Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Copyright 2001 by the American Psychological Association, Inc. 2001, Vol. 81, No. 2, 220-233 0022-3514/01/S5.00 DOI: 10.1037//OO22-3514.81.2.220 Culture Effects on Adults' Earliest Childhood Recollection and Self-Description: Implications for the Relation Between Memory and the Self Qi Wang Cornell University American and Chinese college students (N = 256) reported their earliest childhood memory on a memory questionnaire and provided self-descriptions on a shortened 20 Statements Test (M. H. Kuhn & T. S. McPartland, 1954). The average age at earliest memory of Americans was almost 6 months earlier than that of Chinese. Americans reported lengthy, specific, self-focused, and emotionally elaborate memories; they also placed emphasis on individual attributes in describing themselves. Chinese provided brief accounts of childhood memories centering on collective activities, general routines, and emotionally neutral events; they also included a great number of social roles in their self-descriptions. Across the entire sample, individuals who described themselves in more self-focused and positive terms provided more specific and self-focused memories. Findings are discussed in light of the interactive relation between autobiographical memory and cultural self-construal. When asked to think of her earliest childhood memory, a Har- The work of early theorists (e.g., Greenwald, 1980; Kelly, 1955; vard undergraduate wrote down the following episode that hap- Markus, 1977; Rogers, Kuiper, & Kirker, 1977; Schachtel, 1947) pened when she was about 3 years old: foreshadowed the interface between the self and autobiographical memory. For example, George Kelly (1955) proposed that a per- I remember standing in my aunt's spacious blue bedroom and looking sonal experience must be supported within an existing self- up at the ceiling. Then something caught my eye—it was the white structure to be remembered clearly. Schachtel (1947) regarded wainscoting that bordered the top of the wall with the ceiling. I remember staring, fixated with its intricate design. And while I was memory as a function of the living personality that is recon- doing this, all of sudden, I had an epiphany, a sort [of] realization. It structed from past experiences in the service of present needs, was almost my first realization of a sense of "self." Because, as I was fears, and interests. A number of contemporary investigators have staring at the ceiling, I realized that no one else was around. I extended the theoretical connection between the self and autobio- remember being taken aback by the ability to amuse myself without graphical memory. They have posited that the self operates on the any toys. encoding, organization, and retrieval of personally meaningful events (Brewer, 1986; Conway, 1996; Neisser, 1994; Ross & This memory presents us with a vivid picture: At the moment of Wilson, 2000; Thompson, Skowronski, Larsen, & Betz, 1996), and the episode, a child shows the capability of being consciously that the constructive process of autobiographical remembering is aware of herself as a physical and psychological being independent crucial for the development, expression, and maintenance of a from the environment, and of the existence of the self both as dynamic self-concept (Bruner, 1990; Fitzgerald, 1992; Fivush, subject with active agency and as object that can be acted on or 1994; Nelson, 1996; Pillemer, 1998; Singer & Salovey, 1993). influenced by the surroundings. This emerging sense of conscious self-identity is a cornerstone to many cognitive advances that Earliest childhood memories signify the emergence of an auto- emerge during this early period of life, including the onset of biographical self and therefore provide a unique and useful lens autobiographical memory, which is built around conscious epi- through which to investigate the interactive relation between mem- sodic reflection (Foulkes, 1999). ory and self. The phenomenon of infantile amnesia (i.e., the common inability to remember experiences from the first years of life) has long been a puzzle intriguing philosophers and psychol- ogists. A number of explanations have been offered since Freud's This research was supported by grants from the Department of (1949) proposal that such amnesia results from repression of Psychology, Harvard University. I thank Michelle D. Leichtman and forbidden desires, and the topic remains the focus of a great deal Sheldon H. White for their comments on an earlier version of this of theoretical debate (e.g., Harley & Reese, 1999; Howe & Cour- article. I am deeply grateful to Mike Ross for his generous help age, 1993, 1997; Neisser,, 1967; Nelson, 1996; Pillemer & White, during the revision process. Special thanks go to the participants 1989; Schachtel, 1947; Wang, Leichtman, & White, 1998). Cur- from Beijing University and Harvard University, who made this study possible. rent research indicates that the emergence of autobiographical Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Qi Wang, memory is associated with a host of neurological, cognitive, lin- Department of Human Development, Cornell University, Martha Van guistic, and social mechanisms. One aspect of the cognitive mech- Rensselaer Hall, Ithaca, New York 14853-4401. Electronic mail may be anism suggested by researchers is the development of a cognitive sent to [email protected]. sense of self as indicated, for example, by mirror self-recognition, 220 AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL MEMORY AND THE SELF 221 which is thought to be a critical precursor to personal event Although variation exists in the degree to which individuals memory (Howe & Courage, 1993, 1997). However, if both mem- exhibit an independent versus an interdependent orientation in ory and self are indeed socially formulated (e.g., Bruner, 1990; self-construal both within and across East Asian and Western Fivush, 1994), one can hardly understand the emergence and cultures (Lee & Zane, 1998; P. J. Miller & Sperry, 1987; development of memory and self by focusing only on individual Nakamura, 1964; Spiro, 1993; Wang & Hsueh, 2000), norma- cognitive processes and neglecting their social contexts. tive differences between particular Eastern and Western cul- To address this issue, my colleagues and I (Wang et al., 1998) tures are marked (Fiske, Kitayama, Markus, & Nisbett, 1998; examined childhood recollection and self-description in youag Hsu, 1953; Kagitcibasi, 1996; Markus & Kitayama, 1991; Tri- Chinese adults who came from either only-child or multiple- andis, 1989). child families. Consistent with previous observation that the These cultural differences in the conceptual representation of copious adult attention paid to only children within the Chinese the self should correspond with different forms of autobiographical family tends to produce more egotistical offspring (Jiao, Ji, & remembering. As Markus and Kitayama (1991) commented, a Jing, 1986; Lee, 1992), we found that only-child Chinese adults consequence of "having an interdependent self as opposed to an were more individually oriented than were those with siblings, independent self concerns the ways in which knowledge about self describing themselves in more self-focused terms and providing and other is processed, organized, and retrieved from memory" (p. earlier and more self-focused childhood memories. Thus, early 232). Although researchers have speculated on the possible rela- upbringing appears to largely shape how the self is organized tions between different cultural construals of the self and different and how personal experiences are remembered. We suggested forms of autobiographical remembering (Mullen, 1994; Pillemer, that in addition to requiring that a cognitive self be in place 1998), no empirical study has been conducted to date to directly (Howe & Courage, 1993, 1997), the onset of autobiographical examine this crucial link. In addition, there has been no systematic memory may be facilitated or inhibited by particular forms of investigation of cultural differences in the cognitive style and self-organization sustained by diverse socialization practices socioemotional substance of adults' childhood recollections. The (Wang et al., 1998). present study redresses these deficiencies by systematically exam- The very few cross-cultural studies to date on adults' and ining cultural variation in adults' earliest childhood recollection, children's personal recollections have given rise to new questions cultural self-construal, and the relation between the two among concerning the relation between autobiographical memory and the Americans and Chinese. It integrates developmental, cognitive, self. Mullen (1994) found that the age at earliest memory for Asian and sociocultural perspectives, and uses a method with the strength adults was significantly later than for Americans, who on average of both cognitive and social psychology. recalled their childhood memories back to as early as 3.5 years From a functionalist perspective, personal event memories with (Pillemer & White, .1989). Observation has suggested that free- specific details and elaboration are important for people with an flowing, self-revealing, lengthy accounts of discrete, one-point-in- independently oriented self-construal to distinguish themselves as time personal events are more prevalent among Westerners than unique individuals. In contrast, there may be less need for elabo- Asians (Pillemer, 1998; Rottger-Rossler, 1993; Weintraub, 1978). rated, detailed autobiographical