I like you better when you are coherent. Narrating autobiographical memories in a coherent manner has a positive impact on listeners’ social evaluations

Abstract

Introduction We all have stories to tell. The stories that prevail in our conversations frequently concern significant past personal experiences and are accordingly based on autobiographical memory retrieval and sharing. This is in line with the social function of autobiographical memory, which embodies the idea that we share memories with others to develop and maintain social relationships. However, the successful fulfilment of this social function is dependent on phenomenological properties of the memory, which are highly inter-individually different. One important individual difference is memory coherence, operationalized as narrative coherence. The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of memory coherence on the social evaluations of listeners. We hypothesized that being incoherent in the sharing of autobiographical memories, would evoke more negative social evaluations from listeners, in comparison to coherently sharing autobiographical memories. Methods In a within-subject experimental study, 96 participants listened to four pre-recorded audio clips in which the speaker narrated about an autobiographical experience, in either a coherent or an incoherent manner. Results Results were in line with our hypotheses. Participants showed more willingness to interact, more instrumental support, more positive feelings, more empathy and more trust towards those narrators who talked in a coherent manner about their autobiographical memories, as compared to those that talked in an incoherent manner. Negative feelings in the listener were evoked when the speaker talked incoherently, but especially when it concerned a positive memory.

An Investigation of the Coherence of Oral Narratives: Associations With Mental Health, Social Support and the Coherence of Written Narratives

“…This social function concerns the development, maintenance and enhancement of social bonds through the sharing of autobiographical narratives and has shown to be of important value for our psychological well-being ( Alea and Bluck, 2003 , 2007 ). As a matter of fact, by sharing autobiographical memories, our social network and specifically the support we receive from that network can be enhanced ( Coyne, 1976 ; Barry et al, 2019 ; Vanaken and Hermans, 2020a ; Vanaken et al, 2020 ). Social support has in turn shown to be pivotal with regards to maintaining and improving our mental health ( Cohen and Wills, 1985 ; Ozbay et al, 2007 ; Sippel et al, 2015 ; Harandi et al, 2017 ).…”

“…However, the extent to which the social function is successfully fulfilled by sharing autobiographical memories and consequent support is received, is in part dependent on the distinct ways in which these memories are narrated (e.g., Alea and Bluck, 2003 ; Barry et al, 2019 ; Vanaken and Hermans, 2020a ; Vanaken et al, 2020 ). One of the aspects of narratives that might be of importance here is coherence ( Reese et al, 2011 ; Vanaken and Hermans, 2020a ; Vanaken et al, 2020 ).…”

“…However, the extent to which the social function is successfully fulfilled by sharing autobiographical memories and consequent support is received, is in part dependent on the distinct ways in which these memories are narrated (e.g., Alea and Bluck, 2003 ; Barry et al, 2019 ; Vanaken and Hermans, 2020a ; Vanaken et al, 2020 ). One of the aspects of narratives that might be of importance here is coherence ( Reese et al, 2011 ; Vanaken and Hermans, 2020a ; Vanaken et al, 2020 ). Whilst coherence has been defined and used transdisciplinary in slightly differing ways ( Baerger and McAdams, 1999 ; Habermas and Bluck, 2000 ; Lysaker et al, 2002 ; Reese et al, 2011 ; Adler et al, 2018 ), it is generally agreed upon that it is a cornerstone of communication ( Labov, 1970 ).…”

How am I going to tell you this? The relations between social anxiety and narrative coherence

“…However, in social anxiety, it is exactly social bonding that poses a major challenge (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Narrating incoherently could evoke negative social evaluations, disturbing the development of supportive relationships and hence forming a maintaining factor in social anxiety disorder (Vanaken et al, 2020). Future work in Figure 3.…”

“…In addition, narrative coherence has also been shown to be positively related to having high-quality social relationships and to experiencing less negative social interactions (Burnell et al, 2010;Vanaken & Hermans, 2020a;Waters & Fivush, 2015). In experimental work, sharing memories in an incoherent manner, has shown to evoke more negative social evaluations from listeners, than doing so in a coherent manner (Vanaken et al, 2020;Vanaken & Hermans, 2020b). Given that narrative coherence develops in early social interactions, and particularly through elaborative mother-child reminiscing, it is not surprising that a poorly developed ability to share autobiographical memories with others in a coherent manner, has an enduring effect on the quality of social relationships throughout life (Fivush, 2011;Fivush et al, 2006;Nelson & Fivush, 2004).…”