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Repressive coping and the directed forgetting of emotional material
L B Myers1, C R Brewin, M J Power
1Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences, University College London Medical School, England.
Journal of Abnormal Psychology
|March 20, 1998
Summary
Repressors, individuals who avoid negative emotions, demonstrated a superior ability to forget negative experimental material compared to controls. This suggests enhanced retrieval inhibition for negative memories in repressors.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Memory Research
- Emotion Regulation
Background:
- Repressors are characterized by a tendency to avoid negative emotional experiences.
- Deficits in recalling negative autobiographical memories are often observed in repressors.
- Retrieval inhibition is a key cognitive mechanism involved in forgetting.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether repressors exhibit enhanced forgetting of negative experimental material.
- To test the hypothesis of superior forgetting abilities in repressors using a directed forgetting task.
- To explore the role of retrieval inhibition in repressors' memory for negative information.
Main Methods:
- Two experiments were conducted using a directed forgetting task.
- Participants were categorized as either repressors or nonrepressors (controls).
- Recall of to-be-remembered (TBF) and to-be-forgotten material was assessed, with a focus on negatively valenced words.
Main Results:
- A significant overall directed forgetting effect was observed, with more TBF material forgotten than remembered.
- Repressors demonstrated significantly greater forgetting of negative words in the TBF set compared to nonrepressors.
- These findings suggest an enhanced capability for retrieval inhibition in repressors.
Conclusions:
- Repressors show an enhanced ability to forget negative experimental material.
- The findings support a cognitive explanation for repressors' difficulties with negative autobiographical memory recall.
- Retrieval inhibition appears to be a crucial mechanism underlying this enhanced forgetting in repressors.