Cited by 197Nostalgia and Consumer BehaviorSocial and Intergroup PsychologyMemory, History, Trauma, Identity

Collective nostalgia: A group-level emotion that confers unique benefits on the group.

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Wildschut, Tim, Bruder, Martin, Robertson, Sara, van Tilburg, Wijnand A. P., Sedikides, Constantine·2014·Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Abstract

This research established collective nostalgia as a group-level emotion and ascertained the benefits it confers on the group. In Study 1, participants who reflected on a nostalgic event they had experienced together with ingroup members (collective nostalgia) evaluated the ingroup more positively and reported stronger intentions to approach (and not avoid) ingroup members than those who recalled a nostalgic event they had experienced individually (personal nostalgia), those who reflected on a lucky event they had experienced together with ingroup members (collective positive), and those who did not recall an event (no recall). In Study 2, collective (vs. personal) nostalgia strengthened behavioral intentions to support the ingroup more so than did recalling an ordinary collective (vs. personal) event. Increased collective self-esteem mediated this effect. In Study 3, collective nostalgia (compared with recall of an ordinary collective event) led participants to sacrifice money in order to punish a transgression perpetrated against an ingroup member. This effect of collective nostalgia was more pronounced when social identification was high (compared with low). Finally, in Study 4, collective nostalgia converged toward the group average (i.e., was socially shared) when participants thought of themselves in terms of their group membership. The findings underscore the viability of studying nostalgia at multiple levels of analysis and highlight the significance of collective nostalgia for understanding group-level attitudes, global action tendencies, specific behavioral intentions, and behavior.

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  • Collective nostalgia promotes collective prosociality (e.g., involvement in fundraising activities).

    “Here, preliminary findings indicate that collective nostalgia promotes collective prosociality (e.g., involvement in fundraising activities; Wildschut et al., 2014).”

    From To Nostalgize (2015) · cites this paper as Wildschut et al., 2014

    Study 2 reports that collective nostalgia increased intentions to support the ingroup, measured by willingness to volunteer for a university publicity campaign (Study 2; Method). That supports the broader point about collective prosociality, but the paper does not report involvement in fundraising activities; it measures intentions rather than actual participation. (LLM, conf=0.84)

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  • Collective nostalgia is contingent on thinking of oneself in terms of a particular group membership and pertains to the people, history, experiences, and objects associated with that in-group.

    “Collective nostalgia is contingent on thinking of oneself in terms of a particular group membership and pertains to the people, history, experiences, and objects associated with this in-group (Wildschut etal., 2014).”

    From Water From the Lake of Memory: The Regulatory Model of Nostalgia (2023) · cites this paper as Wildschut et al., 2014

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Research works printed but not linked: 4

  1. [1]1. Abrams, D. (2013). Social identification and group processes. In J. M. Levine (Ed.) Frontiers of social psychology: Group processes (pp. 268-295). New York, NY: Psychology Press.
  2. [26]26. Frijda, N. H. (1986). The emotions. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
  3. [27]27. Frost, I. (1938). Homesickness and immigrant psychoses. Journal of Mental Science, 84, 801- 847.
  4. [64]64. Sedikides, C., Wildschut, T., Arndt, J., & Routledge, C. (2006). Self and affect: The case of nostalgia. In J. P. Forgas (Ed.), Affect in social thinking and behaviour: Frontiers in social psychology (pp. 197-215). New York, NY: Psychology Press.

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Authors
Wildschut, T., Bruder, M., Robertson, S., van Tilburg, W. A. P., & Sedikides, C.
Affiliations
  • University of Southampton (GB)
  • University of Konstanz (DE)
  • University of Oxford (GB)
Venue
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Published
2014-11
Volume
107
Issue
5
Pages
844-863
ISSN
  • 0022-3514 (ISSN-L)
  • 1939-1315
OpenAlex
W2057905236
Cited by
197
References
96
Citations by year
2026: 18 · 2025: 18 · 2024: 22 · 2023: 25 · 2022: 25 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 18 · 2018: 15 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 3
FWCI
10.88
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • ePrints Soton (University of Southampton) (acceptedVersion)
  • Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders
  • European Association of Social Psychology
  • University of Konstanz Zukunftskolleg
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Nostalgia and Consumer Behavior
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Memory, History, Trauma, Identity
Keywords
collective nostalgia, personal nostalgia, collective self-esteem, social identification, emotional sharing, intergroup behavior
MeSH terms
Adult, Emotions, Female, Group Processes, Humans, Male, Mental Recall, Social Identification, Young Adult

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