Nusser et al_themes_and_lifeperiods_long

The analyses and results of the manuscript entitled "Themes of Trust, Identity, Intimacy, and Generativity in Important Autobiographical Memories: Associations with Life Periods and Life Satisfaction" (submitted) are based on these two datasets. The first dataset (themes_and_lifeperiods_long) contains 1426 important autobiographical memories of older adults and participants' ratings of developmental themes (trust, identity, intimacy, generativity) represented in important autobiographical memories as well as age at the time of the event. The second dataset (themes_and_lifesatisfaction_wide) contains the restructured data with the developmental theme and emotional valence ratings aggregated across participants as well as life satisfaction.
First, we examined to which extent autobiographical memories reflect important developmental themes such as trust, identity, intimacy, or generativity and whether the events remembered were experienced during the life period in which the respective theme is expected to be most salient. Second, we investigated how developmental themes represented in important autobiographical memories (i.e., the life story) contribute to a person’s life satisfaction, and whether this association depends on the emotional evaluation of the life story.