Reminiscing Enjoyment

What it measures

Measures an individual's general enjoyment of and tendency toward reflecting on and replaying positive past experiences. Forms one of three subscales of the Savoring Beliefs Inventory (SBI). Six studies underpinned the scale's development and initial validation (Bryant 2003), with alphas ranging from .75 to .84. Applied in consumer research by Huang et al. (2016) who labelled it 'savoring-the-past' and found it predicted consumer patience. Four items are reverse-scored.

Response format

9-point Likert (1=strongly disagree, 9=strongly agree)

Scale items

• I enjoy looking back on happy times.
• I don't like to look back afterwards. (r)
• I can feel good by remembering the past.
• I feel disappointed when I reminisce. (r)
• I like to store memories for later recall.
• Reminiscing is a waste of time. (r)
• It is easy to rekindle joy from happy memories.
• It is best not to recall past fun times. (r)

Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.

Usage notes & scoring

Subscale of the Savoring Beliefs Inventory (Bryant 2003). Response anchors: strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (9). Items 2, 4, 6, and 8 are reverse-scored (r). Alphas: .97 (Study 4) and .94 (Study 5) when used by Huang, Huang, & Wyer (2016), Journal of Consumer Research, 43(3), 372–387, who labelled it 'savoring-the-past.' Original Bryant (2003) alphas ranged from .75 to .84 across six studies.

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Bryant, F.B. (2003). Savoring Beliefs Inventory (SBI): A scale for measuring beliefs about savoring. Journal of Mental Health, 12(2), 175–196.

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