The Aftermath Foundation Graduate Student Research Award for 2021 has been awarded to Kendra Nespoli from the University of Windsor (Canada). This award is given to honor those graduate students who conduct and publish research consistent with the Mission of the Foundation. Dr. Nespoli received the award for her dissertation entitled: Memory Manipulation By Suspected Psychopaths in Interpersonal Relationships. She will be presenting her findings at the upcoming (virtual) meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Psychopathy (SSSP) in May.
We asked her to provide a short, easy-to-read synopsis for our Aftermath Foundation readers. Here it is:
Memory Manipulation By Suspected Psychopaths in Interpersonal Relationships
Kendra Nespoli, Ph.D., University of Windsor
Think about a time when you reminisced with a friend or partner about a vacation, a party, or a life-changing event. Did both of your memories align completely? Or did the other person say something that made you question the accuracy of your memory?
In a pair of studies undertaken for her doctoral dissertation, Kendra Nespoli set out to learn how people make decisions about their memory after receiving feedback challenging the accuracy of their memory. In the first study, so-called ‘memory challenges’ in relationships between friends, family members, colleagues, and romantic partners were examined. The second study looked at memory challenges reported by survivors of romantic relationships in which the ‘challenging’ partner demonstrated traits and behaviors consistent with psychopathy.
“Rememberers” from both samples confirmed that disagreements about the accuracy of their memory were “typical” in their relationships. However, the majority of survivors of relationships with suspected psychopaths reported having their memories challenged ‘frequently’ (i.e., at least once a month, on average). Survivors were more likely to report challenges to memories of physical, sexual, or psychological abuse, and for which they were told the remembered event never happened. As a result of the challenge, many survivors questioned their belief in their own memory but ultimately reported rejecting the feedback and maintaining belief in their memory. Decisions to believe their own memory (versus believing the challenger’s feedback) seemed to be related to no longer needing to protect their relationship with the individual with suspected psychopathy once the relationship had ended because survivors who were no longer in the relationship with the psychopathic partner reported higher rates of disagreeing with the feedback and defending their memories. This research marks an important first step towards understanding how psychopathic individuals attempt to rewrite history by ‘gaslighting’ others and making them question their memories of the past.
Nominations for the 2023 Graduate Student and Media Awards will open in June 2023! The deadline for submission is September 30, 2023. Here is a link to the criteria and procedure for making a nomination.
Awards – Aftermath: Surviving Psychopathy Foundation (aftermath-surviving-psychopathy.org)
