Young adults' relationship memories and the life story: Examples or essential landmarks

Personal memories increasingly have been implicated in the process of ident ity-making, but systematic study of stability and change in memory telling is rare. Comparisons of relationship memories told by 46 young adults durin g two interviews separated by about 6 months found moderate thematic consis tency across the two sets of memories. The similarity obtained despite a hi gh turnover in the specific events that were selected for telling each time . These findings, paired with ancillary data indicating a similarly high tu rnover for earliest memories, high points, and low points, suggest that rel ationship memories for young adults serve more as examples of enduring conc erns than as essential landmarks for the life story. Twice-told tales showe d quite stable storylines, and were most dense for memories of intimate enc ounters in late adolescence, suggesting the centrality of this period for t he development of relationship identity.