Visser, Renée (2025) Through the Lens of Neuroticism: Task Difficulty, Childhood Memories, and Metamemory Beliefs. Master thesis, Psychology.
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Abstract
The ongoing debate around recovered memories has raised critical questions about how people evaluate their own memories. A central issue concerns the belief that traumatic memories can be repressed and later retrieved. The beliefs that people hold about their own memory (processes) fall in the domain of metamemory. Metamemory encompasses both what people believe about their memory’s strengths and weaknesses, and how accessible they perceive their memories to be. Since beliefs about repressed memories have had significant psychological and legal implications, this study examined what factors impact metamemory judgments. Specifically, this study examined how the number of recalled memories (4 vs. 12) affects individuals’ beliefs about their memory (perceived accessibility, completeness, and repression) as well as their emotional evaluation of their past. Furthermore, the study examined whether this effect might be higher for highly neurotic individuals, since they tend to be more susceptible for negative self-appraisal and emotional instability. Participants (N = 126) recalled either four or twelve childhood memories in a structured interview, followed by self-report measures of metamemory beliefs, childhood pleasantness, and neuroticism. Results showed no statistically significant differences in memory beliefs and childhood pleasantness between the two recall conditions. This might partly be due to the unsuccessful manipulation of task difficulty across conditions. Neuroticism did not moderate the effect of recall quantity on memory judgments and childhood pleasantness. However, individuals higher in neuroticism were more likely to evaluate their childhood less positively. These findings suggest that, while neuroticism may relate to how people emotionally interpret their past, it does not necessarily affect beliefs about memory quality or accessibility in low-pressure contexts.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Master) |
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| Supervisor name: | Wessel, J.P. |
| Degree programme: | Psychology |
| Differentiation route: | Clinical Forensic Psychology and Victimology (FP) [Master Psychology] |
| Date Deposited: | 02 Jul 2025 10:24 |
| Last Modified: | 02 Jul 2025 10:24 |
| URI: | http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/5218 |
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