“Who Is Remembered? The Role of Actors in Argentine Collective Memories of the Malvinas/Falklands War”

This study contributes to the psychological understanding of collective memory by exploring how Argentines remember the Malvinas/Falklands War, focusing on the role different actors play in these recollections. The Malvinas Islands are considered a National Cause in Argentina. One hundred and forty Argentine participants from two generations and with different political ideologies performed a Free Recall task about the events of the war. The recollections were coded in terms of the Active and Passive Primary and Secondary Actors who figured in the recollections. Results revealed significant generational effects: the generation that lived through the events recalled significantly more actors and different types of actors than the young generation. Political ideology showed minimal if any significant effects. The results contribute to understanding of how generational and ideological differences shape collective memories and how treating a war as a National Cause can minimize ideological differences.