In search of meaningfulness: nostalgia as an antidote to boredom
In search of meaningfulness: nostalgia as an antidote to boredom
We formulated, tested, and supported, in 6 studies, a theoretical model according to which individuals use nostalgia as a way to reinject meaningfulness in their lives when they experience boredom. Studies 1–3 established that induced boredom causes increases in nostalgia when participants have the opportunity to revert to their past. Studies 4 and 5 examined search for meaning as a mediator of the effect of boredom on nostalgia. Specifically, Study 4 showed that search for meaning mediates the effect of state boredom on nostalgic memory content, whereas Study 5 demonstrated that search for meaning mediates the effect of dispositional boredom on dispositional nostalgia. Finally, Study 6 examined the meaning reestablishment potential of nostalgia during boredom: Nostalgia mediates the effect of boredom on sense of meaningfulness and presence of meaning in one's life. Nostalgia counteracts the meaninglessness that individuals experience when they are bored.
450-461
van Tilburg, Wijnand A. P.
7396f6c2-3a43-4d02-a4a0-97efe4d5ab12
Igou, Eric R.
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Sedikides, Constantine
9d45e66d-75bb-44de-87d7-21fd553812c2
January 2013
van Tilburg, Wijnand A. P.
7396f6c2-3a43-4d02-a4a0-97efe4d5ab12
Igou, Eric R.
6cb4c069-c730-407b-bfbd-7c58007459df
Sedikides, Constantine
9d45e66d-75bb-44de-87d7-21fd553812c2
van Tilburg, Wijnand A. P., Igou, Eric R. and Sedikides, Constantine
(2013)
In search of meaningfulness: nostalgia as an antidote to boredom.
Emotion, 13 (3), .
(doi:10.1037/a0030442).
(PMID:23163710)
Abstract
We formulated, tested, and supported, in 6 studies, a theoretical model according to which individuals use nostalgia as a way to reinject meaningfulness in their lives when they experience boredom. Studies 1–3 established that induced boredom causes increases in nostalgia when participants have the opportunity to revert to their past. Studies 4 and 5 examined search for meaning as a mediator of the effect of boredom on nostalgia. Specifically, Study 4 showed that search for meaning mediates the effect of state boredom on nostalgic memory content, whereas Study 5 demonstrated that search for meaning mediates the effect of dispositional boredom on dispositional nostalgia. Finally, Study 6 examined the meaning reestablishment potential of nostalgia during boredom: Nostalgia mediates the effect of boredom on sense of meaningfulness and presence of meaning in one's life. Nostalgia counteracts the meaninglessness that individuals experience when they are bored.
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Accepted/In Press date: November 2012
Published date: January 2013
Organisations:
Psychology
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Local EPrints ID: 348469
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/348469
ISSN: 1528-3542
PURE UUID: ffb027d8-d68d-4a5b-bf3f-352c54b71b0c
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Date deposited: 13 Feb 2013 14:54
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:02
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Author:
Wijnand A. P. van Tilburg
Author:
Eric R. Igou
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