Life Script Events and Autobiographical Memories of Important Life Story Events in Mexico, Greenland, China, and Denmark

The aim of this study was to test the cultural life script theory across four different cultures. We collected life scripts from 606 middle-aged and older adult participants in Mexico, Greenland, China, and Denmark, and examined whether key characteristics of life scripts generalize across these cultures. We also collected autobiographical memories of important personal events from the same participants, and coded them for their correspondence with the life scripts to establish whether the life script serves as a guide for autobiographical memory recall. Finally, we compared the life span distribution of life script events with that of the autobiographical memories. Consistent with predictions, a life script was found in all samples and the life span distribution of life script events tracked the life span distributions of personal autobiographical memories retrieved within the same cultures. These findings indicate a central interplay between cultural life scripts and autobiographical memory across disparate cultures.