The Good Old Days and the Scary Future Ones: National Nostalgia Fosters Collective Angst Through Increased Perceived Anomie in Present Society

Building on the social psychology literature on collective memory, we tested if national nostalgia fosters collective angst through greater perceived societal anomie among French participants. Consistent with our predictions, a correlational study (N = 535) and an experimental study (N = 370) showed...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social psychology (Göttingen, Germany) Germany), 2023-05, Vol.54 (3), p.168-179
Main Authors: Ionescu, Octavia, Collange, Julie, Tavani, Jean Louis
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anomie
Anxiety
Collective Memory
Female
Future
Human
Male
Nostalgia
Social psychology
Society
Threat
Threats
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Summary:Building on the social psychology literature on collective memory, we tested if national nostalgia fosters collective angst through greater perceived societal anomie among French participants. Consistent with our predictions, a correlational study (N = 535) and an experimental study (N = 370) showed that nostalgia for France's past predicted greater angst regarding its future through increased perceptions that present French society is more anomic than before. These findings suggest that (1) our representations of the national past shapes how we perceive present and future society and (2) national nostalgia, besides acting as a coping mechanism against existential threats as suggested in previous work, might also feed these threats by fostering perceptions of an anomic present and a frightening future.
ISSN:1864-9335
2151-2590
DOI:10.1027/1864-9335/a000514