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The mnemonic mover: nostalgia regulates avoidance and approach motivation
Elena Stephan1, Tim Wildschut2, Constantine Sedikides2
1Department of Psychology.
Emotion (Washington, D.C.)
|April 9, 2014
Summary
Nostalgia, a positive emotion, helps regulate motivation by counteracting avoidance. This study shows avoidance triggers nostalgia, which then boosts approach motivation and behavior.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Social Psychology
- Emotion Research
Background:
- Nostalgia is a predominantly positive, self-relevant emotion.
- It plays a role in maintaining psychological equanimity.
- Its regulatory function in motivation requires further elucidation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose and test a model where nostalgia regulates avoidance and approach motivation.
- To investigate the causal relationship between avoidance motivation, nostalgia, and approach motivation.
- To examine the impact of nostalgia on approach behavior.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional study correlating avoidance motivation and nostalgia.
- Experimental induction of avoidance motivation to measure subsequent nostalgia and approach motivation.
- Experimental nostalgia inductions to assess effects on approach motivation and behavior (seating distance, helping).
Main Results:
- Avoidance motivation positively correlated with nostalgia, which in turn positively correlated with approach motivation.
- Experimental avoidance motivation induction increased nostalgia, subsequently predicting increased approach motivation.
- Nostalgia induction causally strengthened approach motivation and approach behaviors like reduced interpersonal distance and increased helping.
Conclusions:
- Nostalgia acts as a psychological mechanism to counteract the negative effects of avoidance motivation.
- Nostalgia enhances approach motivation, promoting adaptive behaviors.
- The findings highlight nostalgia's crucial role in regulating the human motivation system.
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