This study is the first to systematically examine the concept of vicarious memories in everyday, non-clinical contexts.
Consistent with expectations, almost all college student participants were able to describe a specific memory not only of
a personal episode that they shared with a parent or friend, but also an episode that a parent or friend shared with them.
Patterns of ratings of phenomenological qualities (emotion, vividness, seeing the memory image, experiencing a physical
reaction) were similar across memory types although, as predicted, personal memory ratings were higher than vicarious
memory ratings. Similar patterns of intercorrelations between memory qualities for vicarious and personal memories also
were evident. In addition, participant ratings indicated that vicarious memories serve many of the same functions as personal
memories, although at lower levels of intensity. Finally, content analyses identified similar major themes in vicarious
and personal memories. One expected difference concerned point of view: vicarious memories were more often seen in the
mind’s eye from an observer perspective than were personal memories. Nevertheless, it is notable that about one-half of participants
reported taking their own perspective in vicarious memories at least some of the time.