Experimental design reveals that autobiographical memories of work success enhance personal and professional development, highlighting unique functions.
Autobiographical memories serve three distinct functions: They help to promote self‐continuity, to connect with others and to direct future behaviour. This study investigates whether positive and negative autobiographical memories, particularly those related to work success and failure, serve different functions in the workplace. Using an experimental between‐subjects design, full‐time employees ( n = 361) recalled a work‐related memory in one of three randomly assigned conditions: success, failure or control condition. Participants then reported for which reasons they use the respective memory in daily life. Results show that memories of work success serve the self and social function significantly more than memories of failure, but the directive function is served equally by memories of success and failure. This study applied autobiographical memory research methods to a work context, indicating that simple interventions based on employees recalling and reflecting on specific memories may promote personal and professional development.
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Roemer et al. (2025) studied this question.
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