Autobiographical Memory in Emerging Adulthood: Relationship with Self-Concept Clarity

Autobiographical memory research documents increased access in the number of memories recalled by emerging adults (ages 18–25)
with stable, clearly defined self-concepts. Very little research has examined the relationship between self-concept clarity
and the episodic and semantic components of emerging adults’ autobiographical recollections. This study examined the relationship
between episodic and semantic autobiographical memory and self-concept clarity in 100 undergraduate students. Contrary to
previous findings, which indicated that stable self-beliefs may be used to facilitate access to episodic memories, the results
suggested that self-concept clarity may not be associated with memory specificity. Instead, self-concept clarity was associated
with recall of events involving cooperative social interactions. Results further showed that older age was associated with
higher SCC. The implications of these results are discussed within the context of the theoretical literature concerning the
relation between autobiographical memory and the development of the self-concept during emerging adulthood.