[Retelling harsh days as being happy: its effects on autobiographical memories]

This study examined the effects of biased retelling by having participants retell negative experiences as positive autobiographical memories. Undergraduates in the biased-retelling condition (N = 21) retold their experiences preparing for university entrance examinations as "happy", while undergraduates in the recalling (control) condition (N = 23) again narrated their actual experiences. Then both groups were asked to recall their initial experience. Their initial memories were compared to those after the biased retellings or repeated narrations. In the recall of the autobiographical memories after the biased retellings, the results showed significantly increased positive emotional words and decreased negative emotional words. The emotional values of the central and peripheral concepts of the harsh experiences changed in the direction of "happy" in the biased retelling condition compared to the repeated recalling condition. Furthermore, the changes in the emotional values were more prominent in the central concepts of undergraduates' experiences.