The Relationship between Autobiographical Memory and Social Anxiety - Dissertation Example

Understanding social anxiety is particularly relevant when considering the development of autobiographical memories of friendship experiences. Autobiographical memories are the memories that a person generates of themselves and events that have happened to them. Memories are powerful and have the ability to generate intense feelings even long after the initial event has occurred. For example, a memory of rejection may create a strong feeling of humiliation or shame. The types of memories that individuals form is related to their mental condition.

People with depression have been shown to form more general memories but lack emotional intensity (Sutin & Robins, 2007). This suggests that social anxiety also can influence the types of autobiographical memories that people form. The memories that people form of friendship experiences have a significant potential to be influenced by social anxiety. This is because friendship experiences are strongly related to being in a social situation. Memories are often formed in either a positive or negative manner, based on their emotions.

Because people with social anxiety experience an extreme amount of emotions in a social setting, the intensity they form negative and positive memories of friendship experiences differs depending on anxiety level. This study examines the emotional intensity of memories formed by people with social anxiety and the relationship that this has with positive and negative autobiographical memories of friendship experiences. There are two components to understanding the way that social anxiety interacts with autobiographical memory.

The first is to consider the process of memory formation in general and for people who experience social anxiety. The second is to examine social anxiety about the recollection of autobiographical memories. When people recall an experience, they do not remember how a person might read a book or playback a movie. As such, the memory they have of the past is not a literal record of the events.