptive role in coming to terms with life's finitude

What are the social functions of reminiscence and life review besides death acceptance? (2)

1. Sharing personal memories fosters bonding
2. Teaching and informing others

What are the instrumental functions of reminiscence and life review? (3)

1. Recollecting earlier coping strategies can help people with their current problems
2. Memories may help dealing with losses of people
3. Thinking back to positive memories can potentially be a coping strategy in itself
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What is the integretive function of reminiscence and life review?

Reflecting on the past may help to continue or flexibly adjust one's identity. However, some people define their event in the past (bitterness revival/obsessive reminiscence)

For what purposes do young people reminisce? (4)

1. Bitterness revival
2. Boredom reduction
3. Identity construction
4. Problem-solving

For what purposes do older people reminisce? (2)

1. Death preparation
2. Teaching and/or informing others

What is the difference in reminiscence between men and women?

Women tend to focus on interpersonal and emotional memories, whereas men focus more on past achievements and facts

What is more openness to experience, extraversion, and neuroticism related to regarding reminiscence? (3)

1. Openness to experience: identity, problem-solving, and death preparation
2. Extraversion: sharing memories (stronger social relationships are related to more reminiscing)
3. Neuroticism: bitterness revival

What is the relation between reminiscing and psychological resources?

Reminiscence can serve to accumulate psychological resources, that in turn support mental health and well-being later in life.

What uses of reminiscence are related positively to mental health? (3)

1. Death acceptance
2. Identity construction
3. Problem-solving

What uses of reminiscence are related negatively to mental health? (3)

1. Bitterness revival
2. Intimacy maintenance
3. Boredom reduction

What can reminiscence and life review be used for?

As an intervention to support the mental health of older people and foster the bond between professionals and clients. However, nowadays there are diverse activities for many different target groups

What are the types of interventions that are being distinguished? (3)

1. Reminiscence interventions
2. Life review intervention
3. Life review therapy

What are reminiscence interventions aimed at?

They mainly target social functions  by stimulating the recollection and sharing of positive memories to improve mood and foster bonding

What are life review interventions aimed at?

Building on instrumental and integrative functions by including a more systematic evaluation and integration of both positive and negative memories of all life periods

What is life review therapy aimed at?

It focuses on changing negative styles of remembering the past that has blocked further development with the goal to alleviate mental health symptoms by decreasing obsessive or escapist reminiscence

How is the effectiveness of the interventions demonstrated?

By the interventions improving well-being and alleviating depressive symptoms, with the strongest effect for life review therapy (similar to CBT)

What are new directions in this field of study? (2)

1. To link it to the tradition of cognitive psychology of autobiographical memory
2. To link it to the traditions of the personality psychology of life stories (narrative psychology)

What psychological benefits does the recollection of personal memories have? (4)

1. Positive mood
2. Self-esteem
3. Feelings of belongingness
4. Meaning in life

What functions does autobiographical memory serve? (3)

1. Social
2. Directive
3. Self

What does the concept of autobiographical reasoning describe and why is it important for mental health and well-being?

It described how people link episodic memories to more general meanings at the conceptual level. It is important because, for example, integrative memories are positively related to mental health

Why can derogating the past be an important process in construing a positive view of one's person in the present?

Because people tend to distance themselves from negative memories and identify with positive ones

How are reminiscence and life review now already related to research on autobiographical memory?

Some studies may have used assignments that may be interpreted as targeting processes of autobiographical reasoning, as well as distancing and identifying

What could more fundamental research regarding the relation between reminiscence/life review and autobiographical memory focus on?

It could address whether reminiscence functions moderate processes of nostalgia, autobiographical reasoning, or identification processes

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