LITERATURE REVIEW
Autobiographical memories are personal recollections shaped by social factors, particularly the audience present during retrieval (Marsh & Tversky, 2004; Tversky & Marsh, 2000) These memories are episodic, representing specific moments in time and space, and are influenced by the context in which they are shared When recounting an autobiographical event, the interaction between the speaker and the audience affects the memory's description, impacting future retellings (Pasupathi, 2001) This project aims to enhance the understanding of the social dimensions of autobiographical memory and the role of the audience in shaping individuals' perceptions of their past experiences.
Good communicators consider the background knowledge, opinions, and attitudes of their audience and adjust their message accordingly (Higgins, 1992; Higgins, McCann &
The term "audience" encompasses the recipients of a message, whether individuals or groups Effective communicators must establish a connection with their audience and address their fundamental informational needs Research shows that even young children instinctively tailor their descriptions of objects based on the audience's ability to perceive them, such as adjusting their explanations for individuals wearing blindfolds.
Audience tuning involves modifying a message to suit the audience, which can significantly influence the communicator's perceptions of the message itself (Echterhoff, Higgins & Groll, 2005; Echterhoff, Kopietz & Higgins, 2013).
Higgins, 1992) For instance, audience tuning has been shown to influence communicators’ own
Higgins (1992) conducted studies revealing that the way individuals interpret ambiguous information about a target person influences their memory of the message When participants thought the audience had received the same information, they prioritized interpretation over description Conversely, when they believed the audience had different information, they focused more on describing the target This shift in focus led to less accurate memories for those who emphasized interpretation compared to those who concentrated on description.
Higgins’ (1992) second study examined how audience attitudes can shape communication and influence the communicator's beliefs Participants were presented with a list of ambiguous behaviors of a target person and asked to describe them to another student, who was said to either like or dislike the target The findings revealed that participants portrayed the target person more favorably when they believed their audience liked them, leading to a distortion in their own memories that aligned with the audience's perspective This effect persisted for two weeks, highlighting that audience tuning can bias communicators' memories and perceptions of information.
People often modify their messages to resonate with their audience because they are driven by the need to establish a shared reality (Echterhoff, Higgins & Levine, 2009) This inclination stems from a fundamental human desire to share and validate experiences with others Numerous foundational studies in social psychology emphasize the importance of social verification (Asch, 1955).
In order to satisfy the need for social verification, individuals often establish a shared reality with others This shared reality arises from a motivated effort to connect with and understand the inner states of others regarding the world around them.
In communication, a shared reality can emerge as individuals exchange insights about their own inner states related to a specific target referent, while also gaining understanding of others' inner states concerning the same referent (Hogg & Rinella, 2018).
Shared reality fulfills both our need for understanding the world and our desire for connection with others (Echterhoff et al., 2008) By sharing internal states like attitudes, feelings, and emotions, individuals transform subjective experiences into objective meaning and reality.
According to Higgins (1996), social interactions that recognize and share experiences enhance their reliability, validity, generality, and predictability In contrast, social experiences that lack a shared reality are often fleeting and temporary, similar to how scientific discoveries without these qualities are not upheld (Hardin and Higgins, 1996).
Due to the innate desire to establish commonality, as described above, individuals often express ideas that are contradictory to what they actually believe to be true (Asch, 1955; Larsen,
1974) Moreover, people tend to believe what they say even when it lacks truthfulness, an effect
The saying-is-believing effect, as identified by Higgins (1999), illustrates how a communicator's memory of a target person can become biased based on the audience's feelings toward that individual This phenomenon is evident in classic audience tuning experiments, where the communicator's recollection aligns more closely with the audience's perspective, whether positive or negative Numerous studies have consistently confirmed the impact of audience tuning on memory (Echterhoff et al., 2005; Echterhoff et al., 2008; Echterhoff, Kopietz & Higgins, 2013; Higgins, 1992; Higgins, 1999).
Audience tuning is also consistent with previous research that indicates that elaboration of one’s beliefs through writing can alter one’s mental representations about the message
(Echterhoff et al., 2009) and can increase belief perseverance (Anderson, Lepper, & Ross, 1980)
A study investigated the necessity of message elaboration for the audience-bias effect, where participants read an ambiguous passage about a target person and were informed they would describe this person to another student who either liked or disliked them While half of the participants provided oral descriptions, the other half were told their descriptions were unnecessary The results revealed that the audience-bias effect occurred only among those who elaborated; participants who described the target person recalled more positive information when the audience liked the target compared to when they did not, a pattern not seen in those who did not provide descriptions.
The significance of message elaboration aligns with the elaboration likelihood model of persuasion, which suggests that deeper engagement with opposing arguments can lead to attitude change (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986) In contrast to persuasion, audience tuning effects occur without a direct intention to alter attitudes One explanation for the saying-is-believing effect is a source monitoring error, where individuals misattribute outcomes to incorrect sources (Johnson, Hashtroudi, & Lindsay, 1993; Schachter & Singer, 1962) Research indicates that such misattribution can distort and impair memories (Belli, Lindsay, Gales & ).
McCarthy, 1994; Foley, Bays, Foy & Woodfield, 2015; McCabe & Geraci, 2009; Schacter,
1999) In the case of audience tuning, people may misattribute the biased message as stemming from their own memory rather than stemming from the opinions of their audience (Higgins,
Research indicates that the saying-is-believing effect weakens when conditions disrupt a successful shared reality (Echterhoff, Higgins, & Groll, 2005) For example, in a study where participants described a target person to an audience that was supposed to identify them, feedback showing the audience's failure to recognize the target led to no changes in the participants' memories This suggests that audience influence on perceptions is strongest when a shared reality is established Overall, the audience-bias effect appears to stem from source-monitoring errors that are more likely to occur in the presence of a shared reality.
Audience tuning has primarily focused on social attitudes rather than self-concept, yet autobiographical memories are often shared with others By applying audience tuning to autobiographical memories, we can enhance our understanding of how individuals interpret their life experiences These memories play a crucial role in shaping self-definition, fostering social connections, and guiding future behavior, which are linked to a greater sense of purpose and improved social relationships Furthermore, the way individuals articulate and reflect on their autobiographical memories significantly impacts their development and overall well-being.
PILOT STUDY
The study involved 89 undergraduate students from Iowa State University, who participated for course credit and were required to be at least 18 years old The sample comprised 53 women and 35 men, with a majority (75.3%) identifying as Caucasian Other ethnicities included 1.1% Native American, 3.4% African-American, 10.1% Latino/Hispanic, 13.5% Asian/Pacific Islander, 1.1% Indian, and 2.2% identified as Other The mean age of participants was 19.81 years, with a standard deviation of 1.48.
In a research laboratory, participants completed measures on individual computers after consenting to the study They answered questions related to six randomized topics: procrastination, social media, multitasking, lying, bragging, and group work Each topic began with a definition, followed by questions assessing both personal and others' attitudes The pilot study focused on how individuals reflect on their experiences, prompting participants to describe specific instances related to each topic, including the positivity and negativity of those experiences, as well as the ease of recalling positive and negative consequences Questions were organized by topic, with attitudes assessed before personal experiences After addressing one topic, participants moved on to the next, and demographic information was collected at the end Participants were thanked and debriefed upon completion of the study.
The study explored various memory topics, including procrastination, social media, multitasking, lying, bragging, and group work Participants received definitions for each topic: procrastination refers to delaying academic assignments; social media encompasses platforms for content creation and social networking; multitasking involves attempting multiple tasks simultaneously; lying is the act of intentionally stating falsehoods; bragging is discussing achievements in a boastful way; and group work signifies collaboration on projects with others.
Attitudes towards each memory topic were evaluated using a semantic differential scale, where participants rated their responses on a 7-point bipolar continuum for pairs such as positive/negative and beneficial/harmful The endpoints of the scale included like/dislike and wise/foolish (Crites, Fabrigar, & Petty, 1994) The ratings were averaged to generate a total attitude score for each topic, with a high score reflecting a less favorable attitude (α = 88).
Because the subsequent experiments will involve participants writing about these topics to others, it was also important to examine perceptions of others’ attitudes about these topics
Participants utilized a semantic differential scale to assess their perceptions of a typical university student's and professor's attitudes toward various memory topics The scores for each item were averaged to generate an overall perceived attitude score for both students and professors for each topic.
To ensure effective memory prompts in the primary studies, participants were asked to assess their ability to recall specific personal experiences related to various topics Initially, they indicated whether they had personal experience with the topic through a simple yes/no response (e.g., "Have you ever procrastinated on an assignment?") Following this, participants rated the ease of recollection and description of their experiences on a scale from 1 (not easily at all) to 7 (very easily), with questions such as "How easily can you bring to mind a specific experience in which you engaged in procrastination?" and "How easy would it be for you to write a description of this experience for an experimenter to read?"
The study aimed to manipulate audience perspectives by selecting memory prompts that could evoke both positive and negative responses Participants rated the positivity and negativity of their experiences on a scale from 1 to 7 They were also asked to list positive and negative consequences related to each topic, with five response boxes provided for each Additionally, participants rated the ease of recalling these consequences on the same 1 to 7 scale After completing the measures for one topic, participants proceeded to the next topic.
Descriptive analyses were performed on each memory topic to evaluate participants' attitudes, their ability to recall and articulate specific experiences, and how they perceived these experiences as either positive or negative.
The attitude scores for various memory topics, as shown in Table 1, indicate that those with mean ratings near the midpoint of 4.00 are viewed as more evaluatively ambiguous or neutral Among these, the most neutral topics identified are group work, social media, and multitasking.
Attitude scores from pilot study on all memory topics
Self-Attitudes Attitudes of a typical student Attitudes of a typical professor
The study revealed that nearly all participants had experiences with group work (96.63%), multitasking (98.88%), bragging (95.51%), and procrastination (98.88%) Furthermore, every participant (100%) reported experiences with social media and lying Importantly, all participants could identify at least one positive and one negative consequence for each of these topics.
Table 2 presents the results regarding the ease and valence of recall across various topics Participants reported a high ability to recall and describe experiences related to group work, social media, and multitasking Independent sample t-tests revealed that the ease of recalling specific memories significantly exceeded the scale midpoint of 4.00, with group work scoring an average of 6.10 (SD = 1.51), t(88) = 13.15, p < 001, and social media also showing similarly high scores.
The study revealed significant differences in various behaviors among participants, with means and standard deviations indicating notable trends For instance, participants reported high levels of procrastination (M = 6.25, SD = 1.19) and multitasking (M = 5.36, SD = 1.53), both with p-values less than 001 In contrast, the ease of recalling specific memories related to bragging was significantly below the midpoint of the scale (M = 3.56, SD = 1.93, p = 035) Conversely, participants found it easier to describe experiences related to group work (M = 5.96, SD = 1.46) and social media (M = 6.31, SD = 1.10), both significantly above the midpoint (p < 001) However, the ease of describing experiences related to bragging remained significantly low (M = 3.53, SD = 1.94, p = 024).
The pilot study revealed participants' attitudes and personal experiences regarding various topics In line with previous research on audience tuning, we selected topics that participants rated closest to the scale midpoint It was essential to choose subjects for which participants could readily recall and describe related experiences, considering both positive and negative outcomes Consequently, the topics included in Experiment 1 were group work, social media, and multitasking.
Descriptive results from pilot study on experience related measures for all memory topics
Group work Social media Multitasking Lying Bragging Procrastination Range
M SD M SD M SD M SD M SD M SD
Easily bring to mind 6.10 1.51 6.75 0.59 5.36 1.53 4.85 1.89 3.56 1.93 6.25 1.19 1 to 7
EXPERIMENT 1
The goal of Experiment 1 was to examine the effects of audience perspective on memory descriptions and subsequent event memory perceptions, attitudes, and self-typicality Experiment
1 also examined how communicator’s perceptions of developing a shared reality with the audience is related to these outcomes
In this study, participants reflected on a past life experience related to a specific topic and wrote a description for the researchers Before writing, they were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: 1) researchers held a positive view of the topic, suggesting that multi-tasking is beneficial for undergraduates, 2) researchers had a negative view, indicating that multi-tasking is harmful, or 3) no perspective was provided Following their written descriptions, participants' shared reality, event memory perceptions, attitudes toward the topic, and self-typicality of the memory were evaluated.
Research indicates that individuals writing for an audience with a positive outlook tend to describe their memories in a more favorable light These participants are likely to recall their experiences as more positive and representative of their typical behavior compared to those writing for an audience with a negative perspective Furthermore, those addressing a positive audience are expected to hold more optimistic attitudes regarding the memory topic than their counterparts writing for a negative audience.
The study aimed to explore how knowing the audience's perspective influences perceptions of achieving a shared reality It was hypothesized that participants would feel a greater sense of shared reality when aware of the audience's viewpoint Additionally, various memory characteristics, such as the recency, significance, and emotional intensity of the memories, were assessed Participants also reflected on how much they considered the audience while writing, the details they included for audience appeal, and their belief that their essays would align with the audience's beliefs Although no specific predictions were made regarding these measures, they were included to investigate potential differences in memory characteristics and perceived audience influence based on the topic or audience condition Experiment 1 was preregistered on the Open Science Framework.
Method Power Analysis and Participants
To mitigate Type II error, a power analysis was performed using G*Power (Faul et al., 2007) Prior studies indicate a significant effect size of audience perspective on memory perceptions, with Cohen’s d = 1.2 (Todorov, 2002) The analysis determined the necessary sample size to identify main effects effectively.
Variance (ANOVA) was assessed with an effect size of f = 0.40 and an observed power of 0.80, indicating a required sample size of 64 participants To address potential publication bias (Earp & Trafimow, 2015), a conservative effect size of f = 0.25 (Cohen’s d = 0.5) was also analyzed, necessitating a sample size of 158 participants to achieve the same power level Consequently, we aimed to recruit 200 participants to accommodate any exclusions due to attention check failures, and data collection concluded once all enrolled participants were able to participate.
Experiment 1 recruited 226 participants in total However, forty-four participants were removed from all analyses due to failing the attention check
The study involved undergraduate students from Iowa State University who were enrolled in introductory psychology or communication studies courses, receiving course credit for their participation Eligible participants were required to be at least 18 years old, with the final sample consisting of 182 individuals, averaging 19.12 years in age (SD = 1.60) The demographic breakdown included 138 women, 42 men, and one transgender individual, with a predominant identification as Caucasian (85.7%) Other ethnic representations included 0.5% Native American, 5.5% African-American, 7.7% Latino/Hispanic, 6% Asian/Pacific Islander, 0.5% Indian, and 0.5% identifying as Other Additionally, 96.8% of participants reported English as their primary language spoken at home.
Experiment 1 employed a 3 (memory topic) x 3 (audience perspective) between-subjects factorial design, where participants were randomly assigned to write about a memory related to multitasking, group work, or social media They were also assigned to one of three audience conditions: a positive perspective, a negative perspective, or an unspecified perspective Following the memory description, participants completed assessments on shared reality, event memory perceptions, attitudes toward the topic, and self-typicality of the memory.
Participants in the study completed all assessments on a computer within the research laboratory After providing their consent, they were instructed to recall a specific memory associated with their designated topic and to write down four words that were related to that memory.
Participants were randomly assigned to one of three audience conditions: a positive perspective, a negative perspective, or no specified perspective from the researchers After completing an attention check regarding the audience's perspective, participants were instructed to write a description of their memory tailored to their assigned audience.
After participants wrote about their memory, they completed the shared reality measures, followed by randomized assessments of self-typicality, event memory perceptions, attitudes related to their assigned topic, and a manipulation check It is important to note that shared reality was not randomized, as it was anticipated that recall accuracy would diminish with the time elapsed between communication and recall At the conclusion of the experiment, participants provided information on memory characteristics, perceived audience influence, and demographic details before being thanked and debriefed.
In the positive audience condition, participants received a prompt highlighting the researchers' keen interest in students' experiences related to [memory topic] The researchers assert that engaging with [memory topic] can yield positive and beneficial outcomes for undergraduate students, encouraging them to participate frequently to enjoy these advantages They look forward to reading essays that recount personal experiences with this topic.
Reflecting on your experiences with memory can provide valuable insights for students eager to learn Consider how your personal journey has shaped your understanding of this topic Take a moment to articulate your thoughts and share a meaningful description of your experience in the space provided below.
In the negative audience condition, participants received a prompt emphasizing the researchers' concern about students' experiences with [memory topic] They believe that engaging in [memory topic] can lead to negative and harmful consequences for undergraduate students, advising them to limit such experiences The researchers are keen to read essays detailing personal encounters with [memory topic] to better understand its perceived detrimental effects Participants are encouraged to reflect on their specific experiences and provide a thoughtful description.
In the no information condition, participants were informed that the researchers are keen to understand students' experiences related to [memory topic] They expressed a strong interest in reading essays that detail personal encounters with this topic Participants were encouraged to reflect on their specific experiences and provide a thoughtful description in the designated space.
To ensure participant engagement, an attention check was implemented immediately after the audience prompt Participants were asked to identify the researcher's opinion on their assigned topic by choosing from three options: a) negative views, b) positive views, or c) not mentioned Those who answered incorrectly were excluded from the analysis, resulting in 44 participants (19.47%) being removed for incorrect responses.
24 those who answered incorrectly, 17 (38.64%) were in the positive audience condition, 17
(38.64%) were in the negative audience condition, and 10 (22.73%) were in the no information audience condition Failed attention checks did not differ by audience condition, χ 2 (2, N = 226)