"I've grown so much": Temporal self-appraisals across the college experience.

How accurate are retrospective self-views? Though elevated views of the self are ubiquitous, there may be a notable exception: the past self. A diminished past self implies growth and development of the present self. One class of college students was followed across four years. Students rated their personal growth, purpose in life, self-esteem, and life satisfaction at the beginning of their college career and halfway through their college career. Just prior to graduation, they retrospectively rated themselves at those two time points. Compared to their actual assessments, retrospective assessments recalled less personal growth, less life purpose, lower self-esteem (but higher life satisfaction). Thus, the past self was reduced and college careers were falsely recalled as involving greater growth and development.