The influence of manipulations on individual and general memory: specifics of current life situation perception and interpretation of the future

Vitalii I. Bocheliuk; Leonid K. Velitchenko; Taisiia O. Gaivoronska; Viktoriya L. Pogrebnaya; Tetiana V. Khitrova

doi:10.35782/JCPP.2022.SI.2

Vitalii I. Bocheliuk Professor, Department of Social Work and Psychology, Zaporizhzhia Polytechnic National University, Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine
Leonid K. Velitchenko Professor, Department of Theory and Methods of Practical Psychology, South Ukrainian National Pedagogical University named after K.D. Ushynsky, Odesa, Ukraine
Taisiia O. Gaivoronska Associate Professor, Faculty of Social Sciences, Zaporizhzhia Polytechnic National University, Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine
Viktoriya L. Pogrebnaya Professor, Department of Journalism, Zaporizhzhia Polytechnic National University, Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine
Tetiana V. Khitrova Associate Professor, Department of Journalism, Zaporizhzhia Polytechnic National University, Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine

DOI: https://doi.org/10.35782/JCPP.2022.SI.2

Keywords: collective memory, collective trauma, commemoration, mnemonic convergence, memory manipulation

Abstract

Social interaction can make a great impact on a person's memory. This property can have positive and negative effects, as it helps to expand the possibilities of memorization as well as causes the distortion of real memories. In this regard, the authors aimed to explore the features of collective memory and identify possible consequences of manipulative influence on memories. The participants of the experiment were divided into one control and two experimental groups. In the experimental groups, the manipulative teacher intervention was used in two variants of expression: optimistically carefree or anxious-pessimistic. The control group received a neutral version of the instructions. Participants wrote an essay on memory about their experience of quarantine related to the spread of coronavirus in Ukraine. It was found that manipulations affect even recent memories. The manipulations also affected the respondents' assessment of the possible future to a greater extent than Their memories of the past. It has been proven that manipulative influence on the memories of socially significant events significantly affects the individual diversity of memories reducing them to a given template.