Events like protest marches, political arguments and election-night parties may produce memories that link individuals to their historical contexts; we call such memories "h-rams", historically-related autobiographical memories. The present study was designed to: (a) demonstrate the existence of h-rams, (b) test a hypothesized link between h-ram formation and group identity, and (c) explore the effect of elicitation method on h-ram retrieval. Specifically, memories were collected from Ukrainian Canadians and Muslim Canadians. Half retrieved 8 memorable, interesting or important memories (MII); half retrieved 8 h-rams. H-rams were rare in the MII condition. In the h-ram condition, as predicted, Ukrainian participants recalled more Ukraine-war h-rams (26%) than Gaza-war h-rams (8%); Muslim participants retrieved more Gaza-war h-rams (19%) than Ukrainian-war h-rams (6%). Thus, h-rams do exist; elicitation method matters a great deal; and group membership/engagement predicts the prevalence and nature of available h-rams. Implications for an understanding collective memory will be discussed.

Collective memories are a group’s shared memories about its collective past. These memories are psychologically important in that they inform social identity and can serve helpful functions. But does this kind of psychological importance translate into monetary value? To address this question, we asked people to allocate government funding for the upkeep of certain commemorative monuments tied to Americans’ collective memories. We then manipulated the accessibility of one collective memory by asking some people to first describe and rate that memory’s psychological purposes and then allocate funding among the list of several monuments. Other people did the reverse, allocating the funding first. When a memory was made more accessible, people allocated more funding toward the associated monument. Moreover, funding was linked to that memory’s psychological importance. This work suggests a new means for understanding the value of collective memories.

This study investigates how memory and future thinking structure collective anxiety in the context of the 2024 U.S. presidential elections. Drawing on prior findings from Turkey’s presidential elections in 2023, we examine factors such as narrative framing, emotional valence, perceived agency, and vividness in the interplay between anxiety about future outcomes and reflections on the past. Using an experimental design with two factors (future outcome and memory type), participants were asked to imagine future election scenarios, identify anxieties associated with a certain outcome, and recall relevant past events. Findings suggest that narrative framing of anxieties can amplify the experience of collective anxiety and nostalgia. By extending prior findings to the U.S. context, this research highlights how narratives of past national events can influence future-oriented emotions, offering insights into the psychological dimensions of political attitudes and decision-making.

Narrative schemata can shape which aspects of semantic networks become accessible, with implications for how people remember their collective past and imagine their collective future. Using a network science approach(N=234), we investigated the evolution of Chinese collective temporal cognition across two generations. Network analysis revealed systematic connections between collective memory and collective future thought within semantic network structures, mirroring shifts in institutional historiographical narratives. Building on these findings, we propose an experimental study (target N=600) to test the hypothesis that activating specific collective memories can trigger associated future thought patterns. We will prime Chinese mainland participants with historical events central to the ongoing narrative reconfiguration and assess the activation of related future projections. The findings will shed light on the schematic structure of collective temporal thought, the dynamic interplay between past memory and future imagination at a collective level, and the influence of institutional narratives on collective temporal thought.