Older, wiser, and happier? Comparing older adults’ and college students’ self-defining memories Jefferson Singer and Blerim Rexhaj Connecticut College, New London, CT, USA Jenna Baddeley University of Texas at Austin, TX, USA The present study compared self-defining memories in adults 50 years of age and older to the self- defining memories of college students. Findings are largely congruent with previous memory and ageing research, but shed additional light on how personal memories are employed to achieve a sense of identity and continuity in older adults. Older adults’ self-defining memories, compared to those of younger adults, were more positive in emotional tone, more summarised and less detailed, and more likely to contain integrative meaning. The implications of these findings for assessing normative personal memory in older adults are discussed along with more general observations about narrative identity in older adulthood. Self-defining memories are a subcategory of autobiographical memories that are highly rele- vant to personality processes. As defined by Singer and Salovey (1993), they are vivid, emotionally intense, repetitively recalled, linked thematically to similar memories, and focused on enduring concerns or unresolved conflicts. These memories can be voluntarily recalled or they may be evoked spontaneously in response to external or internal cues. Previous research has demonstrated the relationship of these memories to the pursuit of long-term goals (Moffitt & Singer, 1994), emotional responses (Sutin & Robins, 2005; Wood & Conway, 2006), meaning making (Blagov & Singer, 2004; Thorne, McLean, & Lawrence, 2004), and dispositional traits (Sutin & Robins, 2005). In addition, individuals frequently communicate about them- selves and their lives by telling self-defining memories, a process that facilitates intimacy and the development of self-knowledge (McLean & Thorne, 2003; Thorne & McLean, 2002, 2003; Thorne et al., 2004). Self-defining memories also provide valuable information for assessment and treatment of individuals and couples in psychotherapy (Singer, 2004a, 2005; Singer, Baddeley, & Frantsve, in press). Thus far, research on self-defining memories (SDMs) has focused exclusively on adolescent and young adult samples drawn from high school, undergraduate, and graduate student populations. Since it is postulated that SDMs play an important role in adults’ narrative identity (McAdams, 1988, 1999, 2001; Pals, 2006; Singer, 2004b), and clinical case studies have highlighted their importance at all stages of the lifespan (Singer, 2001, 2004a, Singer & J. L. Singer, 1992), it is critical that the experimental study of SDMs expand to samples of older adults. The present study is the first systematic investigation of SDMs in a sample of adults who are at least 50 years old. By studying SDMs from this age group we are able to contrast their results with previous adolescent and young adult samples, and also contribute to a growing literature on autobiographical memory processes # 2007 Psychology Press, an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business Address correspondence to: Jefferson A. Singer, Department of Psychology, Connecticut College, New London, CT, 06320, USA; E-mail: jasin@conncoll.edu MEMORY, 2007, 15 (8), 886898 http://www.psypress.com/memory DOI:10.1080/09658210701754351