Conversational Functions of Autobiographical Remembering: Long-Married Couples Talk About Conflicts and Pleasant Topics

This study examines functions of remembering specific past events in conversation using a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches. Transcripts of long-married couples' conversations about conflicts and pleasant events were examined for references to specific past events. We evaluated the functions events appeared to serve and examined agreement about events on multiple levels. We also compared couples' behavior across the 2 conversational contexts. Results suggest that autobiographical events serve multiple purposes when discussed in conversation, that these purposes differ across contexts, and that agreement about events differs across contexts. These findings are discussed in terms of their implications for functional approaches to autobiographical memory.