Endorsement of common memory beliefs in TikTok videos about repression, trauma, and memory

Researchers have speculated about the role of social media in fuelling renewed interest and discourse about repressed memories. The present study examined the extent to which 394 TikTok videos related to repression, trauma, and memory explicitly endorsed eight commonly held beliefs about memory (Akhtar, S., Justice, L. V., Knott, L., Kibowski, F., & Conway, M. A. (2018). The ‘common sense” memory belief system and its implications. The International Journal of Evidence & Proof, 22(3), 289–304). Videos were identified using the hashtags #dissociativeamnesia, #repressedmmemories, #repressedtrauma, and #traumamemories. We also examined differences in endorsement of memory beliefs by creators identified as laypeople or professionals. The most frequently endorsed memory beliefs were that memories for trauma can be repressed and later recovered (24.11%), traumatic memories can be re-experienced as “flashbacks” (9.14%), and emotional memories are remembered differently than non-emotional memories (7.87%). Professionals were significantly more likely than laypeople to endorse common memory beliefs to viewers, especially belief in repressed memory. Our findings confirm concerns about social media platforms serving as a possible source of misinformation about memory.