Negativity in delayed affective recall is related to the borderline personality trait

The present study assessed selected factors that contribute to the recollection of emotional memories over time. Participants with high-trait borderline personality disorder (BPD) watched a randomly selected positive, negative, or neutral character in a video clip (stimulus) and were asked to recall the content immediately, then 2, 4, and 6 days later. In the final sample (N = 558, average age: 33 years, 65% female), general impression had the strongest effect on recall after accounting for the effect of current mood, extremity of the responses, and level of BPD, regardless of stimulus valence. The level of BPD had an effect only when negative evaluative wording (e.g., “guilty”) was used. In conclusion, people with high-trait BPD tend to remember negative stimuli more negatively over time (unlike neutral or positive stimuli), and this effect is mostly related to general impression.