SEX-DIFFERENCES IN THE RECALL OF AFFECTIVE EXPERIENCES

Three studies tested hypotheses for sex differences in the recall of l ife events: differences in (a) affect intensity at encoding, (b) affec t intensity at retrieval, (c) rehearsal, (d) detail of encoding, and ( e) artifacts such as motivation or verbal ability. In Study 1 (N = 419 ), women recalled more positive (p < .01) and more negative (p < .05) life events than men. Differences in retrieval mood were not found. St udy 2 (N = 55) replicated the recall differences and showed that neith er rehearsal nor artifacts were responsible. Sex differences in recall ing neutral everyday events also were obtained (p < .05), suggesting t hat affect intensity was not responsible. In Study 3 (N = 132), affect ive reactions to events were unrelated to recall, but sex differences in the detail of encoding (p < .001) were related to recall(p < .05). Sex differences in autobiographical memory are reliable and may be due to differences in the detail of encoding.