The roles of neuroticism, implicit theories and memory telling in trauma and transgression memories

The roles of neuroticism, implicit theories and memory telling in trauma and transgression memories

The experience of negative thoughts has for a long time been construed to negatively affect an individual’s life (Lilgendahl et al., 2017). A typical example is a memory of a traumatizing instance, such as the inability to bear children due to regrettable instances of personal experiences. Such encounters implant a "forever unworthy mentality" in an individual. The form of meaning-making determined by an encounter in an incident is a self-even connection. The connections developed in a life-practical event play a critical role in predicting a life story (McLean & (Lilgendah, 2008). Self-event encounters cannot imply an individual's positive and sound understanding, especially when the context involves negative memories.  

The connection of negative memories to the self can be explained by three significant factors; neuroticism, implicit theories and memory telling. The three actors are expected to exist independently to explain whether the meaning obtained from negative memories is healthy or unhealthy for the subject individuals (Lilgendahl et al., 2017). The analysis is based on two types of negative memories; trauma and transgression. Research postulates that traumatic instances can lead to damaging self-connection, leading to several emotional problems, cognitive complications, and social issues. Transgressions are the actions and events that can trigger an individual to violate the restricted norms (Lilgendah, 2008). The transgression events jeopardize that and impede the effective understanding of the relation to the events. If the implemented transgression strategies fail, then an individual may perceive themselves as doomed, and the bad self-connection emerges, thus insinuating that transgression has a negative implication on an individual.

Neuroticism is the manifested negativity characterized by negativity in effect and cognition. Research relates neurotic individuals to more stress, lower self-esteem, and negative emotions within their daily activities, which are jeopardy to the mental health of the individuals (Lilgendah, 2008). There are great interactions between unhealthy patterns and neurotic encounters. For example, the adults exhibiting neurotic life stories have reduced positive themes, which is an elaboration of the negative effect of neurotic encounters on an individual's life with prior traumatic memories. Two conclusions are drawn in response to the suggestions provided on neurotic encounters; firstly, neuroticism is negatively related to self-growth in contexts involving transgression and trauma. Secondly, neuroticism is positively related to damaged self in trauma and transgression contexts (Lilgendahl et al., 2017).

Memory telling also plays a critical role in meaning-making through a critical elaboration on what memories mean. It is evident that people don't exist in a vacuum, and existence depends on several factors, from guidance to communication and airing out our issues (Lilgendahl et al., 2017). Telling and speaking out have proved effective in healthy meaning-making, especially in instances of negative events. Telling initiates positive growth as it alleviates the individual's mental burden that comes with an accumulation of traumatic memories. Experimental research further reveals that a coherent, meaningful and comprehensive meaning develops when the negative memory is put into words and expressed openly. Additionally, speaking out about the traumatic memories to more active and engaged listeners improves the mean main process differently from the individuals who keep the traumatic memories to themselves and do not speak them out (Lilgendah, 2008). It is also significant to consider that speaking out can manifest differently in traumatic and transgression contexts. Research reveals that instances of transgression are often not spoken out, and as a result, they often go untold due to the fear of stigma and the need to have a maintained positive view and perspective of self. Therefore, the telling perspective is effective for transgression if the person can hold up regrettable acts and learn from the experiences rather than running away from the problems. Telling as a mode of meaning-making may sometimes not be effective, especially when the traumatic experience is very severe or when the cultural implications are against the experienced memories, and the subjects can feel segregated, which can cause more problems.

Limitations of the research

The used population size. The unavailability of a larger population size makes it harder to obtain a variety of characteristics that can prove effective in presenting more variables for analysis (Lilgendahl et al., 2017). There is limited power to include definitive tests with weak to moderate population sies.   

The research could not focus on the connection between two variables at once; the connection between positive and negative modes of exhibited self-connection from a common narrative (Lilgendah, 2008). Carrying out an activity on combined variables makes it easier to have a joint correlation determination between the presented variables for analysis.

References

Lilgendahl, J. P., McLean, K. C., & Mansfield, C. D. (2013). When is meaning-making unhealthy for the self? The roles of neuroticism, implicit theories, and memory telling in trauma and transgression memories. Memory, 21(1), 79-96.

McLean, K. C., & Lilgendahl, J. P. (2008). Why we recall our highs and lows: Relations between memory functions, age, and well-being. Memory, 16, 751-762.