Fighting ageism through nostalgia
Open accessAbstract
Two experiments tested whether nostalgia is a resource for fighting ageism. In Experiment 1, younger adults who recalled a nostalgic (vs. ordinary) encounter with an older adult showed a more positive attitude towards older adults, mediated by greater inclusion of older adults in the self (IOGS). In Experiment 2, these findings were replicated and extended with a subtle nostalgia manipulation. Younger adults identified an older, familiar adult, before writing about an encounter with this person that was characterized by either central (e.g., keepsakes and childhood) or peripheral (e.g., wishing and daydreaming) features of the construct of nostalgia (i.e., prototype). Participants who recalled a central (vs. peripheral) nostalgic encounter reported greater social connectedness, which predicted increased IOGS. In turn, increased IOGS was associated with a lower desire to avoid older adults. Several alternative explanations for the intergroup benefits of nostalgia were ruled out. The research established that nostalgia qualifies as a resource for combatting ageism.
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Nostalgia promotes prosocial attitudes and behaviors, such as cooperation, charitable donations, and prejudice reduction.
“Third, nostalgia promotes prosocial attitudes and behaviors, such as cooperation30,50, charitable donations51,52, and prejudice reduction53–56, all of which can be perceived as sociomoral concerns linked to moral values57.”
From Nostalgia increases punitiveness by intensifying moral concern (2024) · cites this paper as [56]
Nostalgia reduces negative attitudes toward stigmatized groups (overweight, mentally ill, older adults).
“Those who reflected on a nostalgic experience subsequently expressed less negative attitudes toward the stigmatized group.”
From Nostalgia: An impactful social emotion (2023) · cites this paper as [53]
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- Authors
- Turner, R. N., Wildschut, T., & Sedikides, C.
- Affiliations
- Queen's University Belfast (GB)
- University of Southampton (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Wildschut, Tim
- Venue
- European Journal of Social Psychology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2017-11-16
- Volume
- 48
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 196-208
- ISSN
- 0046-2772 (ISSN-L)
- 1099-0992
- OpenAlex
- W2605971212
- Cited by
- 44
- References
- 24
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 1
- FWCI
- 3.92
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- pure.qub.ac.uk
- Licence
- Locations
- European Journal of Social Psychology (publishedVersion)
- Research Portal (Queen's University Belfast) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- ePrints Soton (University of Southampton) (acceptedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Nostalgia and Consumer Behavior
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Aging and Gerontology Research
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Keywords
- nostalgia, ageism, attitudes toward older adults, social connectedness, intergroup relations, age stereotypes
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