In life, we sometimes witness events that transcend everyday life and go down in history. These historical events, such as the floods of 2002 or the Soviet occupation of 1968, are often remembered by society. However, they can also shape and influence the personal stories of individuals. Sometimes they affect everyday life so much that they become significant landmarks in time for people – they then organize their memories of their own lives and relate them to these events. This phenomenon is known as the Living in History effect. A new study, led by Lenka Štěpánková from INPSY, examines whether two key milestones in the recent history of our region – the Velvet Revolution in 1989 and the division of Czechoslovakia in 1993 – also triggered a similar effect.
In addition to Lenka Štěpánková, the team of authors included Eva Rubínová, Eliška Dufková, and Vendula Šamajová (Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University). The authors focused on whether and how the two events mentioned above influenced the way people from Czechia and Slovakia organize their autobiographical memories. At the same time, they decided to investigate whether their impact differs depending on how fundamentally these historical changes transformed their everyday lives. The authors conducted interviews with 25 Czechs and 25 Slovaks, as well as their adult children, in order to examine intergenerational transmission. The interviews also included questionnaires that assessed the psychological impact and influence of these historical changes on the participants' everyday lives at the time.
The results of the study showed that neither the Velvet Revolution nor the division of Czechoslovakia manifested themselves as events causing the Living in History effect. In other words, these events did not significantly manifest themselves in the autobiographical memory of the participants as so-called temporal landmarks. Although the Velvet Revolution is commemorated every year and has significant symbolic meaning, the results of the study suggest that in the personal memories of most participants, it does not function as a fundamental moment to which other personal memories relate. As one possible explanation, the authors state that participants did not report a significant impact of either event on all areas of their daily lives.
However, interesting differences emerged in how participants perceived the impact of these historical events on their lives. The Velvet Revolution was assessed as having had a greater psychological and material impact (i.e., how it affected their daily lives) than the division of Czechoslovakia, with Czechs perceiving its significance somewhat more strongly than Slovaks. This difference may be related to the fact that Slovak participants came mainly from smaller towns and villages, where the changes after 1989 may have been less visible. In both countries, the impact of the revolution was perceived more in terms of how people felt and what they experienced than in terms of how it affected their daily lives. This research thus opens up space for further questions about when and why historical events actually influence autobiographical memory.
Recommended citation:
Štěpánková, L., Rubínová, E., Dufková, E., & Šamajová, V. (2025). The (Lack of) Living-in-History Effect for the Velvet Revolution and the Split of Czechoslovakia in Czech and Slovak Samples. E-psychologie, 19(3), 24–47. https://doi.org/10.29364/epsy.531
Mgr. Lenka Štěpánková, Ph.D.
Team Citizenship and Democracy
lenka.stepankova@mail.muni.cz
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Autobiographical memories, i.e., memories about ourselves, are an important part of our lives. They help us shape our own identity and show us which moments we consider fundamental and important to our life story. But do we remember the past more in a positive or negative light? This is the focus of a new study by our members Lenka Štěpánková and Standa Ježek.
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