ABSTRACT

Amid rising political polarisation, inaccurate memory for facts and exaggerated memories of grievances can drive individuals and groups further apart. We assessed whether people with more accurate memories of the facts concerning political events were less susceptible to bias when remembering how events made them feel. Study 1 assessed participants’ memories concerning the 2016 U.S. presidential election (N = 571), and included 33 individuals with Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM). Study 2 assessed participants’ memories concerning the 2018 referendum on abortion in Ireland (N = 733). Participants rated how happy, angry, and scared they felt days after these events. Six months later, they recalled their feelings and factual information. In both studies, participants overestimated how angry they had felt but underestimated happiness and fear. Adjusting for importance, no association was found between the accuracy of memory for facts and feelings. Accuracy in remembering facts was predicted by media exposure. Accuracy in remembering feelings was predicted by consistency over time in feelings and appraisals about past events. HSAM participants in Study 1 remembered election-related facts better than others, but not their feelings. Thus, having a good grasp of the facts did not protect against bias in remembering feelings about political events.

摘要

在政治两极分化不断加剧的情况下，对事实的不准确记忆和对不满的夸大记忆可能会使个人和团体更加疏远。我们评估了对政治事件事实有更准确记忆的人在记住事件给他们带来的感受时是否更不容易受到偏见的影响。研究 1 评估了参与者对 2016 年美国总统大选（N  = 571）的记忆，其中包括 33 名具有高度自传体记忆（HSAM）的人。研究 2 评估了参与者对 2018 年爱尔兰堕胎公投的记忆（N = 733）。参与者对这些事件发生几天后的快乐、愤怒和害怕程度进行了评分。六个月后，他们回忆起自己的感受和事实信息。在这两项研究中，参与者高估了他们的愤怒程度，但低估了快乐和恐惧。调整重要性后，没有发现对事实和感觉的记忆准确性之间存在关联。记忆事实的准确性是通过媒体曝光来预测的。通过对过去事件的感受和评估随时间的一致性来预测记忆感受的准确性。研究 1 中的 HSAM 参与者比其他人更能记住与选举相关的事实，但不是他们的感受。因此，充分掌握事实并不能防止在记住对政治事件的感受时避免偏见。