Older adult memory for moral transgressions: retrieval goals and social connectedness

Abstract

Objectives When evaluating immoral behaviors, older adults focus less on fictional agent’s intentions than outcomes. It is unclear whether this behavior is driven by age-related cognitive decline or motivational shifts. We used a novel paradigm to determine whether older adults can be motivated to retrieve details about what someone was thinking or feeling (a proxy for assessing intentions) when recalling a known agent’s moral transgressions. As an exploratory goal, we examined whether this effect was moderated by everyday social connectedness, which is associated with higher theory of mind detail retrieval.Method Older and young adults recalled autobiographical memories about an agent’s moral transgressions and described “what” occurred during the event or “why” the agent engaged in their immoral behavior. They also completed a semi-structured social network interview.Results Older adults retrieved fewer intention-related details than younger adults, but both groups recalled more of these details in the “why” than “what” condition. Having larger, more loosely connected personal social networks was positively associated with intention-related detail retrieval in older adults.Conclusion Older adults maintain access to intention details when recalling a known agent’s moral transgressions. Motivational and social scaffolding may facilitate utilization of these details during memory retrieval.