Personality and Social Psychology
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The Role of Episodic Memories in Current and Future Well-Being
Frederick L. Philippe, Richard Koestner, Genevieve Beaulieu-Pelletier, Serge Lecours and Natasha Lekes
Pers Soc Psychol Bull 2012 38: 505 originally published online 22 November 2011
DOI: 10.1177/0146167211429805
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429805
pe et al.Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin

PSPXXX10.1177/0146167211429805Philip

ArticleThe Role of Episodic Memories in
Current and Future Well-Being

Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin38(4) 505­–519© 2012 by the Society for Personality
and Social Psychology, Inc
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DOI: 10.1177/0146167211429805
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Frederick L. Philippe1, Richard Koestner1, Genevieve Beaulieu-Pelletier2,
Serge Lecours2, and Natasha Lekes1

Abstract
The purpose of the present research was to examine the automatic role of psychological need satisfaction in episodic
memories and in their associated networked memories on people’s sense of well-being. In each of four studies, participants
were asked to describe a main episodic memory and networked memories, that is, other memories related to their main
episodic memory. Results of Studies 1 and 2 revealed that levels of need satisfaction in a main episodic memory and in its
networked memories both uniquely contributed to the prediction of well-being (based on either participants’ or peers’
ratings). Study 3 examined the automatic effect of priming an episodic memory network on people’s well-being in the here
and now. Study 4 revealed that need satisfaction in episodic memory networks predicted changes in well-being over time.
In addition, this relationship held after controlling for broad dispositional traits, mental health, and general need satisfaction
ratings.
Keywords
episodic memory, psychological needs, memory network, self-determination theory, well-being
Received April 1, 2011; revision accepted October 2, 2011

Episodic memories are mostly about significant and affectively charged past events. The recall or the activation of such
episodic memories usually leads to the reexperience of thisaffective charge in the here and now of the situation that has
triggered it (LeDoux, 1992; Schwartz, Weinberger, & Singer,1981). Our theory in the present article is that, over time,recurrent activation of episodic memories should affect a
person’s sense of well-being in an enduring fashion, in
accordance with the goal-affective component characterizing these memories. In addition, this process should
generally occur outside of people’s awareness. Below, we
explain our theory in detail.
Memories are easily activated by external cues. Thisoccurs when certain features of the environment match amemory that has been encoded with such features (Andersen& Baum, 1994; Ferguson & Bargh, 2004). Once triggered,most episodic memories do not necessarily coalesce into an
experience of reminiscence (Conway & Pleydell-Pearce,
2000). However, their activation appears to influence theperson in the situation that triggered the episodic memory.
This principle has been investigated with semantic memory(e.g., Neely, 1977) and with social concepts (Ferguson &Bargh, 2004), but little research has examined this processwith actual episodic memories.

Episodic Memories and GoalAffective Component
Episodic memories remain attached to an affective component that has been experienced during the initial event,primarily determined by the person’s goals at the encoding(Conway, 2008; Conway & Pleydell-Pearce, 2000). For
example, in a sports competition, if a person’s primary goal
is to beat the other team, this person may feel deeply frustrated by a loss and encode this episodic event as a highly
negative one. Conversely, another person taking part in thesame competition may be motivated to have fun while playing. This goal could be achieved despite the loss and thecompetition event encoded as a positive experience. Thus,
people’s working goals at encoding heavily determine the1

McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

2

Corresponding Author:
Frederick L. Philippe, Department of Psychology, University of Quebec at
Montreal, P.O Box 8888, Station Centre-Ville, Montreal, Quebec, Canada,
H3C 3P8
Email: philippe.frederick@uqam.ca

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Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 38(4)type of goal-affective component that will remain attachedto the episodic memory (Conway & Pleydell-Pearce, 2000).
Although people’s goals may vary across situations, selfdetermination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000) proposes thathumans have an overarching goal of growth, which isexpressed through the daily pursuit of fulfillment of threepsychological needs: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Autonomy refers to the need to feel volitional andauthentic in one’s actions. Competence is defined as the needto feel effective and efficacious. Relatedness refers to theneed to feel connected and to care for others and be cared forby others in turn. Researchers have highlighted the fundamental nature and importance of these three needs in specific
events and across diverse domains and cultures (e.g., Deciet al., 2001; Sheldon, Elliot, Kim, & Kasser, 2001) and haveshown that their satisfaction in everyday life is positively
associated with measures of well-being such as psychological
growth, purpose and meaning in life, general life satisfaction,and psychological adjustment (e.g., Reis, Sheldon, Gable,
Roscoe, & Ryan, 2000; Sheldon, Ryan, & Reis, 1996).
Because of the fundamental nature and prominence of theseneeds across situations, their need satisfaction representations should remain attached to a majority of significant episodic memories. Indeed, recent research (Philippe, Koestner,
Beaulieu-Pelletier, & Lecours, 2011) has shown that needsatisfaction in episodic memories (either positive or negative)
is a basic component of such memories and is distinct fromseveral other memory components examined in past memory
research (e.g., valence, implicit motives, intrinsic and integrative memories, age of the memory, etc.).
When an episodic memory is activated, therefore, its
goal-affective component should also be triggered and affecta person accordingly in the here and now. Thus, the needsatisfaction representations attached to an episodic memory
should be an active ingredient influencing a person’s wellbeing in the here and now of a situation triggering the memory. In line with self-determination theory, need satisfaction
should signal possibilities for psychological growth and theopportunity to build and expand the self (Deci & Ryan, 2000;
Hodgins & Knee, 2002), whereas need thwarting should signal a potential threat to the self and to the innate psychological growth goal and should lead to self-closure and strategies
to protect the self (Deci & Ryan, 2000; Hodgins & Knee,
2002). Thus, a situation triggering a need-satisfying episodic
memory should positively affect a person’s well-being in thehere and now and promote self-growth. Conversely, a situation triggering a need-thwarting episodic memory should
negatively affect a person’s well-being in the here and now
and lead to self-closure strategies. Furthermore, if repeatedover time, this process should affect a person’s well-being ina stable and enduring fashion. In other words, episodic memories, through their repetitive activations across certain situations, should lead to consolidations and changes in one’s
well-being.

A Memory Does Not Exist Alone
Another important aspect of memory is its binding property.
Memories are organized in association with other memories
on the basis of shared characteristics or themes (Anderson,
1984; Brown & Schopflocher, 1998; Christianson & Engelberg,
1999). Research has shown that networks of memories areoften formed based on the contiguity of memory elements,
such as similar events and themes (Brown & Schopflocher,
1998; Kemp, Burt, & Malinen, 2009). More specifically,
networks can be formed of situations or events sharing acommon feature, such as a same place, person (Andersen &Baum, 1994), object, motive (Woike, Lavezzary, & Barsky,2001), or emotion (Bower, 1981). Consequently, when an
episodic memory is triggered, other memories to which it
is linked become active, as activation spreads across thelinks (Anderson, 1984; Bower, 1981; Christianson &Engelberg, 1999).
According to emotional memory network theory (Philippe,
Lecours, & Beaulieu-Pelletier, 2009), such a spreading activation should trigger the goal-affective memory components(i.e., need satisfaction representations) of each memory that ispart of the activated network. The average of these need satisfaction representations is assumed to combine at a higherorder cognitive level and influence the person’s well-being in
the here and now (Philippe et al., 2009; Smith & Kirby, 2000).
The properties of the network—the need satisfaction representations and the number of networked memories—are
essential to this process. If an episodic memory is characterized by need thwarting, other memories of higher need satisfaction levels composing the memory network may temper
the impact of such a detrimental memory. Similarly, the number of networked memories affects the quality of the overallmemory network because of the averaging process of theneed satisfaction representations characterizing each memoryof the network (Philippe et al., 2009). Thus, if the frequent
activation of an episodic memory also leads to the frequent
activation of its networked memories—because activation
spreads across the links—need satisfaction in an episodic
memory and in its networked memories should each contribute to a person’s well-being. In addition, an episodic memory
network (i.e., an episodic memory and its networked memories) should have an independent effect on well-being fromother episodic memory networks, since each episodic memory network should not be activated by the same types of cue.
Each should produce, over time, additive effects on wellbeing through their independent and repetitive activations.

The Present Research
The first purpose of the present research was to initiallyinvestigate the relationship existing between need satisfaction in episodic memories and well-being and the incremental predictive value of networked memories and of other

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Philippe et al.
episodic memories on well-being, rated either by the participants or by one of their peers (Studies 1 and 2). Philippe andcolleagues (2011) showed that need satisfaction in a frequently activated memory was associated with various wellbeing measures. However, only one main memory wasstudied. In Studies 1 and 2, we sought to examine the additional effect of networked memories on well-being and thedegree of independence existing between two different sets of
episodic memory network. This is the first research to examine the specific effect of memory networks.
In addition, we examined the situational mechanism
through which need satisfaction in memories influences
people’s well-being within an experimental design (Study3) and the long-term impact of this mechanism on wellbeing within a prospective design (Study 4). Furthermore,
we investigated the proposition that this mechanism occurs
mostly outside of people’s awareness (Studies 1 and 3).
Finally, we examined the discriminant and incremental predictive utility of episodic memories for well-being overmore traditional person-level questionnaires, such as personality measures (Studies 2 and 4).
Some research has looked at the association between
autobiographical memories and well-being. This research
has investigated how mature and happy people frame theirautobiographical memories (Bauer, McAdams, & Sakaeda,
2005) and how interpreting important events, such as lifetransitions (Bauer & McAdams, 2004) or finding out thatone’s child has Down syndrome, could affect people’s wellbeing (King, Scollon, Ramsey, & Williams, 2000). Thesestudies focused on the intentions and meanings people use to
make sense of these events in their lives (Bauer et al., 2005),
as shown in the themes, sequences, and structures used when
they narrate life events (King et al., 2000; Woike et al., 2001).
However, in the present research, we focus on how a past
episode has been experienced in terms of its level of needsatisfaction and not on the content and structure of the narrated episode (see Philippe et al., 2011). For this reason, we
use the term episodic memory in the present research to distinguish it from the past research that has focused on autobiographical memory narratives.

Study 1
Study 1 examined the relationship between need satisfaction
in a frequently activated episodic memory and in its networked memories and well-being. We hypothesized thatneed satisfaction in a frequently activated episodic memory
would be associated with well-being. In addition, it was
expected that need satisfaction in the networked memories
associated with this episodic memory would also contributeto the prediction of well-being. Furthermore, it was predictedthat need satisfaction in a second separate episodic memory
network (another frequently activated episodic memory andits related networked memories) would be only moderately

correlated to need satisfaction in the first episodic memory
network since each episodic memory network should be
activated by distinct cues and should thus be relatively independent of each other. However, each episodic memory
network should additively contribute to the prediction ofwell-being. Finally, we investigated the level of awarenesspeople have that their episodic memories may influence
their well-being. In line with the postulate that the influential
role of episodic memories occurs mostly outside of people’s
awareness, we hypothesized that people’s awareness that
their memories may influence their well-being would notmoderate the relationship between need satisfaction in episodic memories and well-being.

MethodParticipants were 104 undergraduate and graduate students(76 females, 28 males) from a Canadian university with amean age of 27.67 years (SD = 8.39). A total of 87.5% were
Caucasian, 3.8% Asian, 2.9% Black, 1.9% Hispanic, and 1.9%
Arabic, and 1.9% were from other ethnic backgrounds.1

MeasuresWell-being. Two types of well-being were assessed: Hedonic(general happiness with one’s life) and eudaimonic wellbeing, measured with the Satisfaction With Life Scale(Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985) and a short version of the Psychological Well-Being scale (PWB; Ryff &Keyes, 1995), respectively. This latter scale assesses six
dimensions of well-being, each with three items. However,in the present study, only three of these dimensions (selfacceptance, purpose in life, and personal growth) were usedbecause the PWB’s other dimensions (i.e., autonomy, mastery, and relatedness) are very closely related to the threepsychological needs. Participants were asked to rate all items
on a 7-point Likert-type scale (1 = do not agree at all, 7 =totally agree). An index of well-being was created by averaging the scores of these two scales (α = .84).2
First episodic memory network: Main episodic memory.
Instructions were derived from past research on self-defining
memories, that is, a type of memory that is frequently
activated and recalled and that pertains to a specific episodic event (Singer & Salovey, 1993; Sutin & Robins,2005). The questionnaire first asked the participants todescribe
a personal memory of an event that is at least one year
old which was significant (important) for you. This
memory should reflect your identity or who you areand should reveal something about how you perceive
yourself generally. Choose a memory that often comesto your mind. This memory can be either positive,
negative, or both.

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Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 38(4)Thus, participants were free to recall any type of memory
and were not guided in selecting a memory of a particularvalence.
Networked memories. To assess the networked memories
associated with the main episodic memory, the questionnaire
further asked participants to recall and describe other personal memories that they might find to be directly or indirectly related to the memory they had just described. A
maximum of three text boxes were provided to the participants to describe three networked memories. However, they
were informed that they did not have to report as many memories but rather write down memories that came spontaneously to mind. Thus, participants were free to recall any
number of networked memories, between one and three.
Second episodic memory network. Participants were thenasked to describe a second main episodic memory and todescribe networked memories related to this second main
memory. Instructions were the same as those presented above.
Participants were instructed only to describe memories different than those already described.
Ratings of need satisfaction and awareness of influence. After
describing all of their memories (main and networked memories), participants were asked to rate the degree of need satisfaction they experienced at the moment the event of theirmemory occurred. Participants made their ratings on a 7-point
Likert-type scale ranging from –3 (strongly disagree) to +3(strongly agree), with 0 representing do not agree nor disagree or not applicable—this latter option indicating thatboth need satisfaction and need thwarting were part of theevent or that need satisfaction was not present in the event.
They were provided with two items assessing each of thethree psychological needs postulated by self-determination
theory (i.e., autonomy, competence, and relatedness). Sample
items include “I felt free to do things and to think how I
wanted” (autonomy), “I felt skillful or capable” (competence), and “I felt connected to one or more people” (relatedness). These items were derived from past research (e.g., Reiset al., 2000; Ryan, Rigby, & Przybylski, 2006; Sheldon et al.,2001) and adapted to assess experience during a past event.
Confirmatory factor analyses (Philippe et al., 2011) haverevealed excellent fit indices for a three factor model andfor a super factor (second order factor), indicating the possibility to average all three needs in an index as is commonly done by self-determination theory researchers (e.g.,
Deci et al., 2001; Gagné, 2003). Self-ratings of need satisfaction in memories have also been found to correlate highly(r = .70) with coding of need satisfaction by blind judges(Philippe et al., 2011).
Participants were also asked to rate the awareness item
“This memory has influenced or still influences my current
well-being” on a –3 (strongly disagree) to +3 (strongly
agree) Likert-type scale for each of their described memories. An index of awareness was created for each of the two
episodic memory networks by averaging the participants’

ratings of awareness of influence for the main memory andfor each networked memories.

Procedure
Participants were contacted through their university e-mailand informed that we were conducting an online study about
memory. As an incentive, participants were entered into adrawing for three prizes of $125, and this incentive was thesame for all studies reported in the present article. It is important that all participants completed the well-being measures
before describing their memories to ensure that the description of the memories did not alter the well-being ratings.

Results and Discussion
Table 1 presents the correlational results. A factor analysis
with maximum likelihood was used to examine the distribution of each of the three needs in the two main episodic
memories and in the two sets of networked memories.
Results using the scree test and a parallel analysis revealed
two clear factors at 4.10 and 2.49 Eigenvalues. As shown in
Table 2, the first dimension was saturated by the three needs
characterizing the second main memory and by the threeneeds characterizing the networked memories of this second
main memory. The second dimension was saturated by thethree needs characterizing the first main memory and by thethree needs related to the networked memories of this firstmain memory. These results suggest three important conclusions: (a) All three needs characterizing a memory or its
related set of networked memories covary together and canbe combined; (b) networked memories share a special association with the main episodic memory to which they are
related, while being relatively independent from a different
main memory and from a different set of networked memories; and (c) two episodic memory networks (i.e., a main
episodic memory and its related networked memories) are
relatively distinct from each other. In other words, there
seems to be little overlap between two episodic memory networks (r = .26 in the present study). This indicates that each
episodic memory network may have a distinct signature andconsequently a distinct role on people’s well-being.
Regression analyses were conducted to examine the specific contribution of each memory component to well-being.
Table 3 shows these results. Regression Models 1 (first episodic memory network) and 2 (second episodic memory network) showed that need satisfaction both in the main episodic
memory and in its related networked memories additively
contributed to well-being, with networked memories explaining 5.8% and 3.7% of the variance of well-being over andabove the first and second main memories, respectively.3
Model 3 examined the relative contribution of each episodic
memory network, that is, the combination of a main memory
and its networked memories. Results revealed that

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Philippe et al.
Table 1. Correlations Among Need Satisfaction in Each of the Memory Components and Well-Being: Study 1

1. First main memory NS
2. First networked memories NS
3. First episodic memory network NS
4. Second main memory NS
5. Second networked memories NS
6. Second episodic memory network NS
7. Well-being

M

SD

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1.20
1.04
1.12
0.96
1.14
1.05
5.43

1.45
1.16
1.17
1.44
1.19
1.17
0.77

—
.60**
.92**
.15
.12
.15
.45**

—
.87**
.31**
.28**
.33**
.46**

—
.25*
.21*
.26**
.50**

—
.57**
.91**
.41**

—
.86**
.39**

—
.45**

—

N = 104. NS = need satisfaction.
*p < .05. **p < .01.

Table 2. Factorial Analysis Results (Pattern Coefficients) of the Three Needs Characterizing Two Sets of Episodic Memory Network:
Study 1
1
Autonomy first main memory
Competence first main memory
Relatedness first main memory
Autonomy first set of networked memories
Competence first set of networked memories
Relatedness first set of networked memories
Autonomy second main memory
Competence second main memory
Relatedness second main memory
Autonomy second set of networked memories
Competence second set of networked memories
Relatedness second set of networked memories

2
.58
.73
.69
.47
.71
.69

.68
.61
.49
.74
.83
.60

All cross loadings were less than .35. Rotation was Oblimin.

each episodic memory network independently and additively
contributed to the prediction of well-being, with the second
episodic memory network explaining 11.2% of the varianceover and above the first episodic memory network. Model 4
examined the relative contribution of need satisfaction ineach memory component separately (i.e., each main memory
and each set of networked memories all covarying). Results
revealed that need satisfaction in all components was associated with well-being. Need satisfaction in the networked
memories related to the first main memory was marginallysignificant because of the small sample size but still achieveda substantial beta coefficient of .17.
In Model 5, we examined if each of the three needs postulated by self-determination theory was uniquely associatedwith well-being. This was a very stringent test since past
research has used special designs (e.g., experience samplings) or methods (e.g., meta-analysis) to examine theunique contribution of each need to well-being (e.g., Reis etal., 2000). To gain more power, we averaged the score of thetwo episodic memory networks for each need separately.
Despite the stringency of this test, results of Model 5 showedthat each of the three needs in the episodic memory networks

was uniquely associated with well-being, at least marginally,
but with substantial beta coefficients. In all the above regression analyses, controlling for age and gender did not alter the
results, and there were no correlations among age and genderand all study variables.
Finally, we examined whether people were aware or notthat their episodic memories may influence their well-being.
The indices of awareness of influence for the first and thesecond episodic memory network were correlated at .33, p <.01 with each other, at r = .10, ns and r = .20, p < .05 withwell-being, and at r = .45 and r = .49, ps < .01 with needsatisfaction in the first and the second episodic memory networks, respectively. These results indicate that the more amemory is need satisfying, the more people think that thismemory influences their well-being. Finally, a regression
analysis showed that once need satisfaction was controlled
for, awareness of influence was unrelated to well-being. In
addition, the interaction terms between awareness of influence and need satisfaction for each episodic memory network were nonsignificant. These results highlight the factthat people may not be aware of the actual effect that theirepisodic memories may have on their well-being. Indeed,

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Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 38(4)Table 3. Hierarchical Regression Analysis Models of Well-Being on the Main Memories and Networked Memories of Two Sets of
Episodic Memory Network: Study 1
Model
1
2
3
4

5

VariableβModel R2First main memory NS
First networked memories NS
Second main memory NS
Second networked memories NS
First episodic memory network
Second episodic memory network
First main memory NS
First networked memories NS
Second main memory NS
Second networked memories NS
Autonomy episodic memory networks
Competence episodic memory networks
Relatedness episodic memory networks

.26*
.30**
.28*
.23*
.41**
.35**
.29**
.17†
.21*
19*
.30**
.25*
.18†

.26
.21
.37
.37

.37

NS = need satisfaction.
†p < .10. *p < .05. **p < .01.

people appear to falsely believe that need-satisfying memories exert the most influence on their well-being, but notneed-thwarting memories. However, the belief or awarenessthat a memory may have an influence on well-being did not
explain the relationship between need satisfaction and wellbeing, even for people who reported a need-satisfying
memory (nonsignificance of the interaction terms).
Overall, these findings provide evidence that need satisfaction in episodic memories is associated with well-being.
The present study also highlights the important role of networked memories in contributing additively to well-being.
In addition, results suggest that networked memories share a
special association with their main episodic memory that is
not shared with other main episodic memories or networked
memories. Furthermore, each episodic memory network wasfound to contribute uniquely to people’s well-being. Other
noteworthy findings are that each of the three needs postulated by self-determination theory was shown to contribute
uniquely to well-being. Finally, it would appear that people
are not aware of the actual effect of their memories on theirwell-being.

Study 2
The association found in Study 1 between need satisfaction inmemories and well-being is limited by its use of common
measurement methods. In Study 2, we examined this association with well-being as rated by the participants, but also by
one of their peers. Furthermore, we investigated the discriminant and incremental validity of need satisfaction in episodic
memory networks. Research has shown that episodic memories provide an additional predictive value of well-being,
above and beyond traditional questionnaire measures of
personality or of general person-level variables (Bauer et al.,2005; Lodi-Smith, Geise, Roberts, & Robins, 2009; Philippe
et al., 2010). It was thus hypothesized that need satisfaction inan episodic memory network would be associated with wellbeing, as rated by the participants or by one of their peers,
even after controlling for personality traits and need satisfaction generally experienced in people’s life. Study 2 also controlled for mental health to ensure that the relationshipbetween need satisfaction in memories and well-being was
not explained by people’s psychological symptoms.

MethodA total of 80 undergraduate or graduate students (67 females,
13 males) from a Canadian university and one of their peers(44 females, 36 males) took part in this study. Participants’mean age was 25.05 years (SD = 5.56), and that of theirpeers was 30.70 years (SD = 11.52).

Measures
Personality traits. The Big Five Inventory (John & Srivastava, 1999) was used to assess the five common traits ofpersonality, namely, neuroticism, extraversion, openness,
conscientiousness, and agreeableness. This well-validated
measure requires participants to rate on a 5-point scale theextent to which each of 44 items describes their personality.
The prompt reads, “I see myself as someone who . . . ,”and sample items include “can be tense” or “is outgoing,sociable.” See Table 4 for the alpha coefficients of all scales.
General need satisfaction in life. The Basic Psychological
Needs Scale (Gagné, 2003) was used to assess participants’ general need satisfaction in life. A total of 21 items
assess autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Respondents

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Philippe et al.
Table 4. Means, Standard Deviations, and Correlations Among Episodic Memory Network Need Satisfaction, Traits, General Need
Satisfaction in Life, Psychological Symptoms, and Participants’ and Peers’ Well-Being Ratings: Study 2

1. Episodic memory network NS
2. Extraversion
3. Agreeableness4. Conscientiousness
5. Neuroticism
6. Openness
7. General NS in life
8. Psychological symptoms
9. Participants’ well-being ratings
10. Peers’ well-being ratings

M

SD

α

1.33
3.39
3.91
3.78
2.93
3.93
5.24
1.93
5.61
5.49

1.15
0.89
0.63
0.68
0.87
0.58
0.71
0.66
0.73
0.82

—
.85
.77
.81
.85
.82
.76
.90
.81
.80

1

2

3

4

—
.02
—
.15
.15
—
.12
.20
.25*
—
−.19
−.15
−.35** −.38**
.18
.14
.21
−.08
.43** .48** .43** .39**−.41** −.24* −.43** −.43**.51** .30** .39** .40**.35** .19
.15
.09

5

6

7

8

9

10

—
−.24*
—
−.48** .40**—.68** −.18−.63**—−.42** .26*
.78** −.59** —−.28** .02.24* −.38** .48** —N = 80. NS = need satisfaction.
*p < .05. **p < .01.

indicated on a scale from 1 (not true at all) to 7 (definitelytrue) the extent to which each item applied to them.
Psychological symptoms. The short scale of the Symptom
Checklist (Rosen et al., 2000) was used to assess mental
health. This scale is composed of 10 items responded to on a
5-point Likert-type scale (1 = not at all, 5 = extremely) andassesses various psychological symptoms. This short scalecorrelates at .95 with the full 90-item original scale.
Well-being. The same well-being scales used in Study 1
were used in Study 2. Both the participants and their peers
completed these scales. Peers were asked to respond to each
item in reference to their friend or relative, and the items
were slightly adapted to this purpose (e.g., “My close otheris satisfied with his/her life”).
Episodic memories. Instructions for the main episodic
memory and networked memories were the same as thosepresented in Study 1. Only one episodic memory network(a main memory and its networked memories) was assessedin Study 2 and in all subsequent studies. The ratings of needsatisfaction for the main episodic memory and for each networked memory were averaged to form a single episodic
memory network need satisfaction score.

Procedure
Procedures were identical to those presented in Study 1.
Personality traits, general need satisfaction in life, psychological symptoms, and well-being measures were completed
before the memory descriptions and ratings. The peers wereasked to respond to each well-being item to the best of theirknowledge.

Results and Discussion
As shown in Table 4, peers’ well-being ratings were positively correlated with participants’ reported well-being.
As expected, participants’ episodic memory network needsatisfaction was positively associated with both self- andpeer-rated well-being.
Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to investigate the association between need satisfaction in the episodic memory network and well-being as rated by theparticipants and their peers, but once age, gender, traits, general need satisfaction, and psychological symptoms were
controlled for. Results (see Table 5) revealed that need satisfaction in the episodic memory network was significantly
associated with well-being, rated by either the participants ortheir peers, even after holding constant the effect of all thecontrol variables.
Overall, these findings suggest that the potential bias of acommon measurement method between need satisfaction inmemories rated by the participants and well-being is untenable. Indeed, the association between need satisfaction in an
episodic memory network and well-being, rated either by theparticipants themselves or by one of their close others, wasequivalent. The present findings also suggest that episodic
memories are not a proxy for traits or general need satisfaction, since specific episodic memories significantly contributed to people’s well-being after controlling for thesevariables. Finally, although people with high psychologicalsymptoms appeared to report lower need-satisfying memories and lower well-being (see Table 4), this relationship did
not affect the association between need satisfaction in memories and well-being.

Study 3
Studies 1 and 2 provided cross-sectional evidence that needsatisfaction in some frequently activated episodic memories
and in their networked memories is associated with wellbeing. In Study 3, we sought to investigate the core underlying mechanism of this relationship, that is, that episodic
memories may be activated outside of people’s awarenessand that such activation should influence people’s well-being

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Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 38(4)Table 5. Hierarchical Regression Analyses of Participants’ (Left Column) and Peers’ (Right Column) Well-Being Ratings on Participants’Age, Gender, Traits, Psychological Symptoms, General Need Satisfaction in Life, and Episodic Memory Network Need Satisfaction: Study 2
Participants’ well-being ratings

Peers’ well-being ratings
2

Step

Variableβ

Block F

ΔR

1

Age
GenderExtraversion
AgreeablenessConscientiousness
Neuroticism
Openness
Psychological symptoms
General NS in life
Episodic memory network NS

−.19*
.21*
.18
.20*
.29**
−.13
.21*
−.39**.69**.20*

7.57**.424

9.68**
39.45**
6.18*

.069
.183
.027

2
3
4

β

Block F

ΔR2

−.23*
.17
.17
.06
−.05
−.25*
−.06
−.32*
−.05
.28*

2.37*

.188

4.16*
0.09
5.23*

.045
.001
.054

N = 80. NS = need satisfaction.
*p < .05. **p < .01.

in the here and now of the situation that triggered thesememories.
In Study 3, participants first described an episodic memory network and rated their level of need satisfaction for eachreported memory. Two weeks later, these same participants
were contacted to take part in an apparently unrelated study.
Participants who had reported need satisfaction in their episodic memory network 2 weeks before were primed eitherwith keywords related to their own main episodic memory
description or with keywords related to another participant’s
main episodic memory who had also reported need satisfaction in his or her episodic memory network. More specifically, we yoked each participant who had reported needsatisfaction in his or her episodic memory network withanother participant who had also reported need satisfaction
in his or her episodic memory network, so that the former
was primed with keywords related to his or her own main
episodic memory and the latter was primed with exactly thesame keywords, which were unrelated to his or her own main
episodic memory. The same yoking procedure was used
for participants who had reported need thwarting in theirepisodic memory network. See Table 6 for an overview ofthis design.
After having been primed with these keywords, participants were asked to rate their situational well-being. It was
posited that priming participants with keywords related totheir main memory would trigger this memory and its networked memories and thus the whole episodic memory network. Depending on whether this overall episodic memory
network is need satisfying or need thwarting, its activation
should influence people’s situational sense of well-being
accordingly. Conversely, priming participants with keywords
related to another participant’s main memory should not trigger any personal memory in particular and should not affectthese participants’ situational sense of well-being in any specific direction. Therefore, it was first expected that participants

with a need-satisfying episodic memory network primed
with their own keywords would report higher well-being levels compared to the control group of participants who wereprimed with the same keywords but unrelated to their own
main memory. Second, it was expected that participants witha need-thwarting episodic memory network primed with
their own keywords would report lower well-being levels
compared to the yoked control group of participants who
were primed with the same keywords but which were unrelated to their own main memory. In addition, we also controlled for participants’ general well-being.

MethodA total of 174 undergraduate students took part in this study,
but 23 participants were omitted from the final data analyses.
Participants who were suspicious about the priming procedure or the possible linkage between the two phases of thestudy were deleted (n = 7). Some other participants reported
technical problems and were deleted as well (n = 12) orreported having been disturbed while completing the study(e.g., telephone; n = 3). Finally, one participant took too
much time completing the priming task and was omitted
from the final analyses. The final sample was composed of
151 participants (110 females, 41 males) aged 25.89 years on
average (SD = 6.67).

MeasuresPhase 1: Episodic memories. The same instructions used inStudy 2 were used in Study 3. Two groups of participants
were then created: those who had reported need satisfaction
across their episodic memory network (above the value ofzero) and those who had reported need thwarting (zero andbelow). Because most participants usually report a relatively
need-satisfying episodic memory network rather than a

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Philippe et al.
Table 6. Summary Illustration of the Yoking Design Used in Study 3
Need-satisfying main episodic memory
Priming Group A
Participant 1:
Keywords from
Participant 1
Participant 5:
Keywords from
Participant 5
Participant . . .

Need-thwarting main episodic memory
Control Group B
Participant 2:
Keywords from
Participant 1
Participant 6:
Keywords from
Participant 5
Participant . . .

need-thwarting episodic memory network, the groups werehighly unequal. Because this inequality represents a natural
disparity between the two groups, the groups were not evened
out. Thus, overall, 34 participants reported a need-thwarting
episodic memory network, whereas 117 participants reported
a need-satisfying episodic memory network.
In addition to the usual memory description, participants
were also asked to write down 6 keywords that reflected
their main memory. The first author also derived 10 other
different keywords from the participant’s main memory
description by selecting salient words of the memory, for a
total of 16 keywords per participant. Proper names and specific location names (e.g., Mount Gabriel) were not selected
and were excluded if they were part of the participants’ keywords and replaced with another keyword. Finally, it should
be noted that participants’ keywords were not self-related;
keywords were chosen to remind participants of an event andnot of self-aspects. A sample of keywords from a participant
is the following: beach, friend, encounter, party, sun, warmth,
cousin, sojourn, budget, travel, trust, subsidize, mother, sand,country, hot.
Phase 1: General well-being. The two scales used in Studies
1 and 2 were again used in Study 3 (α = .82).
Phase 2: Scrambled sentence task. The priming took placewith the use of the Scrambled Sentence Task (Srull & Wyer,
1979). This task consists of 20 sentences, each composed ofsix words, five of which can be rearranged to make a grammatically correct sentence. Each word of a sentence waswritten with a capital letter in a block rectangle, and participants were asked to move the words (blocks) around with
their mouse to form a correct sentence. A total of 16 sentences included a keyword. The keyword of the participants’
main memory was always the sixth extra keyword in eachscrambled sentence, so the grammatically correct sentenceswere the same across all groups. The remaining four sentences included a neutral word (e.g., table, apartment), which
was the same for all groups. Participants of each need group(satisfied and thwarted) were randomly assigned to the priming or the control conditions and yoked across conditions. In
the priming condition, the keywords used were from the participant’s own main episodic memory. In the control condition, these keywords were from the yoked participant’s main

Priming Group C
Participant 3:
Keywords from
Participant 3
Participant 7:
Keywords from
Participant 7
Participant . . .

Control Group D
Participant 4:
Keywords from
Participant 3
Participant 8:
Keywords from
Participant 7
Participant . . .

episodic memory of the same need group. One participant in
the experimental group did not have a yoked participantbecause of the uneven separation of the groups.
Phase 2: Situational well-being. Immediately after completing the scrambled sentence task, participants were asked tocomplete two situational measures of well-being. A short subscale of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (Thompson,2007) assessing positive emotions with five items was used
as a measure of situational hedonic well-being, whereas thescale of vitality (Ryan & Frederick, 1997) was used to assess
situational eudaimonic well-being with six items. These two
scales were standardized and combined to form an index ofwell-being (α = .80).

Procedure
Participants were contacted by e-mail and asked to participate in a two-phase online study. They were told that the firstphase of the study was about memory. During this phase we
asked participants to complete the general well-being scales
and to describe a main memory, as well as networked memories, and to rate the need satisfaction level and the valence(–3 = very negative, +3 = very positive) of each of theirreported memories. Participants were told that in the second
phase of the study we would be collecting data relative totheir well-being. During this second phase, participants weretold that we were interested in how they felt about themselves at the current moment. To collect unbiased measures,
participants were asked to engage in a neutral task (thescrambled sentence task) “to remove your daily thoughtsfrom your mind which will allow you to respond to the questionnaire with more accuracy with respect to your real feelings.” Once this task was completed, participants were asked
to complete the situational measures of well-being. They
were then probed for suspicion with two questions in a sortof funnel debriefing (see Bargh & Chartrand, 2000). The
first question asked participants whether they had been bothered by some words or by some things during the scrambled
sentence task. The second question asked participants if they
noticed anything in particular with respect to the words usedin this specific task. Participants were also asked whether
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Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 38(4)if their computer worked properly. These were all openended questions. Seven participants either noticed somewords in the scrambled sentences task that they had used intheir memory description or suspected a link between thetwo phases of the study. These participants were excluded
from the analyses.
The fact that both phases were conducted online deserves
special attention. A common criticism of online experimental
studies is that they may not allow as much control as laboratory studies. A number of actions were undertaken to ensurethat the present study was comparable to one conductedwithin laboratory settings. First, participants were asked tocomplete the study alone, to close any running applications
on their computer, and to report any disturbance or interruption at the end of the study that occurred during the study. It
was also possible to double-check participants’ responses tothe interruption question by examining the time taken to complete the scrambled sentence task and the subsequent scales.
The web program also saved participants’ responses to thescrambled sentence task to verify whether the task had been
completed carefully. Although more “noise” or nonsystematic error may be expected in online studies compared tolaboratory studies, this noise reduces only statistical power. It
should be noted, however, that many biases found in laboratory settings, such as experimenter effect or demand characteristics, are not found with online studies or are considerably
reduced. Overall, research has shown that online experimental studies and laboratory studies usually result in highly similar findings (e.g., Birnbaum, 2004).

Results and Discussion
A 2 (episodic memory network need: satisfied vs. thwarted)× 2 (conditions: priming vs. control) ANCOVA was conducted with situational well-being as the dependant variable.4 The time taken to complete the scrambled sentencetask was used as a covariate. Also, it should be noted that
there were no prior differences between the priming andcontrol conditions in the satisfied need group or in thethwarted need group on need satisfaction in the episodic
memory network or on general well-being. Results of the
ANCOVA revealed a significant need effect, F(1, 146) =17.51, p < .001, MSE = .60, η = .107, characterized by asignificant need × conditions interaction, F(1, 146) = 12.86,
p < .001, η = .081. Planned comparisons showed that in theepisodic memory network need satisfaction group, participants reported higher situational well-being in the priming
condition (M = 0.34, SE = 0.10) than in the control condition(M = –0.11, SE = 0.10), t(115) = 3.15, d = 0.59. However, inthe episodic memory network need-thwarting group, participants reported lower situational well-being in the priming
condition (M = –0.83, SE = 0.19) than in the control condition (M = –0.20, SE = 0.19), t(32) = 2.38, p < .05, d = 0.84
(see Figure 1). Finally, results remained virtually the sameafter controlling for participants’ age or general well-being

Figure 1. Interaction between episodic memory network need(satisfying or thwarting) and conditions (priming or control) on
situational well-being: Study 3
Error bars represent the 95% confidence interval.

as covariates, even if there was, unsurprisingly, a large main
effect for general well-being, F(1, 140) = 27.21, p < .01, η =.163. There was no significant main effect of gender and no
significant interactions involving gender, all Fs(1, 140) <1.50, ns.
To ensure that the present effect was the result of the needsatisfaction characterizing the episodic memory network
primed, we further analyzed the data. First, the effectobserved could have been the result of the personal valenceof the words the participants used. If this were the case, theneed satisfaction characterizing the main episodic memory
would not predict situational well-being better than thevalence of this episodic memory. Both would act as anequivalent proxy variable for the personal valence of thewords used. Second, if the need satisfaction (or the valence)of the main episodic memory from which the keywords arederived already represented the valence of the words used by
the participants in the primed groups, the need satisfaction of
the networked memories would not predict any additionalvariance over the main episodic memory. However, if theeffect is the result of the main episodic memory and the
networked memories being activated, both should additively
predict situational well-being.
To examine these two possibilities, we conducted a hierarchical regression analysis with situational well-being as
the dependent variable and controlled for general well-being
and the time taken to complete the scrambled sentences task.

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Philippe et al.
At Step 1, the valence of the main episodic memory (standardized), group membership (0 = priming, 1 = control), andthe interaction between these two variables were entered.
Results showed that this interaction term was not significant(β = –.09, p = .37). At Step 2, the interaction term between
need satisfaction characterizing the main episodic memory(standardized) and group membership was significant, β =–.22, p < .10. At Step 3, the interaction term between needsatisfaction in the networked memories (standardized) andgroup membership was also significant (β = –.31, p < .05),
thus predicting situational well-being over and above needsatisfaction in the main episodic memory. These results further show that the effect of the main and networked memories is additive and that stronger results are obtained whenthese variables are combined (interaction for the combined
episodic memory network was β = –.41, p < .05). Overall,these results represent further evidence that the manipulation
did affect episodic memories and that the need satisfaction
characterizing them is important.
These results support the hypothesis that environmental
cues can activate episodic memories without people’s awareness and influence their situational well-being, as a functionof the level of need satisfaction characterizing their episodic
memory network.

five factors of personality. This brief scale uses two pairs ofadjectives to assess each of the five personality factors. It has
yielded correlations between .65 and .87 with the complete
Big-Five Inventory. Participants were asked to rate, on a
7-point Likert-type scale (1 = disagree strongly, 7 = agreestrongly), their degree of agreement with each pair of adjectives (e.g., “I see myself as . . . extraverted, enthusiastic”).
Adequate evidence of validity and reliability has been found
for this instrument (Ehrhart et al., 2009; Gosling et al., 2003).
In this study, the interitem correlation for each trait ranged
from .11 to .47.
General need satisfaction. A short version of the Basic
Need Satisfaction in General (Gagné, 2003) was used toassess participants’ general need satisfaction. Nine items
assessed autonomy, competence, and relatedness with three
items each. Based on Study 2 data, correlations between
each of these short subscales and their parent subscale ranged
from .82 to .90. In the present study, the Cronbach’s alpha forthe complete short scale was .60.
Well-being. The two scales used in Studies 1 to 3 wereagain used in Study 4. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were
.80 and .81 at Times 1 and 2, respectively.
Episodic memories. Instructions were the same as thosepresented in Study 2.

Study 4

ProcedureIn the introduction, we postulated that the frequent activation of an episodic memory should frequently lead to thekind of situational experience of well-being highlighted inStudy 3 and should, over time, affect the person’s well-being
in an enduring fashion. Our purpose in Study 4 was to test
this hypothesis within a prospective design of approximately
1 year. It was expected that need satisfaction in an episodic
memory network would predict changes in well-being overtime, such that need satisfaction would be associated withincreases in well-being over the year, whereas need thwarting would be associated with decreases in well-being. Thus,a positive correlation between need satisfaction and changes
in well-being during the year was expected. In addition, inline with Study 2, we hypothesized that this change in wellbeing would be independent of the effect of traits and general need satisfaction in life.

Procedures in Study 4 were identical to those presented inStudy 1. At Time 1, participants completed the trait, generalneed satisfaction, and well-being measures and then described
their memories. At Time 2, 8 months later, they were administered the well-being measures again.

MethodParticipants were 110 undergraduate or graduate students(63 females, 47 males) from a Canadian university. Theirmean age was 30.82 years (SD = 10.53).

Measures
Personality traits. The Ten-Item Personality Inventory(Gosling, Rentfrow, & Swann, 2003) was used to assess the

Results and Discussion
Table 7 presents the correlations among all study variables.
Replicating results of Studies 1 and 2, episodic memory
network need satisfaction was positively associated withwell-being, both at Time 1 and at Time 2. To test whether it
would predict changes in well-being, a hierarchical multiple
regression analysis was conducted. Well-being at Time 2
served as the dependent variable and was regressed on wellbeing at Time 1 along with gender, age, traits, and generalneed satisfaction at Step 1. At Step 2, episodic memory
network need satisfaction was entered in the regression.
Results revealed that, at Step 1, after controlling for wellbeing at Time 1 (β = .60, p < .001), gender, age, general needsatisfaction, and all traits were not significant predictors ofwell-being at Time 2 (β = |.10|, ns), except for conscientiousness (β = .14, p = .05) and a marginal effect of neuroticism(β = –.13, p = .08). Finally, at Step 2, episodic memory
network need satisfaction was found to be positively associated with well-being at Time 2 (β = .16, p < .05, R2change =.017), over and beyond all above variables. This result

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Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 38(4)Table 7. Means, Standard Deviations, and Correlational Results Among Episodic Memory Network Need Satisfaction, Traits, General
Need Satisfaction, and Well-Being: Study 4

1. Episodic memory network NS
2. Neuroticism
3. Extraversion
4. Openness
5. Agreeableness6. Conscientiousness
7. General NS in life
8. Well-being Time 1
9. Well-being Time 2

M

SD

1

1.08
3.31
5.46
4.53
4.41
5.51
4.74
5.43
5.36

0.96
1.43
1.09
1.40
0.99
1.08
0.66
0.73
0.71

—
−.32**
.19*
.28**
.13
.26**
.47**
.45**
.47**

2

3

—
−.12
—
−.18
.20*
−.30**.22*−.29** −.01−.44**.38**−.50**.25**−.46**
.28**

4

5

6

7

8

9

—
.22*
.06
.30**
.17
.19*

—
.12
.28**
.12
.07

—
.30**
.40**
.43**

—
.68**
.57**

—
.77**

—

N = 110. NS = need satisfaction.
*p < .05. **p < .01.

suggests that need satisfaction in a significant and frequently
activated episodic memory network can predict changes inwell-being over approximately a 1-year period.

General Discussion
Our central predictions were supported; levels of need satisfaction contained in episodic memory networks were found
to relate to well-being, to predict situational well-being when
activated outside of people’s awareness, and to predictchanges in well-being over time. An important implication of
the present research is that need satisfaction appears to be a
critical psychological component of memory. Results ofStudy 1 showed that each need was uniquely associated withwell-being. In addition, results of Study 2 showed that therelationship between need satisfaction and well-being was
not the result of a common measurement method. The present research adds to past research that has examined therelationship between narrative components of episodic memories (e.g., closure, redemption and contamination sequences,implicit motives) and well-being (Bauer et al., 2005; Bauer &McAdams, 2004; King et al., 2000) by suggesting that needsatisfaction, which taps into the experiential components ofan episodic memory or, stated differently, into the goalaffective component that remains associated with thememory (Conway, 2008), is also related to well-being. The
way people recall having experienced a past event in termsof need satisfaction appears critical with respect to theircurrent and future well-being. These findings extend thoseof Philippe and colleagues (2011), who showed that needsatisfaction was a basic component of episodic memories
and a distinct one as compared to many other common
types of component.
Networked memories were shown to play an importantrole in people’s well-being. First, in Study 1, networked
memories were more strongly associated with their own
main episodic memory than with a different unrelated episodic memory—one from which the networked memories

were not derived. More strikingly, need satisfaction in these
networked memories was associated with well-being after
controlling for need satisfaction in the main episodic memory to which they were associated. These findings suggestthat networked memories share special associations with themain episodic memory from which they are derived, while
preserving an independent effect on well-being. Findings
also imply that when a memory is activated by an externalcue, not only its need satisfaction representations but also thequality of the networked memories related to the activatedmemory affect the person’s well-being. Finally, two episodic
memory networks were shown to be only modestly associated with each other and to predict well-being additively.
This finding suggests that episodic memory networks may
not be triggered by the same environmental cues and thus
exert independent effects on people’s well-being. Future
research is needed to examine this issue more closely.
Another implication of the present research is that episodic memories per se can be primed. Although past research
has shown that the priming of social concepts, such as hostility or cooperation, with words or environmental stimuli led tothe manifestation of related behaviors outside of people’s
awareness (see Ferguson & Bargh, 2004, for a review), thepresent research shows that this same mechanism also applies
to episodic memories. More specifically, it was shown that
episodic memories characterized by need satisfaction or needthwarting could be activated outside of people’s awarenessand influence people’s situational well-being accordingly.
This is the first study, to our knowledge, to show that an
episodic memory related to a past personal event can beprimed and that this priming can subsequently affect people’s well-being.
Finally, our broadest hypothesis stipulated that episodic
memories that are frequently primed and triggered should
frequently exert their effect on people’s sense of well-being,
as a function of the level of need satisfaction characterizingthem. Study 3 showed that episodic memories influenced
people’s situational sense of well-being when such

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Philippe et al.
memories were triggered by environmental features similar
to those encoded with these memories. However, in Study 4,
it was expected that over time, frequent activation of thesememories would alter people’s sense of well-being in an
enduring fashion, as a function of the need satisfaction level
characterizing these memories. The results of Study 4 supported this hypothesis, as need satisfaction in frequently activated memories predicted changes in well-being over time.
Taken together, Studies 3 and 4 shed light on the mechanism
by which need satisfaction in episodic memories may alter
people’s well-being over time.
A noteworthy finding is that need satisfaction in episodic
memories was found to relate to well-being, even after controlling for personality traits. Episodic memory measures
usually have an additional predictive utility for understanding
meaningful life outcomes above and beyond traditional questionnaire measures of personality (e.g., Bauer et al., 2005;
Lodi-Smith et al., 2009; Woike et al., 2001). It appears thatneed satisfaction in memories also possesses this property.
We further found that need satisfaction in episodic memories
was associated with well-being above and beyond generalneed satisfaction ratings. Thus, it seems that the effect of needsatisfaction related to past events and encoded as episodic
memories is not the same as the level of need satisfaction thatone believes to generally experience in life. Episodic memories information and semantic self-knowledge information(such as self-report of traits and self-evaluation of need satisfaction in one’s life) appear to tap into different constituentsof the self. Indeed, neuropsychological and cognitive research
has shown that although episodic memories and semantic
self-knowledge influence each other, they are stored in different brain regions, function independently of each other, andare involved in different psychological processes (e.g., Klein& Gangi, 2010; Klein & Loftus, 1993).
The present research has a number of limitations that need
to be mentioned. First, the present findings need to be generalized with caution, as only samples composed of university
students from an Occidental university were used. Previous
research has revealed cultural differences in memories, andcross-cultural studies are needed to provide a more universal
context to the present findings. Second, in all four studies,participants were asked to describe a self-defining memory as
their main episodic memory. Future research is needed to replicate the present research with different types of memories.
Finally, we provided evidence for how memories may affectpeople in the here and now and over time. However, showing
how the daily or weekly activation of specific episodic memories affects people’s well-being over time using daily or
weekly experience samplings of well-being would provide
more supportive evidence.
In sum, the present research suggests an active and directiverole of psychological need satisfaction in episodic memory
networks. The present findings show that episodic memories
and their networked memories affect well-being. Further

research integrating self-determination theory with memory
processes and on the effect of networked memories appears
worthy and promising.
Authors’ Note
Frederick L. Philippe is now in the Department of Psychology at
the University of Quebec at Montreal.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect
to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support
for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This
research was funded by doctoral scholarships and a grant from theSocial Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of
Canada awarded to Frederick L. Philippe, Natasha Lekes, andRichard Koestner, respectively. Serge Lecours and Genevieve
Beaulieu-Pelletier were funded by a grant and a doctoral scholarship, respectively, from the Fonds Québécois de Recherche Sociétéet Culture (FQRSC).

Note
1. Since there was a very high proportion of Caucasians in all studies and there were no differences of ethnicity across the studies,
this variable is not further analyzed.
2. Results were similar in all four studies for hedonic and eudaimonic well-being when each was examined separately.
Therefore, these measures have been combined in all studies.
3. Similar results were obtained in all the other studies included inthis article. Because of space constraints, we do not present
these results again.
4. Although dichotomizing a continuous variable is usually not arecommended practice (herein need satisfaction in an episodic
memory network), the yoked procedure of our design requiredthat participants come from the same need group. It would nothave been possible to match participants according to their continuous score on need satisfaction. Therefore, it was possible
only to separate this variable in two groups and to randomly
match participants from the same group across conditions. In
addition, we did not have any hypothesis of linearity, that is,that participants reporting a high need-thwarting memory network would report lower well-being than participants having
reported a lower but still need-thwarting memory network. In
line with self-determination theory, a need-thwarting memory
network should decrease well-being, whereas one that is needsatisfying should increase well-being—thus suggesting a
dichotomized procedure. See Woike, Lavezzary, and Barsky(2001) for a similar procedure. Finally, it should be noted that
results were relatively the same when examined within aregression, but slightly weaker—thus suggesting that the nonlinearity hypothesis and the dichotomized approach should be
preferred.

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