Between Tradition and Transition: Generational Differences in Emirati Life Stories and Life Scripts

ABSTRACT Cultural life scripts influence the recall of important personal events. Testing this well‐established finding in an understudied culture that underwent rapid cultural change, this study compared life story memories of a younger and an older Emirati generation to Newborn and Elderly life scripts provided by both age groups. Results replicated that most memories were scripted in content, formed a reminiscence bump, and were predominantly positive. Yet, due to the historical change, the younger participants composed an Elderly life script that did not match the lives of their contemporary seniors. Moreover, neither age group evaluated the Emirati life scripts more positively than their life stories. Instead, the valences of life script events and life story memories indicate increasing realism with age and experience. Overall, results imply that cultural life scripts do not easily adjust to societal change and do not always represent an idealized life.