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Nostalgia motivates pursuit of important goals by increasing meaning in life
Author(s) -
Sedikides Constantine,
Cheung WingYee,
Wildschut Tim,
Hepper Erica G.,
Baldursson Einar,
Pedersen Bendt
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
european journal of social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.609
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1099-0992
pISSN - 0046-2772
DOI - 10.1002/ejsp.2318
Subject(s) - goal pursuit , psychology , meaning (existential) , social psychology , relevance (law) , existentialism , affect (linguistics) , cognitive psychology , epistemology , psychotherapist , communication , philosophy , political science , law
This research focused on existential and motivational implications of the emotion of nostalgia. Nostalgia (relative to control) increased meaning in life, which, in turn, galvanised intentions to pursue one's most important goal (Experiment 1) and to pursue one's most important, but not least important, goal (Experiment 2). The basic pattern held in two cultures (British and Danish) independently of positive affect. This is the first evidence that nostalgia has specific motivational consequences (i.e., pursuit of more, but not less, important goals) and transmits these consequences via meaning in life. Also, this is the first evidence that meaning is associated with specific motivational consequences. Discussion considers the relevance of the findings for the emotion and motivation literatures.