[en] In daily social exchanges, individuals frequently share personal recollections of past experiences, providing others with information that can guide indirect learning and inform decisions. Yet autobiographical memories are not invariably accurate representations of prior events. The present study examined whether the extent of perceptual and contextual detail embedded in episodic recollections shapes observers’ evaluations of their credibility and faithfulness to the original experience. In addition, we investigated whether such interpersonal memory-monitoring judgments relate to social evaluations of the person recounting the event. Findings indicated that narrators whose accounts contained abundant sensory and situational detail were perceived as remembering past events more accurately and reliably than narrators offering sparse descriptions. Furthermore, stronger perceptions of memory credibility were positively associated with greater trust, empathy, and willingness to engage socially with the narrator. These results highlight the potential contribution of interpersonal memory monitoring processes to the formation and maintenance of social bonds.
