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Journal of personality
06, 2020;88 (3): 485-500.

Nostalgia proneness and empathy: Generality, underlying mechanism, and implications for prosocial behavior.

Jacob Juhl, Tim Wildschut, Constantine Sedikides, Tara Diebel, Wing-Yee Cheung, Ad J J M Vingerhoets
Author Information
  1. Jacob Juhl: Center for Research on Self and Identity, Department of Psychology, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK. ORCID
  2. Tim Wildschut: Center for Research on Self and Identity, Department of Psychology, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.
  3. Constantine Sedikides: Center for Research on Self and Identity, Department of Psychology, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.
  4. Tara Diebel: Hampshire Educational Psychology, Winchester, UK.
  5. Wing-Yee Cheung: Department of Psychology, University of Winchester, Winchester, UK.
  6. Ad J J M Vingerhoets: Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology, Tilburg University, Tilburg, the Netherlands.
PMID: 31442311 DOI: 10.1111/jopy.12505

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Nostalgia is a sentimental longing for one's past. We examined the hypotheses (rooted in attachment theory and research) that nostalgia prone individuals, by virtue of their greater attachment security, are more empathic and enact more prosocial behavior.
METHOD: In five studies, testing 1,923 participants (N  = 132-823, 52.42% women, Age  = 8-90 years), we measured nostalgia proneness and affective empathy. Additionally, we measured cognitive empathy in Study 3, attachment security in Studies 4-5, and prosocial behavior in Study 5.
RESULTS: Nostalgia proneness was positively related to affective empathy among younger and older adults (Studies 1, 3-5) and among children (Study 2). This association was stronger for affective empathy than cognitive empathy (Study 3). Also, attachment security mediated the relation between nostalgia proneness and affective empathy (Studies 4-5). Finally, nostalgia prone individuals were more likely to engage in prosocial behavior, and this relation was serially mediated by attachment security and affective empathy (Study 5).
CONCLUSION: The findings establish the empathic and prosocial character of nostalgia prone individuals, and clarify their personality profile.

Keywords

attachment theory donating empathy nostalgia proneness prosocial behavior

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MeSH Term

Adolescent
Adult
Affect
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Altruism
Child
Empathy
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Object Attachment
Personality
Young Adult
Journal Article
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Word Cloud

Created with Highcharts 10.0.0empathyattachmentnostalgiaprosocialbehaviorpronenessaffectiveStudysecurityNostalgiaproneindividualsStudiestheoryempathic1measuredcognitive34-55amongmediatedrelationOBJECTIVE:sentimentallongingone'spastexaminedhypothesesrootedresearchvirtuegreaterenactMETHOD:fivestudiestesting923participantsN = 132-8235242%womenAge = 8-90 yearsAdditionallyRESULTS:positivelyrelatedyoungerolderadults3-5children2associationstrongerAlsoFinallylikelyengageseriallyCONCLUSION:findingsestablishcharacterclarifypersonalityprofileempathy:Generalityunderlyingmechanismimplicationsdonating

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