Gender and age differences in the recall of affective autobiographical memories using the autobiographical memory test

In this study, the effect of age and gender on the positive and negative memories derived from the autobiographical memory test (AMT) was studied in a sample of young adults ( N = 50; 21 men) and a sample of older adults ( N = 46; 11 men). The results show that the older adults recalled fewer negative memories in response to negative cue words than the younger adults ( p = .002) and women remembered more negative memories than men ( p = .039). The overall pattern of findings obtained suggests that the positivity effects in the autobiographical memory are stronger in men than in women.