Mnemonic differences and similarities across opposing social groups: The linguistic conflict at the University of Leuven as a case study

•We examined elaborate memories of the University of Leuven crisis across two social groups: French- and Dutch-speakers.•The Dutch-speakers exhibited more elaborate memories than the French-speakers.•Rumination and social rehearsals were associated with memory elaborations across both social groups.•Political/personal involvement was associated with memory elaborations and appraised importance across both groups.•The most critical factor associated with elaborate memories appears to be positive emotions across both social groups.

In the 1960s, a historical event occurred at one of Europe's most prestigious universities: The Dutch-speaking students forced the French-speaking students to relocate and establish their own university. We compared the extent to which members of each social group developed elaborate memories of the events surrounding the conflict and whether they were associated with differences in rehearsal type (media, conversational, rumination) and initiating conditions (importance, political engagement, and negative/positive emotions). All participants were university students at the time of the conflict. We found that Dutch-speakers exhibited more elaborate memories compared to French-speakers and that importance was associated with elaborate memories only for the Dutch-speakers. However, positive emotions appear to be critical in the formation of elaborate memories across the social groups. We found no such associations for negative emotions. We discuss these results in terms of the social/cognitive processes transcending social group membership in understanding how individuals remember past conflicts.