Dataset Datos, resultados, matrices, y Manual de Codificación

Description

Given that previous evidence about the relationship between formal schooling and AM is not conclusive, we have carried out a replication and extension of the study by de la Mata et al., (2016). As in the previous study, the sample consisted of Mexican adults with the three different levels of formal schooling (literacy only, primary school, and university degree). Besides practical reasons, the choice of Mexican participants was 11 due to the ease of access to a sample of adults with a very low level of formal education (the literacy level). In the present study, we have introduced two main changes: we asked for three memories from childhood (instead of the earliest memory) and have extended the sample to 90 participants (instead of 60). This allowed us to also analyse gender differences and the interaction between educational background and gender. In the present study, the participants were asked to orally narrate three memories from their childhood. The analysis used several characteristics of the memories as dependent measures: memory volume (measured as the number of words in the memory), specificity, content (social vs. individual), autonomous orientation, individual-social orientation (in terms of self-others ratio) and self-focusing. Most of these measures have been extensively used in previous research (see, for instance, Wang, 2001, 2004, and de la Mata et al., 2016) and allowed us to analyse some aspects of autobiographical memories (e.g., autonomy and relatedness) which are also central to self-construal. Age and gender were controlled across educational levels. The dimensions of analysis of the responses included in the Dataset are described in the Coding Manual.

Abstract

Cross-cultural differences in autobiographical memory (AM) are associated with cultural variations. in models of the self and parental reminiscing style, but not many studies have analysed the relationship between AM and specific cultural practices such as formal schooling. Theoreticians like Greenfield (2009), Kağitçibaşi (2005) and Keller (2007) have considered formal schooling as an engine towards the model of independence; however, the empirical evidence in this regard is inconclusive: while some studies found evidence of a relation between formal schooling and characteristics of AM, others did not. To solve this inconsistency, the present study compared orally narrated childhood memories of Mexican adults with three different levels of education (from rudimentary literacy to university). Results support a relationship between formal schooling and AM in the predicted direction: More educated participants reported longer, more specific and more self-oriented memories than those with less schooling experience did. Some gender differences were also observed, with males generally reporting more individually and less socially oriented memories than females, except for university level participants. We conclude that these results support Greenfield's theory about formal schooling as a sociocultural factor that promotes the cultural pathway to independence, as well as complexity and context-boundedness of gender differences in AM. The dimensions of analysis of the responses included in the Dataset are described in the Coding Manual.

Abstract

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