A blast from the past: the terror management function of nostalgia
A blast from the past: the terror management function of nostalgia
According to terror management theory, people turn to meaning-providing structures to cope with the knowledge of inevitable mortality. Recent theory and research suggest that nostalgia is a meaning-providing resource and thus may serve such an existential function. The current research tests and supports this idea. In Experiments 1 and 2, nostalgia proneness was measured and mortality salience manipulated. In Experiment 1, when mortality was salient, the more prone to nostalgia participants were, the more they perceived life to be meaningful. In Experiment 2, when mortality was salient, the more prone to nostalgia participants were, the less death thoughts were accessible. In Experiment 3, nostalgia and mortality salience were manipulated. It was found that nostalgia buffered the effects of mortality salience on death-thought accessibility.
nostalgia, mortality salience, death-thought accessibility, meaninglessness, self-protection
132-140
Routledge, C.
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Arndt, A.
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Sedikides, C.
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Wildschut, Tim
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January 2008
Routledge, C.
7d806180-c14c-4deb-867d-f7637581b719
Arndt, A.
732fbf04-56f9-4721-ab46-786a53b64d70
Sedikides, C.
9d45e66d-75bb-44de-87d7-21fd553812c2
Wildschut, Tim
4452a61d-1649-4c4a-bb1d-154ec446ff81
Routledge, C., Arndt, A., Sedikides, C. and Wildschut, Tim
(2008)
A blast from the past: the terror management function of nostalgia.
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 44 (1), .
(doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2006.11.001).
Abstract
According to terror management theory, people turn to meaning-providing structures to cope with the knowledge of inevitable mortality. Recent theory and research suggest that nostalgia is a meaning-providing resource and thus may serve such an existential function. The current research tests and supports this idea. In Experiments 1 and 2, nostalgia proneness was measured and mortality salience manipulated. In Experiment 1, when mortality was salient, the more prone to nostalgia participants were, the more they perceived life to be meaningful. In Experiment 2, when mortality was salient, the more prone to nostalgia participants were, the less death thoughts were accessible. In Experiment 3, nostalgia and mortality salience were manipulated. It was found that nostalgia buffered the effects of mortality salience on death-thought accessibility.
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ubpub_Routledge_Arndt_Sedikides__Wildschut_2008.pdf
- Author's Original
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Published date: January 2008
Keywords:
nostalgia, mortality salience, death-thought accessibility, meaninglessness, self-protection
Organisations:
Human Wellbeing
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Local EPrints ID: 63107
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/63107
ISSN: 0022-1031
PURE UUID: d253beab-fff5-4fd0-a5e8-348c77a7491a
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Date deposited: 11 Sep 2008
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 03:21
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Author:
C. Routledge
Author:
A. Arndt
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